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CIVILISATION IN ANCIENT INDIA.
INTRODUCTION,
AA’OCA/S AAW/) /) A 7'ES.
THE History of Ancient India is a history of thirty
centuries of human culture and progress. It divides
itself into several distinct periods, each of which, for
length of years, will compare with the entire history of
many a modern people. -
Other nations claim an equal or even a higher antiquity
than the Hindus. Egyptian scholars have claimed a
date over four thousand years B.C. for the foundation of
the first Egyptian dynasty of kings. Assyrian Scholars
have claimed a date over three thousand years B.C. for
Saragon I., who united Sumir and Accad under the
Semetic rule ; and they claim a still earlier date for the
native Turanian civilisation of Accad which preceded the
Semetic conquest of Chaldea. The Chinese claim to have
an authentic history of dynasties and facts from about
24oo B.C. For India, modern scholars have not claimed an
earlier date than 2000 B.C. for the hymns of the Rig
Veda, although Hindu civilisation must have been cen-
turies or thousands of years old when these hymns were
composed.
But there is a difference between the records of the
Hindus and the records of other nations. The hiero-
glyphic records of the ancient Egyptians yield little infor-
mation beyond the names of kings and pyramid-builders,
and accounts of dynasties and wars. The cuneiform
VOL. I.


INTRO 1) UCTION,
inscriptions of Assyria and Babylon tell us much the same
story. And even ancient Chinese records shed little light
on the gradual progress of human culture and civilisation.
Ancient Hindu works are of a different character. If
they are defective in some respects, as they undoubtedly
are, they are defective as accounts of dynasties, of wars,
of so-called historical incidents. On the other hand, they
give us a full, connected, and clear account of the advance-
ment of civilisation, of the progress of the human mind,
such as we shall seek for in vain among the records of
any other equally ancient nation. The literature of each
period is a perfect picture—a photograph, if we may so
call it—of the Hindu civilisation of that period. And the
works of successive periods form a complete history of
ancient Hindu civilisation for three thousand years, so
full, so clear, that he who runs may read.
Inscriptions on stone and tablets, and writings on
papyri are recorded with a design to commemorate
passing events. The songs and hymns and religious
effusions of a people are an unconscious and true re-
flection of its civilisation and its thought. The earliest
effusions of the Hindus were not recorded in writing, --
they are, therefore, full and unrestricted,—they are a
natural and true expression of the nation's thoughts and
feelings. They were preserved, not on stone, but in the
faithful memory of the people, who handed down the great
heritage from century to century with a scrupulous ex-
actitude which, in modern days, would be considered a
miracle. *
Scholars who have studied the Vedic hymns histori-
cally are aware that the materials they afford for con-
structing a history of civilisation are fuller and truer than
any accounts which could have been recorded on stone or
papyri. And those who have pursued Hindu literature
through the different periods of ancient Hindu history,
are equally aware that they form a complete and compre-
hensive story of the progress and gradual modifications
{
/
#



EPOCHS AND DAT I.S. 3
of Hindu civilisation, thought, and religion through three
thousand years. And the philosophical historian of human
civilisation need not be a Hindu to think that the Hindus
have preserved the fullest, the clearest, and the truest
materials for his work.
We wish not to be misunderstood. We have made the
foregoing remarks simply with a view to remove the very
common and very erroneous in pression that Ancient India
has no history worth studying, no connected and reliable
chronicle of the past which would be interesting or in-
structive to the modern reader. z
Ancient India has a connected story to tell, and so far
from being uninteresting, its special feature is its intense
attractiveness. We read in that ancient story how a
gifted Aryan people, separated by circumstances from the
outside world, worked out their civilisation amidst natural
and climatic conditions which were peculiarly favourable.
We note their intellectual discoveries age after age; we
watch their religious progress and developments through
successive centuries; we mark their political career, as
they gradually expand over India, and found new kingdoms
and dynasties; we observe their struggles against priestly
domination, their successes and their failures ; we study
with interest their great Social and religious revolutions.
and their far-reaching consequences. And this great
story of a nation's intellectual life—more thrilling in its
interest than any tale which Shaharzadi told—is nowhere
broken and nowhere disconnected. The great causes
which led to great Social and religious changes are mani-
fest to the reader, and he follows the gradual development
of ancient Hindu civilisation through thirty centuries, from
20oo B.C. to Iooo years after Christ. -
The very shortcomings of Hindu civilisation, as com-
pared with the younger civilisation of Greece or Rome,
have their lessons for the modern reader. The story of
our successes is not more instructive than the story of
our failures, The hymns of Visyamitra, the philosophy
4. INTRODUCTION,
of Kapila, and the poetry of Kalidasa have no higher
lessons for the modern reader than the decadence of our
political life and the ascendency of priests. The story of
the religious rising of the people under the leadership of
Gautama Buddha and Asoka is not more instructive than
the absence of any efforts after popular freedom. And
the great heights to which the genius of Brahmans and
Kshatriyas soared in the infancy of the world's intellec-
tual life are not more suggestive and not more instructive
than the absence of genius in the people at large in their
ordinary pursuits and trades, in mechanical inventions
and maritime discoveries, in sculpture, architecture, and
arts, in manifestations of popular life and the assertion of
popular power. * . -
The history of the intellectual and religious life of the
ancient Hindus is matchless in its continuity, its fulness,
and its philosophical truth. But the historian who only
paints the current of that intellectual life performs half
his duty. There is another and a sadder portion of
Hindu history, ~and it is necessary that this portion of
the story, too, should be faithfully told.
We have said before that the history of Ancient India
divides itself into several distinct and long periods or
epochs. Iºach of these periods has a distinct literature,
and each has a civilisation peculiar to it, which modified
itself into the civilisation of the next period under the
operation of great political and social causes. It is desir-
able that we should, at the outset, give a brief account of
these historical epochs and the great historical events by
which they are marked. Such an outline-account of the
different periods will make our readers acquainted with
the plan and scope of this work, and will probably help
them to grasp more effectually the details of each period
when we come to treat them more fully. We begin with
the earliest period, viz., that of Aryan settlements in the
Punjab. The hymns of the Rig Veda ſurnish us with
the materials for a history of this period.
F I RS'I' I DOCHI, 5
AP/A’S 7" E/’OC//.
In this priceless volume, the Rig Veda, we find the
Hindu Aryans as conquerors and settlers on the banks of
the Indus and its five branches ; and India beyond the
Sutlej was almost unknown to them. They were a con-
quering race, full of the self-assertion and vigour of a
young national life, with a strong love of action and a
capacity for active enjoyments. They were, in this res-
pect, far removed from the contemplative and passive
Hindus of later days ; they rejoiced in wealth and cattle
and pasture-fields ; and they carved out, with their strong
right arm, new possessions and realms from the abori-
gines of the soil, who vainly struggled to maintain
their own against the invincible conquerors. Thus, the
period was one of wars and conquests against the abori-
gines ; and the Aryan victors triumphantly boast of their
conquests in their hymns, and in plore their gods to
bestow on them wealth and new possessions, and to des-
troy the barbarians. Whatever was bright and cheerful
..and glorious in the aspects of nature struck the Aryans
with admiration and gladness, and such manifestations
of nature were worshipped and invoked as gods. -
It is needless to say that the entire body of Aryans
was then a united community, and the only distinction
of castes was between the Aryans and the aborigines.
IEven the distinction between professions was not very
marked ; and the sturdy lord of many acres, who ploughed
his fields and owned large herds in times of peace, went
out to defend his village or plunder the aborigines in
times of war, and often composed spirited hymns to the
martial gods in his hours of devotion. There were no
temples and no idols ; each patriarch of a family lighted
the sacrificial fire in his own hearth, and offered milk
and rice offerings, or animals, or libations of the Souna
juice to the fire, and invoked the “bright" gods for
6 INTRODUCTION,
blessings and health and wealth for himself and his
children. Chiefs of tribes were kings, and had profes-
sional priests to perform sacrifices and utter hymns for
them ; but there was no priestly caste, and no royal caste.
The people were free, enjoying the freedom which belongs
to vigorous pastoral and agricultural tribes.
What is the date of this period of Aryan settlements
in the Punjab as pictured in the Rig Veda P. We think
we agree with the general opinion on the subject when
we fix 2000 to 14oo B.C. for this first period of Hindu
history. And, for the sake of convenience, we will call
this period the Vedic Period.
SAECOM/D AEAOCA.
When once the Hindu Aryans had come as far as the
Sutlej, they did not lose much time in crossing that river
and pouring down in numbers in the valley of the Ganges.
We have rare mention of the Ganges and the Jumna in
the Rig Veda, showing that they were not yet generally
known to the Hindus in the first or Vedic Period, although.
adventurous colonists must have issued out of the Punjab
and settled in the shores of those distant rivers. Such
settlements must have multiplied in the second period,
until, in the course of some centuries, the entire valley
of the Ganges, as far down as modern Tirhut, were the
Seats of powerful kingdoms and nationalities, who culti-
vated. Science and literature in their schools of learning,
and developed new forms of religion and of civilisation
widely different ſrom those of the Vedic Period. -
Among the nations who flourished in the Gangetic
valley, the most renowned have left their names in the
epic literature of India. The Kurus had their kingdom
round about modern Delhi. The Panchalas settled
further to the south-east, round about modern Kanouj
The KOSalas occupied the spacious country between the
r 7
| - SECON L) EPOCH,
Ganges and the Gui
hd . . . -
the Videhas lived uck, which includes m)
known * beyond the Gunduck, in
- b ” as Tirhut ; and the Kasis settled
* 3 OOI 14 * C ČCl tº
9"t modern Benares. These were n\
*ons of the second
nationalities
- the moical
** - --> Cal
Period, though other
also flourished
- - all] Y -
from time to time. d extended thi In th
V Doab º the first Kurus and Panchalas º. r V
& / ‘’’’ ‘’’: "ºy gave indications of a vigouroſ.
and their Internecine w SOU l'Ol
es ‘Y - *S form tha-a-i-sº ônal life,
* Ppic of Indi. sºngſ of the first
this work.-- -
flarata. And, although
e, is the production of a
- ºr ages——yet, even in its
Mºresent form`Tº reserves indications of that rude
and sturdy vigour and warlike jealousies which char-
acterised the early conquerors of the Gangetic valley.
The Hindus did not, however, live many centuries in the
soft climate of this valley before losing their vigour and
manliness, as they gained in learning and civilisation.
As they drifted down the river they manifested less and
less of the vigour of conquering races. The royal courts
of the Videhas and the Kasis were learned and en-
lightened, but contemporary literature does not bear
witness to their warlike qualities. The Kosalas, too, were
a polished nation, but the traditions of that nation, pre-
served in the second National Epic of India, the
Ramayana (in its present form, a production of later ages),
show more devotion to social and domestic duties, obe-
dience to priests, and regard for religious forms, than the
sturdy valour and the fiery jealousies of the Mahabharata.
This gradual enervation of the Hindus was the cause
of the most important results in religious and social
rules. Religion changed its spirit. The manly but
simple hymns with which the sturdy conquerors of the
Punjab had invoked nature-gods scarcely commended
themselves to the more effete and more ceremonious
Hindus of the Gangetic valley. The hymns were still
**
























INTRODUCTION,
k
lost their meaning and sense, and vast
nd observances took the place of simple
|briestly class increased in number and in
ſtil they formed a hereditary caste of their
kings and warriors of the Gangetic valley
splendid courts, and had more gorgeous
* ºnd soon separated themselves from the
people at med a caste of their own. The mass of the
people–the Vaisye, a visas of the Riga Veda—became
more feeble than the in the Punjab, and
wore, without a protest, t stºs and war-
riors—the Brahmans and tº brew arºund
them. And as subjection means denſofalisation, the
people in Hindu kingdoms never afterwards became
what the people in ancient and modern Europe have
striven to be. And lastly, the aborigines who were sub-
jugated and had adopted the Aryan civilisation formed the
than the simple agricultural warriors of
low caste of Sudras, and were declared unfit to perform the .
Aryan religious rites or to acquire religious knowledge.
Such was the origin of the Caste-system in India, in
the second period of Hindu history. The system arose
out of weakness and lifelessness among the people, and,
to a certain extent, it has perpetuated that weakness
ever after.
It will be observed that this Second Period was a
period of the submission of the people under the Brah-
mans and the Kshatriyas, and of the submission of the
Kshatriyas themselves under the Brahmans. At the close
of the period, however, there appears to have been a
reaction, and the proud Kshatriyas at last tried to prove
their equality with the Brahmans in learning and
religious culture. Wearied with the unmeaning rituals
and ceremonials prescribed by priests, the Kshatriyas
started new speculation and bold inquiries after the
truth. The effort was unavailing. The priests remained
Supreme. But the vigorous speculations which the
















SECOND EPOCHI,
|
Kshatriyas started form the only redeemiº
the inane and lifeless literature of this perio
speculations remained as a heritage of the n
formed the nucleus of the Hindu philosophicaſ
and religious revolutions of a later day.
It was in this period of Aryan expansion in th
getic valley that the Rig Veda and the three other
y—Saman, Yajus, and Atharvan—were fºº
and compiled. Then followed another c
tions known as the Brahmanas
e compositions reflect
the dogmatic preten-
sº"The custom of retirement
ºfon) the worl s "fe, which was unknown in the
earlier ages, sprung up, and the last portions of the
Brahmanas are Aranyakas devoted to forest rites. And
lastly, the bold speculations started by Kshatriyas are
known as the Upanishads, and form the last portions
of the literature of this period, and close the so-called
Jºezjealed Ziferažure of India.
Scholars have generally held that a period of at least
four or five centuries was required for the great social
and political changes of this epoch. Within this period
the valley of the Ganges, as far as Tirhoot, was cleared,
colonised, and Hinduised, and formed into sites of º
powerful kingdoms. Religious observances were vastly
elaborated ; social rules were changed ; the caste-system
was formed ; the Supremacy of priests was established
and confirmed, and ultimately questioned by the
Kshatriyas ; and lastly, within this age, a varied and
voluminous literature was recorded. The Period may,
therefore, be supposed to have extended approximately.
from I 4oo to Hooo B.C.
One or two facts may be cited here which confirm
these dates. The central historical fact of this period
was a great war between the Kurus and the Panchalas,
which forms the subject of the Mahabharata, and of
2
















lNTROL) UCTION.
jall have something to say further on. The
‘y fact of this period was the compilation
ſas. Tradition and the Epic itself inform us
compiler of the Vedas was a contemporary of
'; but we may accept or reject this as we like.
ſil examine these two facts separately.
*irst, with regard to the compilation of the Vedas,
Tºmºicºtt that when the Vedas were compiled, the
position of ºs solstitial points was observed and recorded
to mark the date. Tºotisha in which this observation
is now found is a late
century before Christ, tº
made at an ancient date, ºs
Pratt-- both able mathematºlans—have
Sº-certainly
! Archde.sion
gone over the
calculation and found that it was made iºn I 18 I B.C.
Much has been written of late against the value of this
discovery in Europe, America, and India, but we have
found nothing in these discussions which goes against
the genuineness of the astronomical observation. We
are inclined to believe that the observation marks ap-
proximately the true date of the final compilation of the
Vedas; and as the work of compilation Occupied numer-
ous teachers for generations together, we may suppose
that the Vedas were compiled during the fourteenth and
thirteenth centuries B.C. And this date falls within the
period which we have assigned for the Second Epoch.
Next, with regard to the Kuru-Panchala War. The
annals of different kingdoms in India allude to this
ancient war, and some of these annals are not unreliable.
The founder of Buddhism) lived in the sixth century B.C.,
and we learn from the annals of Magadha that thirty-five
kings reigned between the Kuru-Panchala War and the
time of Buddha. Allowing twenty years to each reign,
this would place the war in the thirteenth century B.C.
Again, we know from coins that Kanishka ruled in
Kashtnira in the first century A.D., and his successor
Abhimanyu probably reigned towards the close of that




















SECONI) EPOCH. I I
century. The historian of Kashmira informs us that
fifty-two kings reigned for 1266 years from the time of
the Kuru-Panchala War to the time of Abhimanyu, and
this would place the war in the twelfth century B.C.
We do not ask the reader to accept any of the parti-
cular dates given above. It is almost impossible to ſix
any precise date in the History of India before Alexander
the Great visited the land ; and we may well hesitate,
even when astronomical calculations point to a particular
year, or historical lists point to a particular century. All
that we ask, and all that we are entitled to ask, is that
the reader will now find it possible to accept the fact that
the Vedas were finally compiled and the Kuru-Panchala
War was fought sometime about the thirteenth century
or the twelfth century B.C.
And, if the Kuru-Panchala War was fought in the thir-
teenth century B c. (i.e., about a century before the Trojan
War), it is impossible to fix a date later than 14oo B.C.
for the commencement of the Second Epoch of which
we are speaking. For at the time of the Kuru-Panchala
War, the tracts of country round modern Delhi and
Kanouj were the seats of powerſul nations who had
developed a civilisation and literature of their own.
And two centuries must be allowed between the date
when the Aryans issued out of the Punjab and the
date when these results had been achieved in the Gan-
getic valley. - r
To accept 14oo B.C. as the date when the Aryans
issued out of the Punjab, is to confirm the dates we have
given (2000 to 14oo B.C.) for the First Epoch, the Vedic
Period. -
Again, many of the Brahmanas contain internal evi.
dence that they were composed at the time or after the
time of the Kurus and the Panchalas. We may, therefore,
Suppose these to have been composed in the thirteenth
and twelfth centuries B.C. And the Upanishads, which
mark the close of Brahmana literature, were composed
I 2 INTRODUCTION,
about the eleventh century B.C. Janaka, the king of
the Videhas, gave a start to the Upanishads; we may,
therefore, suppose the Videhas and the Kosalas to have
flourished about 12co to I ooo B.C., as the Kurus and
the Panchalas flourished about 14oo to 1200 B.C.
For the sake of convenience we will call this second
period the Epic ſeriod. It was the period when the
nations described in the national epics of India lived and
fought; when the Kurus and the Panchalas, the Kosa-
las and the Videhas, held sway along the valley of the
Ganges.
T////ø/) A POCAEI.
The Third Epoch is, perhaps, the most brilliant period
of Hindu history. It was in this period that the Aryans
issued out of the Gangetic valley, spread themselves far
and wide, and introduced Hindu civilisation and founded
Hindu kingdoms as far as the southernmost limits of India.
Magadha or South Behar, which was already known to
the Hindus in the Epic Period, was completely Hindu-
ised in the Third Epoch; and the young and powerful
kingdom founded here soon eclipsed all the ancient
kingdoms of the Gangetic valley. Buddhism spread from
Magadha to surrounding kingdoms, and Chandragupta, the
contemporary of Alexander the Great, brought the whole
of Northern India, from the Punjab to Behar, under the
rule of Magadha. With this great political event, viz., the
consolidation of all Northern India under one great empire,
the Third Epoch ends and the Fourth Epoch begins.
Aryan colonists penetrated to Bengal and introduced
JHindu religion and civilisation among the aborigines,
The kingdoms founded in the south won greater dis-
tinction. The Andhras founded a powerful kingdom in
the Deccan, and developed great schools of learning,
Further south, the Aryans canne in contact with the
old Dravidian civilisation. The more perfcct Hindu
THIRI) EPOC II, I 3
civilisation prevailed, and the Dravidians were Hinduised
and ſounded kingdoms which became distinguished for
learning and power. The three sister-kingdoms of the
Cholas, the Cheras, and the Pandyas made their mark
before the third century B.C., and Kanchi (Conjeveram),
the capital of the Cholas, distinguished itself as the seat
of Hindu learning at a later day.
In the west the Saurashtras (including Gujrat and the
Maharatta country) received Hindu civilisation ; while,
beyond a strip of the sea, Ceylon was discovered, and
formed a great resort of Hindu traders.
The practical and enterprising spirit of the age shows
itself in literature as well as in territorial conquests.
The whole of the verbose teachings and rites of the
Brahmanas and Aranyakas were condensed into Sutras
or aphorisms so as to form handy manuals for the sacri-
fice. Other Sutras were framed for laying down the
rules of domestic rites and social conduct. Sutra schools
sprang all over India, in the north and in the south,
and works multiplied. And besides these religious works,
phonetics, metre, granmar, and lexicons were studied,
and Yaska wrote his Nirukta, and Panini his Vyakarana
early in this period. And the construction of sacrificial
altars according to fixed rules gave rise to geometry,
which was first discovered in India. -
And, lastly, the lessons of the Upanishads were not
lost. The bold speculations started in these works were
pursued, until Kapila started the Sankhya philosophy—
the first closely-reasoned system of mental philosophy
known in the world. Other systems of philosophy were
started by other thinkers, but the Sankhya philosophy
was destined to have the greatest influence on the future
of India ; for Gautama Buddha was born in the sixth
century B.C., and he added to the cold logic of the
Sankhya philosophy a world-embracing sympathy and
love for mankind which has made his religion the religion
of a third of the human race.
I 4 INTRODUCTION.
We have no difficulty in fixing the dates of this epoch.
Chandragupta, the contemporary of Alexander the Great,
united Northern India in 320 B.C. We may, therefore,
date the Third Epoch from Iooo B.C. to 320 B.C. For
the sake of convenience, we will call it the Philosophical
or A'afiorea/istic Æeriod.
The great political, literary, and religious incidents of
the period require the wide space of seven centuries that
we have allotted to the epoch ; and all the facts that we
know confirm these dates. The dates which Dr. Bühler
has given to the Sutras of Gautama, Baudhayana,
Vasishtha, and Apastamba fall within the limits given
above. Dr. Thibaut assigns the eighth century to the
Sulva Sutras or geometry. Writers on Sankhya philo-
sophy assign the seventh century to Kapila's philosophy,
and Gautama Buddha lived, as we know, in the sixth
century. .
These dates, which have been ascertained with toler-
able certainty, confirm the dates which we have accepted
for the previous or the Epic Period. For, if the philo-
sophy of Kapila, which was a distant and matured result
of the Upanishads, was started in the seventh century,
the Upanishads themselves must have been composed
several centuries earlier. And we are presumably correct
in assigning B.C. I ooo for the Upanishads,--the works
which closed the Epic Period.
Aſ OUA’7”// EZ2OCA/.
The epoch begins with the brilliant reign of Chandra-
gupta. His grandson Asoka the Great made Buddhism
the state religion of India, settled the Buddhist Scriptures
in the great council of Patna, and published his edicts of
humanity on stone pillars and on rocks. He prohibited
the slaughter of animals, provided mcdical aid to men
and cattle all over his empire, proclaimed the duties of
citizens and members of families, and directed Buddhist
FO U R T H E POCH. 15
missionaries to proceed to the ends of the earth, to mix
with the rich and the poor, and to proclaim the truth.
His inscriptions show that he made treaties with Antio-
chus of Syria, Ptolemy of Egypt, Antigonus of Macedon,
Magas of Cyrene, and Alexander of Epiros, and sent mis-
sionaries to these kingdoms to preach the Buddhist reli-
gion. “Both here and in foreign countries,” says Asoka,
“everywhere the people follow the doctrine of the religion
of the Beloved of the Gods, wheresoever it reacheth.”
“Buddhist missionaries,” says a Christian writer,”
“preached in Syria two centuries before the teaching of
Christ (which has so many moral points in common) was
heard in Northern Palestine. So true is it that every
great historical change has had its forerunner.”
The Maurya dynasty, which commenced with Asoka's
grandfather Chandragupta about 320 B.C., did not last
very long after the time of Asoka. It was followed by
two short-lived dynasties, the Sunga and the Kanva (183
to 26 B.C.), and then the great Andhras, who had founded
-a powerful empire in the South, conquered Magadha and
were masters of Northern India for four centuries and a
half, B.C. 26 to A. D. 430. They were generally Bud-
dhists, but respected Brahmans and Orthodox Hindus ;
and throughout the Buddhist Fpoch, the two religions
flourished in India side by side, and persecution was
almost unknown. The Andhras were followed by the
great Gupta emperors, who were Supreme in India till
about 500 A.D., and then their power was overthrown.
The Guptas were generally Orthodox Hindus, but fa-
voured Buddhism also, and made grants to Buddhist
churches and monasteries. -
In the meantime Western India was the scene of con-
tinual foreign invasions. The Greeks of Bactria, expelled
by Turanian invaders, entered India in the second and
first centuries before Christ, founded kingdoms, intro-
*—
* Mahaffy, “Alexander’s Empire,” chapter xiii.
I 6 INTRODUCTION,
duced Greek civilisation and knowledge, and had varied
fortunes in different parts of India for centuries after.
They are said to have penetrated as far as Orissa. The
Turanians of the Yu-Chi tribe next invaded India, and
gave a powerful dynasty to Kashmira ; and Kanishka
the Yu-Chi king of Kashmira had an extensive empire
in the first century A. D., which stretched from Kabul
and Kashgar and Yarkand to Guzrat and Agra. He
was a Buddhist, and held a great council of the Nor-
thern Buddhists in Kashmira. The Cambojians and
Other tribes of Kabul then poured into India, and were
in their turn followed by the locust-hordes of the Huns,
who spread over Western India in the fifth century A. D.
India had no rest from foreign invasions for several
centuries after the time of Asoka the Great ; but the
invaders, as they finally settled down in India, adopted
the Buddhist religion, and formed a part of the people.
Buddhism gradually declined during the centuries
after the Christian Era, much in the same way as the
Hinduism of the Rig Veda had gradually declined in the
Epic Period when the Hindus had settled down in the
Gangetic valley. Buddhist monks formed a vast and un-
manageable body of priesthood, owning vast acres of land
attached to each monastery, and depending on the re-
sources of the people; and Buddhist ceremonials and
forms bordered more and more on Buddha-worship and
idolatry. Many of these forms and ceremonials, which
were dear to the common people, were adopted by the
Hinduism of the day, and thus a new form of Hinduism
asserted itself by the sixth century after Christ. An
effete form of Buddhism lingered on for some centuries
in some parts of India after this, until it was stamped out
by the Mahomedan conquerors of India. i
We find an uninterrupted series of Buddhist rock-
cut caves, chaityas or churches, and viharas or
monasteries, all over India, dating from the time of
Asoka to the fifth century A.D. ; but there are scarcely
FOURTH EPOCH. 17
any specimens of Buddhist architecture of a later date.
Temple-building and Hindu architecture flourished from
the sixth century A.D. to long after the Mahommedan
conquest. ;
The most valuable portions of Buddhist literature left
to us are the scriptures as finally settled in the Council
of Patna by Asoka, and sent by him all over India and
India. These scriptures, preserved in the Pali language
beyond in Ceylon, form our best materials for the history
of early Buddhism, while later forms of this literature
have been found in Nepal, in Thibet, in China, in Japan,
and in all Northern Buddhist countries.
We have said that Buddhism had a marked effect on
Hinduism. Buddhism had questioned the sacredness of
the Vedas, and modern or Puranic Hinduism, though nom-
inally revering the Vedas, shows a complete estrangement
and emancipation from those ancient works. Hindu astro-
nomy, mathematics, laws, and philosophical speculations
had sprung from the Vedas and the Vedic sacrifices, and
belonged to different Vedic schools. But Hindu science
and learning of the post-Buddhist age have no reliance on
the Vedas and do not belong to any Vedic school. Puranic
Hinduism is not a religion of Vedic sacrifices, but of
the worship of images and gods unknown to the Vedas.
The Code of Manu represents Hindu thought and
manners of the Buddhist Epoch. It is based on the
ancient Dharmasutras or social laws of the Philosophical
Period ; but while the Dharmasutras belong to different
Vedic schools, Manu's Sanhita knows of no Vedic schools
and professes to be the law for all Aryans. On the
Other hand Manu adheres to the Vedic sacrifices, eschews
image-worship, and does not know of the Trinity of
Puranic Hinduism. Thus Manu marks the transition
stage from Vedic Hinduism to Puranic Hinduism.
For reasons which will appear from the foregoing
remarks, we date the fourth or Buddhist Period from
320 B.C. to 5oo A.D. 4.
VOL. I.
18 INTRODUCTION.
A //'7"H E POCA).
The fifth or last epoch of Hindu history is the epoch
of Hindu revival, and covers five centuries from 5oo A.D.
to I ooo A.D., the date of the first invasions of Mahmud
of Ghazni.
The period begins with great deeds in politics and
literature. Foreign invaders had harassed India for
centuries before, and at last a great avenger arose.
Vikramaditya the Great, of Ujjayini, was the master of
Northern India ; he beat back the invaders known as
the Sakas in the great battle of Korur, and asserted
Hindu independence. Hindu genius and literature re-
vived under his auspices, and a new form of Hinduism
asserted itself.
The three centuries commencing with the time of
Vikramaditya the Great (500 to 8oo A.D.) may be called
the Augustan era of later Sanscrit literature, and nearly
all the great works which are popular in India to this
day belong to this period. Kalidasa wrote his matchless
dramas and poems in Vikrama's court. Amara Sinha,
the lexicographer, was another of the “nine gems” df
this court. And Bharavi was Kalidasa's contemporary
or lived shortly after. Siladitya II., a successor of
Vikramaditya, ruled from 61 o to 650 A.D., and is the
reputed author of Ratnavali. Dandin, the author of
Dasakumara Charita, was an old man when Siladitya II.
reigned, and Banabhatta, the author of Kadambari, lived
in his court. Subandhu, the author of Vasavadatta,
also lived at the same time ; and there are reasons to
believe that the Bhattikavya was composed by Bhartri-
hari, the author of the Satakas, in the same reign.
In the next century Yasovarman ruled between 7 oo
and 750 A.D., and the renowned Bhavabhuti composed
his powerful dramas in this reign. Bhavabhuti, how-
ever was, the last of the galaxy of the poets and literary
FIFT H E POCH. 19
men of ancient India, and no great literary genius arose
in India after the eighth century.
It was in this Augustan era also that the great national
epics of India, the production of many ages, received
their last additions and touches, and assumed their final
shape; and the voluminous Puranas, which have given
their name to this period, began to be composed in their
present shape. . -
In modern Hindu science, too, we have the brightest
names in these three centuries. Aryabhatta, the founder
of modern Hindu astronomy, was born in 476 A.D., and
produced his work early in the sixth century. Varaba-
mihira, his successor, was one of the “nine gems” of
Vikrama's court. Brahmagupta was born in 598 A.D.,
and was, therefore, a contemporary of Banabhatta, the
novelist. Other astronomers of note also lived about
the sixth century.
This brilliant period of three centuries (500 to 8oo A.D.)
was followed by two centuries of impenetrable darkness
The history of Northern India from 8oo to looo A.D.
is a perfect blank. No great dynasties rose to power, no
literary or scientific men rose to renown, no great work
of architecture or art was constructed in Northern India.
History is silent over these two dead centuries
But we have indications of what was transpiring.
The two dark centuries witnessed the fall of ancient
dynasties, and the crumbling down of ancient kingdoms
and nationalities. They resemble the dark ages of
Europe, which witnessed the fall of the Roman power,
and which cleared up when Feudal power arose. In
India, too, the power of ancient races and dynasties was
silently swept away during the period of darkness, and
when light breaks in again, we see a new race of Hindu
Feudal barons as the masters of India, –the modern
Rajputs In the general dissolution of ancient power
and the struggle for supremacy, the youngest and the
most vigorous race came to the forefront, and about
2O INTRODUCTION,
looo A.D., we find Rajput dynasties ruling everywhere in
Northern India. They inherited the throne of Vikrama-
ditya and his successors in Ujjayini and Kanouj; they
usurped the power of the powerful Ballabhi kings of
Gujrat and Western India ; they ruled Bengal and the
Deccan ; and they tried to oppose the progress of Sabak-
tagin and Mahmud in the Punjab.
Different theories have been put forward as to the
origin of the Rajputs. H. H. Wilson and other
authorities maintain that they were descended from the
Scythian invaders of India who poured in through suc-
cessive centuries, who were once beaten back by Vik-
ramaditya the Great, but who, like other invaders, settled
down in the deserts of Western India, and ruled and
conquered when they could. Be that as it may, the
Rajputs certainly appear to bave been new converts to
Hindu civilisation, for there is no mention of them in
older records. Like all new converts, they espoused
Hinduism with exceptional zeal ; they were proud to be
styled Kshatriyas, – descended from the Solar and Lunar
races ; and wherever they conquered, Hindu temples
arose. Priestly monopoly in its closest form and the
unhealthiest restrictions of modern Hinduism date from
this period, and were perpetuated during the seven
centuries of national lifelessness under the Musaluman
rule.
It is impossible not to be struck with the resemblance
between European history and Indian history at the
period which marks the close of the Ancient Age. The
efforts of Vikramaditya to beat back the Sakas have
a close resemblance to the efforts of the last Roman
Emperors and armies to keep back the hordes of bar-
barians who pressed eagerly forward for conquests. For
centuries the Hindus and the Romans succeeded ; but
the waves of invasion and conquest at last overwhelmed
the ancicnt cmpires in India and in Italy, and marked
the fall of ancient thrones and institutions ! For centuries
DATES. 2 I
after this event, Western Europe and Northern India
have scarcely any history ; or the history is one of
violence and wars which closed the Ancient Age and
ushered in the Modern Age | When, at last, the dark-
ness clears up, we find a new feudal power in Europe,
and a new feudal power in India. And the new dynasties
of Europe had embraced Christianity, and exerted as
zealously and enthusiastically for the mediaeval priests,
as the newly-converted Rajputs did for the Brahmans
and the modern form of Hinduism. -
But the parallel does not end here. The new masters
of India had to fight as hard against the waves of
Mahommedan invasion as the new masters of Europe.
did in France, in Spain, and in Syria. Richard the Lion-
hearted was fighting at the same period as Prithu Rai
of Delhi, and against the same rising power. In Europe.
the Christian barons saved their independence, and ulti-
mately expelled the Musalmans even from Spain ; in,
India the Hindu barons struggled and fell. Shahabuddin.
Ghori overthrew the Rajput kingdoms of Delhi and
Ajmere, Kanouj and Benares, in 1193 and 1 194 A.D.,
and the boldest of the Rajputs retreated to their desert
fastnesses, where they enjoy a sort of independence to
the present day, through the generous sufferance of the
British Government. t
We have dated the Fifth or Puranic Period from 5oo
A.D. to ſooo A.D., but from what has been stated above
it will appear that the Puranic Age really ends at 8oo A.D.
The history of Ancient India terminates at that date,
and is followed by two centuries of Dark Age.
ADA 7'AºS.
There are two Eras prevalent in India, wiz., the Samvat
Æra, running from 56 B.C., and the Sakabda Era, running
from 78 A.D. Scholars have experienced the greatest
difficulty in finding out what great events these Eras
22 INTRODUCTION.
really commemorate ; and the conclusions arrived at are
not yet beyond the pale of controversy.
It has been now ascertained that the Sakabda or Saka
Era is the Era of the Saka king Kanishka, who conquered
Kashmir and Western India in the first century after
Christ, and spread Buddhism over neighbouring countries.
Thus the Sakabda was originally a Buddhist Era. It
was adopted in Buddhist India, and it was known and
used in all Buddhist countries—in Thibet and Burma,
in Ceylon and Java. It was after the Hindu revival of
the sixth century that the date was adopted by Hindus,
and the story was added, that the Era marked, not the
reign of a Buddhist Saka king, but the defeat of the Sakas
by a Hindu king. But wherever the Era is cited by
ancient writers, it is cited as the Era of the Saka king ;”
and to the present day the Era is known in our almanacs
as the Sakabda, or more fully as Saka Marapater Aſif.
abda, which means the Era of the Saka king, not the Era
of the destruction of the Sakas by a Hindu king. -
The Samvat Era is still more perplexing. Popularly
it is known as the Era of a great victory of Vikramaditya.
But history knows of no Vikramaditya of Ujjayini in
56 B.C., and it is pretty certain, that Vikramaditya the
Great, the patron of Kalidasa, lived in the sixth century
after Christ.
It is still more curious that the Samvat Era has come
into use in comparatively recent times. No instance has
yet been discovered of the use of this Era in the centuries
* The exceedingly careful and observant scholar, Colebrooke,
pointed out seventy years ago, that the astronomer, Varahamihira,
who lived in the sixth century A. D., cited the Saka Era as the Saka
Bhupa Kala or Sakezzdra Äala, i.e., the Era of the Saka king.
His commentator explains this as the Era when the barbarians call-
ed Sakas “were discom/ſ/ed by Vikramadilya.” Again, the astrono-
mer Brahmagupta, who flourished in the seventh century A. D., cites
the Era as Saka Avriffande, i.e., after the Saka king. His commen-
tator explains this as “after the reign of Vikramadiya, who swezey a
people of barbarians called Sakas.”—Colebrooke's Algebra, &c.,
from the Sanscrit, p. xliii. London, 1817.
tº-
N.
DATES, 23
immediately after the Christian Era. No trace of this
Era is found in the inscriptions of the Buddhist Period
in India, or in other Buddhist countries,-Thibet and
Burma, Ceylon and Java.
There certainly seems to be some mystery about the
Samvat Era, 56 B.C. It pretends to commemorate a
victory of a king of whom history knows nothing ; and
it is an Era which does not seen to have been used in
the numerous inscriptions of India for several centuries
after it pretends to have been established.
Probably the true origin of the Era has been discovered
by Mr. Fleet in his volume on the inscriptions of the
Gupta kings. It would seem that the Era was originally
an obscure Era of the Malava tribe, and came subse-
quently to be connected with the name of Vikramaditya,
who in the sixth century after Christ raised the Malavas
to the rank of the first nation in India.
We now proceed, for facility of reference, to give a
table of dates for the different Epochs, premising, that
the dates should be taken as only approximately correct,
and that the earlier dates are supposed to be correct
only within two or three centuries.
EPOCH I. —VEDIC PERIOD, B.C. 2000 to 1400.
Aryan settlement in the Indus valley
Composition of the Rig Veda hymns e } B.C. 2000 to I4OO
EPOCH II. —EPIC PERIOD, B.C. 14oo to Iooo.
Aryan settlements in the Ganges valley . B. C. I.4OO to IOOO
Lunar Zodiac fixed. Astronomical observa-
A- & - B. C. I.4OO
tions. Compilations of the Vedas. } 4OO to I2OO
Flourishing Period of the Kurus and the B
Panchalas º - º º } .C. I.4OO to I2OO
Kuru-Panchala War tº B.C. 1250
Flourishing Period of the Kosalas, the Kasis, }* C. I2OO to IOOO
and the Videhas º © . (“ ”
Composition of the Brahmanas and Aranya-
kas o º º - -> }*.e. I3OO to I IOO
Composition of the Upanishads . B. C. I IOO to IGOO
24 INTRODUCTION.
EPOCH III. —RATIONALISTIC PERIOD, B. C. IOOO to 32O.
Aryan Conquest of all India
Yaska -
Panini
Sutra Schools
Sulva Sutras (Geometry)
Kapila and Sankhya Philosophy
Other Schools of Philosophy
Gautama Buddha
Bimbisara, King of Magadha
Ajatasatru ,,
First Buddhist Council
Second Buddhist Council
Nine Nandas, Kings of Magadha
3 3
} B. C.
B. C.
B. C.
B. C.
B. C.
B.C.
R. C.
B.C.
F. C.
B. C.
B. C.
H. C.
B.C.
IOOO to 32O
9th century.
8th century.
8oo to 400
8th century.
7th century.
6OO to Christian
Era.
557 to 477
537 to 485
485 to 453
477
377
37O to 32O
EPOCH IV.-BUDDIIIST PERIOD, B. c. 320 to A.D. 500.
Chandragupta, King of Magadha
Bindusara, King of Magadha
Asoka, King of Magadha
Third Buddhist Council º
The Maurya Dynasty in Magadha ends
The Sunga Dynasty in Magadha
The Kanva Dynasty in Magadha
The Andhra Dynasty in Magadha
The Gupta Emperors tº
The Bactrian Greeks invaded India
The Yu-Chi invaded India • *
Kanishka, the Yu-Chi King of Kashmira
y }*b.
founded the Saka Era e
The Shah Kings ruled in Saurashtra
The Cambojians invaded India
The White Huns invaded India
} B. C.
{*
B. C.
B. C.
B. C.
B. C.
W. C.
B. C.
B. C.
B. C.
A. D.
A. D.
A. D.
A. D.
EPOCH V.—PURANIC PERIOD, A. D. 500
Vikramaditya of Ujjayini and Northern India A.D.
Kalidasa, Amarasinha, Vararuchi, &c.
Bharavi, about & & º
Aryabhatta, founder of modern Hindu As-
A.D.
A. D.
}*b.
32O to 290
290 to 26o
26o to 222
242
183
183 to 71
71 to 26
26 to A. D. 430
3OO to A.D. 500
2nd and Ist
centuries.
Ist century.
78
I 50 to 300
3rd and 4th
centuries.
5th century.
to IOOO.
500 to 550
500 to 550
550 to 6OO
tronomy
476 to 530
DATES,
25
Varahamihira
Brahmagupta -> e -
Siladitya II., Emperor of Northern India
Dandin we º º
Banabhatta and Subandhu .
Rhartrihari and the Bhattikavya
Bhavabhuti º tº
Sankaracharya g º ©
The Dark Ages in Northern India
VOI, I,
A. D. 500 to 550
A. D. 598 to 650
A.D. 610 to 650
A. D. 570 to 62O
- }a D. 61 o to 650
A. D. 700 to 750
A. D. 788 to 850
A. D. 8oo to IOOO
Book I.
VEDIC PERIOD, B.C. 2000 To B.C. 14oo.
CHAPTER I.
7'HAE ZAV/OO–4 AE WAAVS.— THAE//& LWTEAEA TURE.
THE site of the early home of the Aryans” has been a
subject of endless controversies among scholars. Enthu-
siastic and patriotic Hindu scholars will not admit that
the first home of the Aryans was anywhere outside
India; while equally patriotic European scholars would
place the seat of the primitive Aryans on the shores of
the Baltic Sea. We need hardly say that it is not our
object to enter into this discussion ; and we merely repeat
here the theory of many moderate thinkers that the early
home of the Aryans was somewhere in Central Asia.
The main arguments on which this conclusion is based
have been summed up by Professor Max Müller in a
recent work, and we quote them for our readers :—
“Firstly, we have two strearms of language, one tend-
ing south-east to India, and the other north-west to
* Recent anthropological researches have disclosed that the na-
tions speaking Aryan languages are not descended from the same
stock, and never belonged to the same race. At the same time it is
admitted that the ancestors of these races must have derived their
languages from a common source ; they must have been subject to
one great race which imposed its language on them, or lived in one
common tract of country. When we speak of the early home of the
Aryans, we mean this common country ; and when we speak of
Aryans, we mean races speaking Aryan languages.
26
CHAP. I.] INDO-ARYANS. 27
Europe. The point where these two streams naturally
intersect, points to Asia.” - -
“Secondly, the earliest centres of civilised life were
in Asia.” And we may add that the most primitive form
of all Aryan languages—the nearest approach to that
language which was spoken by the primitive Aryan races
—is the Vedic Sanscrit of Ancient India.
“Thirdly, we see in later times large ethnic waves,
rising from Central Asia and overwhelming Europe.
Such are the Huns in the fourth and the Mongols in the
thirteenth century.
“Fourthly, if the migration had taken place from
Europe to Asia, particularly from Scandinavia, we should
naturally look in the common Aryan language for a
number of words connected with maritime life.” But this
is not the case. While we find common names for par-
ticular animals and birds, and even common names for
animals (pasu) and birds (vi) in general, we find no
names for special fishes, and no general name for fish,
nor even is there a common name for the sea 1
Various pictures, more or less imaginary, of the civili-
sation of the early Aryans before they separated have
been drawn by various scholars from the slender materials
of the words which are found in common use among
the different Aryan nations in the world. Pictet's work
in two large volumes, published in Paris in 1859-63,
created a wider interest than any preceding attempt of
a similar nature ; and this was followed by Dr. Fick's
work in 1868, and Dr. Hehn's work in 1870. It is not
Our intention to draw such pictures here ; we will only
give a few facts about the life of the primitive Aryans
about which there is no dispute.
The domestic economy among the early Aryans was
much the same as it is among the Aryan nations of the
present day. The historian of man does not find in Aryan
history any traces of Hetairism ( or of promiscuous re-
kationship between the sexes), of families being reckoned
28 W. EDIC PERIOD. [ BOOK I,
on the mother's side, or of inheritance by the female line.
On the contrary, the father was the protector and the
nourisher of the family, the mother looked after and fed
the children, the daughter milked the cattle, and relation-
ship by marriage was recognised. Probably the primitive
Aryans had already reached a higher state of civilisation
than promiscuous living would imply. The family, and
not the tribe, was the unit of society ; and the father was
the head of the family. -
Many of the useful animals had been domesticated
and brought under the service of man. The cow, the
bull, the ox, the sheep, the goat, the swine, the dog, and
the horse had all been domesticated. The wild bear,
the wolf, the hare, and the dreaded serpent were known.
Similarly among birds, the goose, the duck, the cuckoo,
the raven, the quail, the crane, and the owl were well
known to the early Aryans.
The various industries were still in their infancy ; but
a commencement in manufactures and arts had been
made. The Aryans built houses, villages, and towns,
made roads, and constructed boats for communication by
water or for a humble kind of trade. Weaving, spinning,
and plaiting were known, and furs, skins, and woollen
fabrics were made into garments. Carpentry must have
made considerable progress, and dyeing was known.
It need scarcely be stated that agriculture was practised
by the primitive Aryans, and it was this occupation which
probably gave them their name (Arya = cultivator). Many
words familiar to cultivators, like the plough, the waggon,
the cart, the wheel, the axle, the yoke, in common use
among the Aryan nations, point to the same primitive
roots from which they have been derived. Corn was
ground, prepared, and cooked in various ways; while the
flocks of sheep and cows by which every family was
surrounded afforded milk and meat. There can be little
doubt that, although agriculture was largely resorted to,
many patriarchs of families used also to rove about from
CHAP. I.] INDO-ARY ANS. 29
place to place with their attendants and flocks in search
of new pastures, and a fairly large portion of the early
Aryans led a nomad life. Of this we have some trace
even in the Rig Veda, as we shall see farther on.
War was not infrequent in those primitive times, and
weapons of bone and of wood, of stone and of metals,
were known. The bow and the arrow, the sword and
the spear seem to have been the weapons of war.
It argues some advance in civilisation that the use of
gold and of silver was undoubtedly known to the early
Aryans ; and with the simplicity of early races, they
called gold by the name “yellow” and silver by the name
“white.” A third metal (ayas) was also known, but it
is doubtful if it was iron.
It is perhaps impossible to conjecture the sort of
government which obtained in those olden days. Patri-
archs of tribes and leaders of men undoubtedly obtained
ascendency, and the simple subjects looked up to them
and called them the protectors or nourishers of men, or
the shining chief ( /*ati, Vispali, A’aja) in war as well as in
peace. The natural feelings of civilised man distinguished
between right and wrong, and custom and a vague percep-
tion of what was good for the nation had the force of law.
And lastly, the primitive religion of the Aryans was
suggested by whatever was beautiful and striking in the
phenomena of Nature. The sky or the bright sky was
an eternal object of wonder and of worship. The sun, the
dawn, the fire, and the earth, the storms and the clouds
and the thunder, all received worship. But religion was
still simple and archaic. Myths and legends about the
gods and their relationship had not yet multiplied ; elabo-
rate rites and ceremonials had not yet been fabricated.
The bold forefathers of the Aryan nations looked up with
a manly veneration to whatever was wondrous and beau-
tiful in Nature, imagined such manifestations as instinct
with deity, and offered their praise and their prayers with
a grateful and fervent heart.
3O vedIC PERIOD. [BOOK I.
Adventurous bands of Aryans left their primitive home
from time to time in quest of food or pasture, of
kingdoms or plunder. The exact order in which the
different nations left has not been ascertained, and
will never be ascertained. Professor Max Müller holds
that the first division of the Aryan races was into two
branches, viz., the North-Western or European, and
the South-Eastern or Asiatic ; and that, after they
became once separated, the two branches never met
again. The North-Western branch travelled towards
Europe ; and five distinct races occupied five different
portions of Europe at periods which cannot be ascer-
tained. The Celts settled, or were more probably driven
onwards by other races to settle in the extreme west of
Europe, in France, Ireland, Great Britain, and Belgium ;
the robust Tutons Settled in northern and central
Europe, from which they issued after the downfall of
Rome to conquer the whole of Europe ; the Slavs
settled in eastern Europe, i.e., in Russia and other
places ; and the Italic and Greek races settled in the
south of Europe.
The Asiatic branch travelled southwards, and accord-
ing to Max Müller, the still undivided Indo-Iranians
came as far as the Indus, to the land of the five rivers,
or the Punjab. Here, “within sight of the Indus and its
tributaries, the undivided South-Eastern Aryans spoke
a language more primitive than the Sanscrit or Zend.”
Religious schism then separated them ; the worshippers
of the Devas or the Hindus remained in the Punjab,
the worshippers of the Asuras or the Iranians went away
to Persia.
It is the worshippers of the Devas—the Hindu Aryans
—who have composed those hymns which are known as
the Rig Veda, and we will say a few words here about
this ancient work. Probably there is not another work in
the literature of mankind which is so deeply interesting,
so unique in the lessons it in parts, The hoary antiquity
CHAP, I.] IN DO-ARY ANS. 3 I
of this ancient work, the picture it affords of the earliest
form of civilisation that the Aryans developed in any
part of the world, and the flood of light it throws on the
origin of the myths and religions of all Aryan nations,—
make the Rig Veda deeply interesting.
But the work has a yet higher import, a deeper signi-
ficance. To the philosophical historian of man the Rig
Veda discloses the origin of religious faith and religious
feelings. It explains how the mind of man in its infancy
worships what is bright and glorious in nature, what is
powerful and striking. Among less happy nations, reli-
gion began with the dread of diseases and of evils, as
these made the most lasting impression on the mind.
But among the Aryans, the brighter and pleasanter
aspects of nature, the bright sky, the blushing dawn,
the rising Sun, and the glowing fire, created the deepest
impression, and called forth songs of gratitude and praise
and worship. This is the Rig Veda Sanhita, – this is the
earliest form of Aryan religion known.
But the Rig Veda is more than this. It shows us how
the mind is led from Nature up to Nature's God. For the
sages of the Rig Veda do not always remain satisfied with
the worship of the manifestations of Nature ; they some-
times soar higher, and dare to conceive that all these
phenomena—the sun, the sky, the storms, and the thun-
der—are but the actions of the Unknowable One.
And if such is the value of the Rig Veda to the his-
torian of man, its value to the historian of Aryan nations
is still greater. It is the oldest work in the Aryan world.
It gives us a picture of the oldest civilisation which the
Aryans developed in any part of the world. And as we
have said before, it enlightens and clears up much that
is dark and obscure in the religions and myths of Aryan
nations all over the world. It would be entirely foreign
to Our present object to illustrate this by instances, but
Some instances are so well known as to merely require a
mention to illustrate our views.
32 VE DIC PERIOD. [BOOK. I.
Zeus or Jupiter is the Vedic Dyu, or the sky; and
Daphne and Athena are probably the Vedic Dahana and
Ahana, the dawn. Uranus is Varuna, the sky; and
probably Prometheus is the Vedic Pramantha, the fire
which is produced by friction.
To the Hindus the Rig Veda is a work of still higher
importance. It explains the whole fabric of the later
Hindu religion ; it clears all the complications of later
mythology; it throws light on the history of the Hindu
mind from its earliest stage of infancy. The Hindu learns
from this ancient and priceless volume that Vishnu the
Supreme preserver, and his three steps covering the
universe, mean the sun at its rise, its zenith, and its
setting ; that the terrible god Rudra the supreme de-
stroyer originally meant the thunder or thunder-cloud ;
and that Brahma the supreme creator was originally
prayer or the god of prayer.
The Rig Veda consists of io 28 hymns, comprising over
ten thousand verses. The hymns are generally simple,
and betray a child-like and simple faith in the gods, to
whom sacrifices are offered, and libations of the Soma
juice are poured, and who are asked for increase of pro-
geny, cattle, and wealth, and implored to help the Aryans
in their still doubtful struggle against the black aborigines
of the Punjab.
The hymns of the Rig Veda are divided into ten
Mandalas or Books, and with the exception of the first
and last books, every one of the remaining eight books
contains hymns said to have been composed or rather
proclaimed by one Rishi, -by which we may understand
one family or line of teachers. Thus the second book is
by Gritsamada ; the third is by Visvamitra ; the fourth
is by Bamadeva ; the fifth is by Atri ; the sixth is by
Bharadvaja ; the seventh is by Vasishtha ; the eighth is
by Kanva; and the ninth is by Angiras. The first book
contains I 91 hymns, which, with scattered exceptions,
are composed by fifteen Rishis; and the tenth book also
CHAP. I. IN DO-A R Y ANS, 33
contains 191 hymns, which are mostly ascribed to
fictitious authors.
The hymns of the Rig Veda were handed down from
father to son, or from teacher to pupil for centuries
together, and it was in a later age, in the Epic Period,
that they were arranged and compiled. The whole, or
greater portion of the tenth book, seems to have been
the production of this later period, but was thrown in
and preserved with the body of the older hymns.
The arrangement and compilation of the Rig Veda
hymns in their present shape must have been completed
within the Epic Period. In Aitareya Aranyaka II, 2,
we have fanciful derivations given of the names of the
Rishis of the Rig Veda in the order in which the Man-
dalas are arranged. And this is followed by an account
of a Sukta or hymn, of a Rik or verse, of a half Rik, of
a Pada or word, and of an Akshara or syllable. The
Rig Veda Sanhita, therefore, had not only been arranged
Mandala by Mandala, but had been carefully divided,
subdivided, and analysed within the Epic Period.
By the close of the Epic Period, every verse, every
word, every syllable of the Rig Veda had been counted.
The number of verses, as Computed, varies from Io,402
to Io,622, that of words is 153,826, that of syllables
432, OOO. -
VOI, l, 5
CHAPTER II.
A G/&IC UL 7'OA'F, PASTURAE, AAWD COMMAZACAE.
THE main industry of the ancient Hindus, as of the
modern Hindus, was agriculture ; and as might be ex-
pected, we have frequent allusions to it in the Rig Veda.
The very name Arya, by which the Aryan conquerors of
India have distinguished themselves from the aborigines
or Dasas, is said to come from a root which means to
cultivate. Professor Max Müller believes that traces of
this root are to be found in the names of many Aryan
countries, from Iran or Persia, to Erin or Ireland, and
argues that the word was invented in the primeval home
of the Aryans, to indicate their partiality to cultivation, as
distinguished from the nomadic habits of the Turanians,
whose name is supposed to indicate their rapid journeys
or the fleetness of their horse. Certain it is that the
word Arya is the one word in the Rig Veda which dis-
tinguishes the conquerors as a class, or even as a caste,
from the aborigines of the country. And there are re-
markable passages also which show that the new settlers,
in calling themselves Arya, had not altogether forgotten
the original signification of the word. One instance will
suffice : —
“O ye two Asvins you have displayed your glory
by teaching the Arya to cultivate with the plough and
to sow corn, and by giving him rains for the production
of his food, and by destroying the Dasyu by your
thunderbolt” (I, II 7, 2 I ).
There are two other words in the Rig Veda which
3-4
&: Il AP. II.] AGRICULTURE, }.T.C. 35 -
are synonymous, not with the Aryan tribe, but rather
with man generally ; and both of them come from roots
which indicate cultivation. The words are Charshazza
(I, 3, 7, &c.) and Krishti (I, 4, 6, &c.), and both these
words come from modifications of the same root Arish
or Chris/: to cultivate.
Thus the very names which the Aryan conquerors of
India gave themselves are names which are believed to
indicate that useful occupation which distinguishes the
civilised man from the barbarian, ziz, cultivation of the soil.
There are numerous direct allusions in the Rig Veda
to agriculture, but the most remarkable among them is
a hymn which is dedicated to a supposed god of agricul-
ture, the Lord of the Field as he is called, and which we
will translate in full :—
“I. We will win (cultivate), this field with the Lord
of the Field ; may he nourish our cattle and our horses;
may he bless us thereby.
“2. O Lord of the Field ! bestow on us sweet and pure
and butter-like and delicious and copious rain, even as
cows give us milk. May the Lords of the water bless us.
“3. May the plants be sweet unto us; may the skies
and the rains and the firmanent be full of sweetness ;
may the Lord of the Field be gracious to us. We will
follow him uninjured by enemies.
“4. Let the oxen work merrily ; let the men work
merrily ; let the plough move on merrily. Fasten the
traces merrily ; ply the goad merrily.
“5. O. Suna and Sira ! accept this hymn. Moisten
this earth with the rain you have created in the sky.
“6, O fortunate Furrow I proceed onwards, we pray unto
thee; do thou bestow on us wealth and an abundant crop.
“7. May Indra accept this Furrow ; may Pushan
lead her onwards. May she be filled with water, and
yield us corn year after year. * -
* In these two remarkable verses, the furrow, Sita, is addressed
as a female, and asked to yield copious harvests. In the Yajur Veda
36 VEDIC PERIOD. [BOOK 1.
- $º
“8. Let the ploughshares turn up the sod merrily
let the men follow the oxen merrily ; may Parjanya
moisten the earth with sweet rains. O Suna and Sira
bestow on us happiness * (IV, 57).
We shall seek in vain in the entire range of later
Sanscrit literature for a passage in which the humble
hopes and wishes of simple agriculturists are so naturally
described. This is the unique charm of the Rig Veda as
a literary composition. Whether it be an account of a
battle with the aborigines, or a prayer to friendly Indra
to come and have a cup of Soma, or a song of the simple
cultivator, – the Rig Veda hymn always takes us nearer
to the workings of a simple and manly heart than any-
thing in the literature of later times.
We will translate a portion of ancther hymn, also
relating to agriculture :—
“3. Fasten the ploughs, spread out the yokes, and
sow the seed on this field which has been prepared. Het
the corn grow with our hymns ; let the scythes fall on
the neighbouring fields where the corn is ripe.
“4. The ploughs have been fastened ; the labourers
have spread the yokes; the wise men are uttering prayers
to gods.
“5. Prepare troughs for the drinking of the animals.
Fasten the leather-string and let us take out water from
this deep and goodly well which never dries up.
“6. The troughs have been prepared for the animals;
the leather-string shines in the deep and goodly well
which never dries up, and the water is easily got. Take
out water from the well.
“7. Refresh the horses; take up the corn stacked in
the field ; and make a cart which will convey it easily.
This well full of water for the drinking of animals, is one
also, the furrow is similarly worshipped. And when the Aryans
gradually conquered the whole of India, and primeval jungles and
waste lands were marked with the furrow, the furrow or Sita assumed
a more definite human character, and became the heroine of the
Epic which describes the Aryan conquest of Southern India.
CHAP. II.] AGRICULTURE, ETC. 37
droma in extent, and there is a stone wheel to it. And
the reservoir for the drinking of men is one ska/ida.
Fill it with water” (X, IoI).
Irrigation and cultivation in the Punjab are only pos-
sible by means of wells, and wells are reserved also for
the drinking of men and of beasts ; and it is not surpris-
ing therefore that we should find references to wells in
the Rig Veda. Another remarkable fact which appears
from the passages translated above is, that horses were
used for cultivation in those days, a custom still common
in Europe, but not in India in modern times.
In X, 25, 4, and in many other places we have allusions
to wells. In X, 93, 13, we are told how water was raised
from wells for irrigation. The contrivance is the same
as is still in vogue in Northern India ; a number of pots
are tied to a string, and as the pots go up and down by
the movement of a wheel, they are filled in the well and
pulled up and emptied and sent down again. The con-
trivance is called g/aſſic/a/ºra, or the circle of pots, and
bears the same name to the present day.
In X, 99, 4, we have another allusion to irrigation of
fields by means of canals which were replenished with
water by means of a drona. And in X, 68, r, we are
told that cultivators who irrigated their fields kept away
birds by uttering loud cries.
As stated above, the allusions to pasture are by no
means so frequent as the allusions to agriculture.
Pushan is, the god of shepherds,--he is the sun as
viewed by shepherds,-and is supposed to protect them
and travellers generally in their wanderings over the
country, And here and there in a hymn to Pushan, we
find that the Aryans of India had brought with them.
recollections and songs about those migrations which
they occasionally undertook in their primitive home, if
not after their settlement in India. We translate one
Such hymn below :-
“1, O Pushan help us to finish our journey, and
38 VFT) IC P ER I O D. [BOOK I.
remove all dangers. O Son of the Cloud, do thou march
before us !
“2. O Pushan do thou remove from our path him
who would lead us astray, who strikes and plunders and
does wrong.
“3. Do thou drive away that wily robber who inter-
cepts journeys.
“4. Do thou trample under thy foot the vile carcass
of him who plunders us in both ways (by stealth and
by force ) and who commits outrages.
“5. O wise Pushan, destroyer of enemies we implore
of thee the protection with which thou didst shield and
encourage our forefathers.
“6. O Pushan, possessed of all wealth, possessed of
golden weapons, and chief among beings bestow on us
thy riches.
“7. Lead us so that enemies who intercept may not
harm us ; lead us by an easy and pleasant path. O
Pushan devise means ( for our safety ) on this journey.
“8. Lead us to pleasant tracts covered with green
grass ; let there be no extreme heat by the way. O
Pushan devise means (for our safety ) on this journey.
“9. Be powerful in thy protection ; fill us with riches ;
bestow on us wealth ; make us strong and give us
food O Pushan devise means (for our safety ) on this
journey.
“Io. We do not blame Pushan ; but we extol him in
our hymns. We solicit wealth from the handsome
Pushan” (I, 42 ).
There is also another interesting hymn on the practice
of taking out cattle to pasture fields, and bringing them
back. A few verses are worth translating :—
“4. We call the cowherd, let him take out these cows ;
let him pasture them in the fields ; let him know and
pick out the animals ; let him bring them back to the
house ; let him pasture them on all sides
“5. The cowherd seeks for the cows and brings them
CHAP. II.] AGRICULTURE, ETC. 39
back to the house ; he pastures them on all sides, May
he come home safe. -
“3. O cowherd pasture the cows in all directions,
and bring them back. Pasture them in various parts of
the earth, and then bring them back” (X, 19),
There are allusions in the preceding passages to
robbers who infested outlying tracts of the country, pro-
bably to the cattle-liſters and thieves among the abori-
ginal races, who hung around the Aryan villages and
clearances, and lived by intercepting peaceful industry.
We shall speak of them further on,
Allusions to trade and commerce must be necessarily
rare in a collection of hymns to gods ; but, nevertheless,
we are here and there surprised by passages which throw
a curious light on the manners of the times. Loans and
usury were well understood in those days, and Rishis
(who, we should always remember, were worldly men in
those days, and not hermits or anchorites), occasionally
lament their state of indebtedness with the simplicity of
primitive times. In one remarkable verse again, we are
reminded of the finality of a sale-transaction, when once
the sale is completed —
“One sells a large quantity for a small price, and then
goes to the purchaser and denies the sale, and asks for
a higher price. But he cannot exceed the price once
fixed on the plea that he has given a large quantity.
Whether the price was adequate or inadequate, the price
fixed at the time of sale must hold good * (IV, 24, 9).
A passage like the above would indicate the exis-
tence of current money for the purposes of buying and
selling. We have instances of Rishis acknowledging
the gift of a hundred pieces of gold (V, 27, 2, &c.), and .
there can be no doubt, pieces of gold of a certain fixed
value were used as money as indicated in these passages.
At the same time it must be admitted that there is no
distinct allusion to coined money in the Rig Veda. The
word AWis/h/a (I, 1 26, 2, &c.) is often used in the Rig
4 O V F ])} C P J R ſ () I). | BOOK I.
Veda in a dubious sense. In Some passages it means
money, in others it means a golden ornament for the
neck. The two interpretations are not necessarily con-
tradictory, for in India pieces of gold used as money
have habitually been used as ornaments for the neck
since times immemorial. *
On the other hand, there are distinct references to
voyages by sea, though of course the words used may
mean rivers only, and not the Sea. The shipwreck of
Bhujyu, and his deliverance by the gods Asvins, is con-
stantly alluded to (I, I 16, 3, &c.), and in I, 25, 7, the
god Varuna is said to know the paths of the birds
through the sky, and the paths of the ships over the sea.
In IV, 55, 6, the poet refers to the “people who desiring
to acquire wealth pray to the Sea before undertaking a
voyage”; while in VII, 88, 3, Vasishtha says:—
“When Varuna and I went on a boat and took her
out to sea, I lived in the boat floating on the water and
was happy in it, rocking gracefully (on the waves).”
While there are these and other distinct allusions to
voyage, there is absolutely no prohibition against it in
the Rig Veda.
CHAPTER III.
47OOD, CLO 7"H/AWG, AAWD THE AR7'S OF PEACE.
PARLEy and wheat seem to have been the principal
produce of the field, and the principal articles of food.
The names of grain found in the Rig Veda are some-
what misleading, as they have come to bear a different
signification in modern days from what they had in the
ancient times. Thus the word Yava, which in modern
Sanscrit implies barley only, was used in the Veda to
imply food-grains generally, including wheat and barley.
And the word />hana, which, in Bengal at least, means
paddy or rice, implies in the Rig Veda fried barley, which
was used as food and offered to the gods. There is no
allºsion to wrići (rice) in the Rig Veda.
We also find mention of various kinds of cakes pre-
pared from these grains and used as food and offered to
the gods. Pašči (from facſ, to cook, or to prepare)
means prepared cakes, and various other terms like
Purodasa and Apupa and Karambha, are also used (III,
52, I and 2 ; IV, 24, 7, &c.)
It may be easily imagined that animal food was
largely used by the early Hindus of the Punjab. We
have frequent allusions to the sacrifice and to the cook-
ing of cows, buffaloes, and bulls (I, 61, 12 ; II, 7, 5 ;
V, 29, 7 and 8 ; VI, 17, 11 ; VI, 16, 47 ; VI, 28, 4 ;
X, 27, 2 ; X, 28, 3, &c.).
In X, 89, 14, there is mention of a slaughter-house
where cows were killed, and in X, 91, 14, there is an
allusion to the sacrifice of horses, bulls, and rams. The
VOL. I. - 6
4 I
42 VEDIC PIERIOD. [BOOK I.
allusions to the sacrifice of the horse are extremely
rare, showing that, although the custom was introduced
into India by the early Aryans from their primitive home,
the flesh of horse as an article of food soon fell into
disuse. In later times the sacrifice of the horse or
the Aszamedha was performed on rare occasions with
great pomp and circumstance by powerful kings, after
they had subdued their neighbours and assumed a title
answering to the Imperial title in Europe. There can be
no doubt this great imperial rite rose out of the simple
sacrifice of the horse practised in primitive times when
the horse was still an article of food. The pomp and
ceremony, as well as certain revolting rites connected
with the horse-sacrifice of later days, were unknown in
Vedic times. •
A fairly complete account of the sacrifice of the horse,
such as it prevailed in the Vedic times, is to be found in
hymn 162 of the first Mandala of the Rig Veda. The
body of the horse was marked with a cane and was then
dissected along the lines marked, and the ribs and the
different limbs. were separated. The meat was roasted
and boiled, while the soul of the horse was supposed . to
go to the gods.
Who could have believed that this simple horse-sacri-
fice of the Rig Veda, the carving and the roasting and
the boiling of the horse for worship and for the purposes
of food, would have developed into the imperial ceremony
of Aszamed/a in later times P But many a practice
which we see in its simple and natural aspect in the
Veda has developed into pompous ceremonials in later
days ; and many a simple Vedic allegory relating to the
striking phenomena of Nature has also developed into
elaborate Puranic legends. Herein constitutes the true
value of the Veda ; we trace in it Hindu rites and cere-
monials and the Hindu religion itself to their simple
matural beginnings. + -
The fermented juice of the plant called Soma appears
CHAP. III.] ARTS OF PEACE. 43
to have been the only intoxicating drink used in the
Vedic times. So much were the ancient Aryans addicted
to this drink that Soma was soon worshipped as a deity
both in India and in Iran (under the name Haoma in
the latter country), and we find one entire Mandala or
Book of the Rig Veda dedicated to this deity. The
Indo-Aryans appear to have been more addicted to
fermented and intoxicating Soma than their peaceful
brethren of Iran ; and many are the allusions in the
Zendavesta to the hated customs of their Indian brethren.
Some antiquarians think that this was one great reason of
those dissensions which broke out among the southern
Aryans, and which led to the final separation of the
Iranians from the Hindus.
The process by which the Soma-juice was prepared
has been fully described in IX, 66, and in other hymns.
We will translate a few verses from this hymn :— -
“7. O Soma you have been crushed ; you flow as
a stream to Indra, Scattering joy on all sides ; you bestow
immortal food.
“8. Seven women stir thee with their fingers, blend-
ing their voices in a song to thee ; you remind the sacri-
ficer of his duties at the sacrifice.
“9. You mix with water with a pleasing sound ; and
the fingers stir you over a woollen strainer, and filter
you. Your particles are thrown up then, and a sound
arises from the woollen strainer.
“I I. The woollen strainer is placed on a vessel, and
the fingers repeatedly stir the Soma, which sends down a
Sweet stream into the vessel.
“13. O Soma | you are then mixed with milk. Water
runs towards thee with a pleasing sound.”
From this description it would appear that the juice
of Soma used to be taken—much as Siddhi is taken in
our times—mixed with milk. The poets of the Rig Veda
go into ecstasy over the virtues and the exhilarating
powers of the Soma ; and some of their descriptions have
44 VEDIC PERIOD, [BOOK ſ.
developed into strange Puranic legends in subsequent
times. One or two verses will illustrate this :—
“O Soma there is nothing so bright as thou. When
poured out, thou welcomest all the gods to bestow on
them immortality” (IX, 108, 3).
“The praiseworthy Soma has from ancient times been
the drink of the gods ; he was milked from the hidden
recesses of the sky ; he was created for Indra and was
extolled” (IX, 1 Io, 8).
“In that realm where there is perennial light, and
where the Heaven is placed, O Soma, lead me to that
deathless and immortal realm | Flow thou for Indra”
(IX, I 13, 7).
Such passages as these are to be found throughout the
ninth book of the Rig Veda. Who could have guessed
that the strange Puranic legends of the churning of the
ocean and the discovery of the Amrita or immortal drink
would have arisen from these single Vedic descriptions
of Soma | The sky in the Veda is considered watery, and
is often confused with the sea, and the milking of Soma
from the sky is translated in the Purarias into the churn-
ing of the ocean for the Amrita / t.”
It would appear from many passages in the Rig Veda
that many arts were carried to a high state of excellence.
Weaving was well known of course, and deft female
fingers wove the warp and the woof in ancient times
as in modern days (II, 3, 6 ; II, 38, 4, &c.). In one
curious passage (VI, 9, 2), the Rishi laments his igno-
rance of the mysteries of religious rites by saying : “I
know not the warp and I know not the woof” of re-
ligious rites ; and in another place (X, 26, 6), the weav-
ing and bleaching of sheep's wool are attributed to the
god Pushan, who, as we have already seen, is the god of
shepherds.
Every Aryan village had probably its barber then as
now ; and the clearances of forests by fire are in one
passage somewhat mysteriously described as the showing
CHAP. III.] ARTS OF PEACE, 45
of the earth (I, 164, 44). Carpentry was also well
known, and we have frequent allusions to the construc-
tion of carts and chariots (III, 53, 19 ; IV, 2, 14 ; IV,
16, 20, &c.) The use of iron, of gold, and of other
metals was well known ; in V, 9, 5, we have a reference
to the work of an ironsmith, and in VI, 3, 4, we are told
of goldsmiths melting gold.
But we get a better idea of working in metals in the
Vedic times from the description of various gold orna-
ments and iron utensils and implements of war which is
to be found throughout the Rig Veda. The allusions are
numerous, and we can therefore only make a selection
here which will convey a fair idea of the manufactures of
those days. We are told of armours used in war in
I, 14o, Io; in II, 39, 4 ; in IV, 53, 2 ; and in various other
places. In II, 34, 3, we have reference to golden helmets,
and in IV, 34, 9, there is mention of armour for the
shoulders or arms, probably a shield. The lightning has
been compared to a javelin (rishti) in V, 52, 6, and in
V. 54, 11 ; and also to a sword or battle-axe (bashi), and
to bows and arrows and quivers in V, 57, 2. Three
thousand mailed warriors are spoken of in VI, 27, 6 ;
feathered, sharp-pointed, shining shafts are described in
VI, 46, 11 ; and sharp-edged swords are spoken of in
VI, 47, Io. And in verses 26 and 29 of the same hymn
we are told of war-chariots and kettle-drums. And lastly,
in the 75th hymn of the sixth Mandala, we have a
Spirited account of the arms and accoutrements of war
which we will translate for our readers further on.
In IV, 2, 8, we have a reference to horses with golden
caparisons, and in IV, 37, 4, V, 19, 3, and many other
places we have allusions to the AVishka, a golden or-
nament worn in the neck. In V, 53, 4, the lighting orna-
ments of the Maruts are compared with jewelry (Amji),
with necklaces (Srak), with golden breastplates (Ružma),
and with bracelets and anklets (Ä/ad). In V, 54, 1 1,
We are again told of anklets for the feet, and golden
46 VEDIC PERIOD. [BOOK I.
breastplates for the breast, and of golden crowns (Sarah
hirammayih for the head.
Thus it will be seen that a very considerable advance
was made in the manufacture of arms, weapons, and
various kinds of ornaments. We have references also
to skin vessels (VI, 48, 18), and iron vessels (V, 30, 15),
and in several places, to iron towns, which must be taken
in a figurative sense as signifying strong forts (VII, 3, 7 ;
VII, I 5, I 4; VII, 95, I, &c.) We have also references
to a hundred stone-built towns in IV, 30, 20, and other
places.
There can be no doubt that in the various rocky and
mountainous tracts where the early Hindus established
their colonies, they soon learnt to utilise stone as a
durable and cheap material for architecture ; and there
can be no difficulty in believing that in numerous Hindu
towns many structures and surrounding walls were of
stone. That the art of building was carried to some
degree of excellence appears from many allusions to
mansions with thousand pillars (II, 41, 5 ; V, 62, 6, &c.);
but at the same time it must be admitted that there
is no distinct allusion in the Rig Veda to the art of
sculpture properly so-called. The researches of anti-
quarians have failed to discover in any part of India
traces of sculptured stone of a time long previous to the
Buddhist era ; and in the numerous great museums of
Europe, which are filled with the ancient stone monu-
ments of Egypt and Babylon, India is not represented
by any such monuments dating much before the Buddhist
Period. -
Most of the animals domesticated at the present day
were domesticated in India in the remote period of the
Rig Veda. We have spirited accounts of the war-horse
in several places (VI, 46, 13 and I 4, &c.) -
Indeed, these war-horses were so highly prized by the
early Aryans in their battles against the aborigines, that
the horse, under the name of Dadhikra, Soon became an
CHAP. III.] A RTS OF PEACE. 47
object of worship ; and in IV, 38, we have a spirited
account of the respect paid to this god-like being.
In IV, 4, 1, we have a reference to a king riding with
his ministers on an elephant. Annong other domesticated
animals, we have frequent mention of cows, goats, sheep,
buffaloes, and dogs, which last were used in carrying
burdens. -
CHAPTER IV.
II/21/?.S. AAV/) /)/SS/E/WS/OAVS,
As has been stated before, the early Hindus wrested
the fertile tracts on the banks of the Indus and its tribu-
taries from the primitive races of the Punjab ; but the
aborigines did not give up their birthright without a
struggle. Retreating before the more civilised organisa-
tion and valour of the Hindus in the open field, they still
hung round in fastnesses and forests near every Hindu
settlement and village, harassed them in their communi-
cations, waylaid and robbed them at every opportunity,
stole their cattle, and often attacked them in considerable
force. Well might they exclaim with the Gaels of
Scotland, who had been similarly dispossessed of their
fertile soil by the conquering Saxons, and had similarly
retreated to barren fastnesses : —
“These fertile plains, that softened valc,
Were once the birthright of the Gael;
The stranger came with iron hand,
And from our fathers reſt the land.
Where dwell we now P See rudely swell
Crag over crag, and fell o'er fell.
Pent in this fortress of the North,
Think’st thou we will not sally forth,
To spoil the spoiler as we may,
And from the robber rend the prey P
Ay, by my soul | While on yon plain
The Saxon rears one shock of grain,
While, of ten thousand herds, there strays
But one along yon river’s maze, -
The Gael, of plain and river heir,
Shall, with strong hand, redeem his share l’”
48
C. H.V. P. {V. } WARS, 49.
Unfortunately, however, they had no poef to hand
down to us their view of the case, and the Only account
we have of this long war of centuries is from the Con-
quering Hindus. It is needless to say that the conquerors
viewed the aborigines with the contempt and hatred
which have marked the conduct of all conquering nations,
whether on the banks of the Indus seventeen hundred
years before Christ, or on the banks of the Mississippi
Seventeen hundred years after Christ History repeats
itself; and the Punjab was cleared of its non-Aryan
aborigines just as the United States of America have,
in modern times, been cleared of the many powerful
and brave Indian races who lived and hunted and ruled
within its primeval forests.
Of these wars with the aborigines we have frequent
allusions in the Rig Veda ; and a translation of some of
these passages will give a better idea of these intermin-
able hostilities than any account that we can give of
them. The allusions are so numerous that our only
difficulty is in making a selection.
“Indra, who is invoked by many, and is accompanied
by his fleet companions, has destroyed by his thunder-
belt the ZXasyus and Simylºs who dwelt on earth, and then
he distributed the fields to his white-complexioned friends
(Aryans). The thunderer makes the sun shine and the
rain to fall” (I, Ioo, 18). “Indra with his weapon, the
thunderbolt, and in his vigour, destroyed the towns of
the Dasysts, and wandered at his will. Q holder of the
thunderbolt | be thou cognisant of our hymns, and cast
thy weapon against the Dasyu, and increase the vigour
and the fame of the Arya” (I, Io 3, 3).
In the very next hymn, we come across a curious allu-.
Sion to aboriginal robbers who dwelt on the banks of four
small streams called the Sifa, the Anjasi, the Kulisi, and
the Virapatni, whose courses cannot now be determined.
These robbers issued from their fastnesses and harassed
the civilised Aryan villages, much in the same way as
\ OL, '. I, 7
So VEDIC PERIOD, [BOOK I.
a true descendant of those aborigines, the Bhil Tantia in
our own times, harassed the peaceful villages of Central
India 1 We translate the two verses below :
“Kuyava gets scent of the wealth of others and appro-
priates it. He lives in water and pollutes it. His two
wives bathe in the stream ; may they be drowned in the
depths of the Siſa river !
“Ayu lives in water in a secret fastness. He flourishes
amidst the rise of waters. The rivers Anjasi, Kulisi, and
Virapatni protect him with their waters” (I, jo4, 3 and 4).
We proceed with some more extracts : —
“Indra protects his Arya worshipper in wars. He
who protects him on countless occasions, protects him
in all wars. He subdues the people who do not perform
sacrifices for the benefit of men (Aryans". He flays the
enemy of his black skin and kills him and reduces him to
ashes. He burns down all who do injury, and all who
are cruel” (I, 130, 8). w
“O destroyer of foes | collect together the heads of
these marauding troops, and crush them with thy wide
foot | Tby foot is wide : -
“O Indra destroy the power of these marauding
troops | Throw them into the vile pit—the vast and
vile pit !
“O Indra ! thou hast destroyed three times fifty such
troops | People extol this thy deed ; but it is nothing
compared to thy prowess
“O Indra ! destroy the Pishachis, who are reddish in
appearance and utter fearful yells. Destroy all these
Rakshasas **(I, 133, 2–5).
“O Indra ! the poet prays to thee for pleasant food.
Thou hast made the earth the bed (burial-ground) of the
Dasas. Indra has beautified the three regions with his
gifts; he has slayed Kuyavacha for King Daryoni.
“O Indra ! Rishis still extol that ancient deed of
* Pishachis and Rakshasas may mean imaginary demons. We
would rather think, however, that they here refer to the aborigines,
CHAP. IV.] WARS, 5 I
prowess | Thou hast destroyed many marauders to put an
end to war; thou hast stormed the towns of enemies who
worship no gods; and thou hast bent the weapons of
foes who worship no gods" (I, I 74, 7 and 8).
“O Asvins ! destroy those who are yelling hideously
like dogs, and are coming to destroy us ! Slay those who
wish to fight with us ! You know the way to destroy
them. Let each word of those who extol you bring
wealth in return, O you truthful ones accept our
prayers” (I, 182, 4).
“The far-famed and graceful Indra is gracious to men
(Aryans) The destroying and powerful Indra has cast
down the head of the malignant Dasa /
“Indra, who slayed Vritra and stormed towns, has
destroyed the troops of the black ZXasas, and has made
the earth and the water for Manu.” May he fulfil the
wishes of the sacrificer” (II, 20, 6 and 7).
We know how the Spaniards, the conquerors of
America, owed their successes to a very great extent to
their horses, animals previously unknown to the American
aborigines, and therefore regarded with a strange terror.
It would seem that the war-horses of the early Indo-
Aryans inspired the aborigines of India with a similar
fear. The following passages, translated from a hymn
to Dadhikra, or the defied war-horse, will therefore be
regarded with interest :—
“As people shout and raise a cry after a thief who
has purloined a garment, even so the enemies yell and
shout at the sight of Dadhikra ! As birds make a noise
at the sight of the hungry hawk on its descent, even so
the enemies yell and shout at the sight of Dadhikra.
careering in quest of plunder of food and cattle 1
“Enemies fear Dadhikra, who is radiant and destroy-
ing as a thunderbolt. When he beats back a thousand
* Here, as elsewhere, Manu is spoken of as the ancestor of the
Aryan man. In many places he is spoken of as the originator of culti-
vation and of the worship of fire which distinguished the Aryans.
men around him, he becomes excited and uncontrollable
in his strength " (IV, 38, 5 and 8). -
It would seem from numerous passages in the Rig
Veda that Kutsa was a powerful warrior and a mighty
destroyer of the black aborigines. We are told in hymn
16 of the fourth Mandala, that Indra slew the “Dasyſe,
who is wily and impious,” to bestow wealth on Kutsa
(verse 9); that he helped Kutsa and came to his house
with the common object of slaying the Daºye (verse lo);
and that he slew fifty thousand “black-complexioned
enemies” in battle (verse 13). In FV, -28, 4, we are told
that Indra has made the Dasya's devoid of all virtues,
and the object of hatred of all men ; and in IV, 30, 15,
we learn that Andra destroyed five hundred and a thou-
sand. Basas. - * -
We have similar allusions to the Subjugation and
destruction of Dasyas or AJasas in V, 7o, 3 ; VP, 18, 3 ;
and VI, 25, 2 ; while there is a curious reference to an
unknown region inhabited by the Dasyus in VI, 47, 20,
which deserves translation :- -
“O ye gods ! We have travelled and lost our way,
and come to a region where Cattle do not pasture. The
extensive region gives shelter to Dasyus only. O
Brihaspati lead us in our search for cattle. O Indra !
show the way to your worshippers who have lost their
way.” - . -
. It will be seen that the Aryan poets are sufficiently
uncomplimentary in speaking of the shouts and yells
of the aboriginal barbarians. The civilised conguerors
could scarcely imagine that these yells could form a
language, and have therefore in some places described
the barbarians as without a language (V, 29, Io, &c.)
We have spoken before of Kuyava and Ayu, two
aboriginal robbers who dwelt in fastnesses surrounded
by rivers, and harassed the Aryan villages. We have
frequent allusions to another powerful aboriginal ſeadey
who is called Krishna, probably because of his black
CHAP. IV.] WARS. 53
complexion. One of the passages relating to him de-
serves translation :- - *
«The fleet Krishna lived on the banks of the Ausulmaty
river with ten thousand troops. Indra of his own wisdom
became cognisant of this loud-yelling chief. He destroyed
the marauding host for the benefit of men (Aryans).
“Indra said: ‘I have seen the fleet Krishna. He is
hurking in the hidden region near the Ausumati, like the
sun in a cloud. O Maruts I desire you to engage in
fight, and to destroy him.’ -
“The fleet Krishna then appeared shining on the
banks of the Ausumati. Indra took Brihaspati as his
ally, and destroyed the fleet and godless army” (VIII,
96, 13–15). *
Not only have the aborigines been described as fond
of yelling and devoid of a language, but they are in other
places considered as scarcely buman. We are toki in
one place : - -
“We are surrounded on all sides by Dasyu tribes.
They do not perform sacrifices ; they do not believe in
anything; their rites are different ; they are not men ;
O destroyer of foes kiłl them. Destroy the Dasa race : ”
(X, 22, 8). - -
In X, 49, Indra proclaims that he has deprived the
JDasyu race of the name of Arya (verse 3); that he has
destroyed Navavastva and Brihadratha of the ZXzia race
(verse 6); that he cuts the Dasas in twain, -“it is ſor
this fate that they have been born ” (verse 7).
Such were the aborigines with whom the early Hindus
carried on an interminable war, and such was the fate
to which they consigned their less civilised neighbours,
the primeval owners of the Indian soil . It is abundantly
evident that no love was lost between the conquerors and
the conquered. It was by ceaseless fighting that the
conquerors protected themselves in their newly-conquered
country, gradually extended the limits of cultivation, built
new villages, threw out new colonies in primeval jungles,
54 VEDIC PERIOD. [BOOK I.
and spread the light of civilisation and the fame of their
prowess around. They hated the despised barbarians
with a genuine hatred, killed numbers of them when
they could, thinned their ranks with their horses, called
them yelling hounds and men without a tongue and
brutes below the rank of men, and almost believed they
were born to be slain,_*it is for this fate that they
have been born ?” On the other hand, the stubborn
barbarians had their revenge too. Retreating before the
more civilised valour of the Hindus, they hung about in
every fastness and every bend of a river, they waylaid
and robbed travellers, harassed villages, killed or stole
cattle, and sometimes fell on the Hindus in great
numbers. With that dogged tenacity which is peculiar
to barbarians they disputed every inch of ground as they
retreated, they interrupted the religious rites of the
conquerors, despised their gods, and plundered their
wealth. But in spite of every resistance the colonies of
the more civilised races extended in every direction, the
area of civilisation widened, jungles and wastes were
brought under cultivation and dotted with villages and
royal towns, and the kingdom of the early Hindus ex-
tended over the whole of the Punjab. The barbarians
were either exterminated, or retreated before the ever-
advancing line of Aryan civilisation into those hills and
fastnesses which their children still inhabit.
It may be imagined, however, that some among the
weaker barbarians preferred abject subjection to exter-
mination or exile. We find traces accordingly in the
Rig Veda of Dasyus who at last owned the domination
of the more powerful race, and who adopted their civili-
sation and their language. These, then, where the first
Aſinduised aborigines of India. -
Our extracts on the subject of the wars of the Aryans with
the aborigines have been numerous. We will now quote
one or two passages to show that the Aryan conquerors
were not always at peace among themselves | Sudaš was
CHAP. IV.] WARS. 55
an Aryan king and conqueror, and we are frequently told
that various Aryan tribes and kings combined against
him, and he was victorious over them all. The allusions
to these internecine wars among Aryan races, and to thc
particular tribes who fought against Sudas, are historically
among the most important passages in the Rig Veda.
“8. The wily foes planned destruction, and broke
down the embankment of the Adina (to cause an inunda-
tion). But Sudas filled the earth with his prowess, and
Kavi, the son of Chayamana, fell like a victim.
“9. For the waters of the river flowed through their
old channel and did not take a new course ; and Sudas’
horse marched over the country. Indra placed the hostile
and talkative men and their children under Sudas.
“I 1. Sudas earned glory by killing twenty-one men
of both regions. As the young priest cuts the kusa grass
in the house of sacrifice, even so Sudas cut his enemies.
The hero Indra sent the Maruts for his succour.
“14. The sixty-six thousand six-hundred and sixty-
six warriors of Anu and Druhya, who had desired for
cattle, and were hostile to Sudas, were laid low. These
deeds proclaim the glory of Indra ! -
“17. It was Indra who enabled the poor Sudas to
achieve these deeds. Indra enabled the goat to kill the
strong lion. Indra felled the sacrificial post with a
needle. He bestowed all the wealth on Sudas” (VII, 18).
The poet Tritsu or Vasishtha, who sang these deeds of
Sudas’ glory, was not unrewarded for his immortal verse.
For in verses 22 and 23, he acknowledges with gratitude
that the valiant Sudās rewarded him with two hundred
cows and two chariots and four horses with gold trappings!
We quote below another hymn relating to Sudas.
“I. O Indra and Varuna | Your worshippers, relying
on your help and seeking to win cattle, have marched
eastwards with their weapons. Crush, Indra and Varuna,
your enemies, whether Dasas or Aryas, and deſend Sudas
with your protection.
56 VEDIC [PERIOD, | BOOK J.
“2. Where men raise their banners and meet in
battle, where nothing seems to favour us, where the men
look up to the sky and tremble, then, O Indra and
Varuna help us and Speak to us words of comfort.
“3. O Indra and Varuna the ends of the earth seem
to be lost, and the noise ascends to the skies . The
troops of the enemy are approaching. O Indra and
Varuna who ever listen to prayers, come near us with
your protection. -
“4. O Indra and Varuna 1 you pierced the yet un-
assailed Bheda, and saved Sudas. You listened to the
prayers of the Tritsus. Their priestly vocation bore fruit
in the hour of battle.
“5. O Indra and Varuna the weapons of the enemy
assail me in all directions, the foes assail me among
marauding men. You are the owners of both kinds of
wealth ! Save us in the day of battle.
“6. Both parties invoked Indra and Varuna for wealth
at the time of war. But in this battle you protected
Sudas with the Tritsus who were attacked by ten kings.
“7. O Indra and Varuna the ten kings who did not
perform sacrifices were unable, though combined, to beat
Sudas.” 4.
“8. You bestowed vigour, Indra and Varuna, to
Sudas, when surrounded by ten chiefs; when the white-
robed Tritsus, wearing braided hair, worshipped you with
oblations and hymns” (VII, 83).
Another remarkable hymn gives an account of the
weapons used in war in those days. We make some
extra C[S :— o -
“I. When the battle is nigh, and the warrior marches
in his armour, he appears like the cloud Warrior, let
not thy person be pierced ; be victorious ; let thy armour
protect you !
“2. We will win cattle with the bow, we will win
with the bow ; we will conquer the fierce and proud
enemy with the bow ! May the bow foil the desires of
CHAP. IV. J WARS. . 57
the enemy We will spread our conquests on all sides
with the bow
“3. The string of the bow when pulled approaches
the ear of the archer, making way in battle. it whispers
words of consolation to him, and with sound it clasps the
arrow, even as a loving wife clasps her husband. -
“5. The quiver is like the parent of many arrows; the
many arrows are like its children. It makes a sound,
and hangs on the back of the warrior, and furnishes
arrows in battle, and conquers the enemy.
“6. The expert charioteer stands or his chariot an&
drives his horses wheresoever he will. The reins restrain
the horses from behind. Sing of their glory'ſ
“7. The horses raise the dust with their hoofs, and
career over the field with the chariots, with loud neigh-
ings. They do not retreat, but trample the marauding
enemies under their feet, . . . .
“11. The arrow is feathered ; the deer (horn) is its
teeth. Well pulled and sent by the cow-leather-string,
it falls on the enemy. Wherever men stand together or
are separate, there the shafts reap advantage. -
... “I 4. The leather guard protects the arm from the
abrasion of the bow-string, and coils round the arm like
a snake in its convolutions. It knows its work, and is
efficient, and protects the warrior in every way.
“15. We extol the arrow which is poisoned, whose
face is of iron ;” whose stem is of Parjanya” (VI, 75 ).
Before concluding our extracts, we will make one more
from a hymn about the coronation of victorious kings.
“I. O king ! I place you in the station of a king.
Be the lord of this country ! Be immovable and fixed
Het all the subjects cherish thee | Let not your kingdom
be destroyed - -
* This passage shows that the arrow-heads were of iron. Par-
janya is the god of rains. Stems of Parjanya probably mean stems
of reed growing in the rains. Verse I H shows that arrow-heads
were sometimes of deer-horn. . . * ,
4
WOL. I. 8
58 - V ET) BC P FR I O D. | BOOK 1.
“2. Remain here fixed as the mountain ; do not be
dcthroned Remain fixed like Indra, and support the
kingdom
“3. Indra has received the sacrificial offerings, and
Supports the newly-coronated king ! Soma blesses him.
“4. The sky is fixed, the earth is fixed, the moun-
tains are fixed, this universe is fixed. He also is fixed
as king among his subjects :
“5. May King Varuna make you immovable May
the good Brihaspati make you immovable ; may Indra
and Agni support you and make you immovable.
“6. See, I mix these in mortal offerings with the
immortal Soma-juice. Indra has brought your subjects
under your rule, and made them willing to pay you
revenue !” (X, 173). *
These extracts are enough. We have elsewhere shown
...that the warriors used not only armour and helmets, but
also protecting armour for the shoulder, probably shields.
They used javelins and battle-axes, and sharp-edged
swords, beside bows and arrows. All the weapons of
war known elsewhere in ancient times were known in
India four thousand years ago. Drums assembled men
in battle, banners led them on in compact masses, and
the use of war-horses and chariots was well known.
Tame elephants were in use too, and we have allusions
to kings riding on richly-caparisoned elephants with their
ministers (HV, 4, 8). But it does not appear that elephants
were regularly used in war in the Vedic Period, as they
were in the third and fourth centuries before Christ
when the Greeks came to India.
For the rest, it was a turbulent time when the Vedic
warriors, lived and fought. They had not only to wage
an interminable war against the aborigines, but the Hindu
States were divided anyong themselves, and a powerful
leader was often bent on annexing his neighbour's
state. Rishis engaged in sacrifices asked for prowess
to conquer the foes, or prayed to the gods for Sons
CHAP. IV.] WARS. 59
who would win victory in battles. Every able-bodied
man was a warrior, and was ever prepared to defend his
home and his fields and his cattle with his strong right
arm. Every Hindu colony or tribe, while attentive to the
worship of the gods and to the cultivation of the various
arts of peace, was at the same time alive to the fact that
its national existence depended on a constant prepared-
ness for war. And the great conglomeration of Hindu
tribes, which spread from the banks of the Indus to the
banks of the Sarasvati, consisted of hardy, brave, and
warlike peoples, who maintained their footing in the land,
and their independence and national existence by constant
struggles, and a determination to win or die.
It is sad to contemplate this state of things. But
where is the country in which, in ancient times, tribes
and nations had not to maintain a ceaseless war for their
aggrandisement, or even for their very existence P And
even in modern times, during the two thousand years
which have elapsed since Gautama Buddha and Jesus
Christ preached their messages of peace, where shall we
seek for the tribe or nation which could hope to reap the
results of its peaceful industry without a constant strug-
gle against its neighbours ? With the exception of a few
Countries advantageously situated, all the nations of
Europe are armed to the teeth ; all the individuals, by
millions, of great kingdoms and empires, are eternally
prepared for war, ready on a week’s notice to leave their
homes and occupations and march to the frontier 1.
Civilisation has done much for the cause of humanity ;
but civilisation has not converted the sword into the
scythe, or enabled man to reap the results of his peace-
ful industry without a struggle to the death against his
neighbour. -
CHAPTER V.
SOC/.4/, ///7ZZ.
Pr was by such continuous wars against the aborigines of
the soil that the Aryans at last conquered the whole off
the Punjab from the Indus to the Saraswati, and from
the mountains probably to the sea.
As might be expected, we have frequent allusions to
the Indus and its five tributaries. Hymn 75 of the tenth
Mandala is a remarkable instance, and we will give our
readers a translation of the entire hymn :- y
“I. O ye streams The bard celebrates your excellent
prowess in the house of the worshipper. They flow
in three systems, seven streams in each system. The
prowess of the Indus is superior to that of all others.
“2. O Indus ! when you ran towards lands rich in
food, Varuna opened out the way for you. You flow over
a spacious path on the land. You Shine above all flowing
rivers. * *
“3. The mighty sound of the Indus ascends above the
earth to the sky She flows with mighty force, and in
radiant form. Her mighty sound is heard as if rains are
descending from the clouds with great noise. The
Indus comes roaring like a bull.
“4. As cows bring milk to their calves, even thus, O.
Tndus, the other streams come sounding to you with their
waters As a king marches with his forces to battle,
even thus you march in front with two systems of rivers
£1 - ... : icle lik
flowing by your side
g--—
* f.e., the tributaries coming from Cabul in the west, and the
tributaries flowing through the Punjab in the east, as named in the
two following verses.
6cs,
cHAP. V.] SOCIAL LIFE. 61
***---------,
“5. O Ganga O Yamuna and Sarasvati and Sutudri
(Sutlej) and Parushni (Ravi) share this my praise
among you ! O river combined with Asikni (Chinab )
O Vitasta (Jhilam) O Arjikiya (Beas), combined with
Sushoma (Indus) hear my words, o
“6. O Indus first thou flowest united with Trishtama,
then with Susartu and Rasa and the Sveti. You unite
Krumu ( Kurum river) and Gomati (Gomal river) with
Kubha (Cabul river) and Mehatnu. You proceed to-
gether with these rivers, -
“7. The irresistible Indus proceeds straight, white
and dazzling in splendour ! She is great, and her waters
fill all sides with mighty force. Of all the flowing rivers,
none is flowing like her | She is wild like a mare, beauti-
ful like a well-developed woman : -
“8. The Indus is ever young and beautiful. She is
rich in horses, in chariots, and in garments ; she is rich
in gold and is beauteously clad | She is rich in corn and
in wool and in straw, and has covered herself with sweet
flowers. * * • r
“9. The Indus bas fastened horses to her easy chariot,
and has brought food therein to us. The greatness of
the chariot is extolled as mighty ; it is irresistible and
great and rich in its fame tº
The hymn is remarkable for its power and its beauty,
and remarkable also for the extensive vision of the poet
who, as Professor Max Müller says, takes in at one swoop
three great river-systems, those flowing from the north-
west into the Indus, those joining it from the north-east,
and in the distance the Ganges and the Jumna with their
tributaries. “It shows the widest geographical horizon
of the Vedic poets, confined by the snowy mountains in
the north, the Indus and the range of the Suleiman
mountains in the west, the Indus or the sea in the south,
and the valley of the Jumna and Ganges in the east.
Beyond that the world, though open, was unknown to
the Vedic poets.”
62 VEDIC I ERIOD. [BOOK 1.
The rivers of the Punjab are sometimes spoken of
together as the “seven rivers,” and it is explained in one
place ( VII, 36, 6), that the Seven rivers have the Indus
for their mother and the Sarasvati as the seventh. The
Indus and its five branches still water the primeval home
Of the early Hindus, but the Sarasvati, which was the
most sacred of ancient rivers and was worshipped even
in that remote time as a goddess, has since ceased to flow.
Its bed is still visible near Kurukshetra and Thanesvar,
and these places are still considered sacred by the Hindus.
There is one somewhat curious passage in which the
Rishi Visvamitra, encumbered with the chariots and horses
and other rewards bestowed on him by King Sudas, finds
a difficulty in crossing the confluence of the Beas and
the Sutlej, and pours out an entire hymn (III, 33) to
appease the anger of the roaring flood We have seen
that this Sudas was a mighty conqueror and subjugated
ten surrounding kings, and was the victor of great
battles which form the theme of some spirited hymns.
This mighty conqueror seems also to have been a patron
of learning and religion, and liberally rewarded the sages
of the houses of Visvamitra and Vasishtha alike. As a
consequence, there was jealousy between these two
priestly houses to which we will allude further on.
While references to the rivers of the Punjab are thus
frequent, allusions to the Ganges and the Jumna are
rare. We have already translated a hymn in which both
those rivers are named. t
The only other passage in the Rig Veda where the
Ganges is alluded to, is VI, 45, 31, where the high banks
of the Ganges are the subject of a simile. The famed
cattle in the pasture-fields along the banks of the Jumna
are alluded to in V, 52, 17.
Thus the land of the five rivers was the earliest home
of the Aryan settlers in India ; and it would seem that
the settlers along the five rivers gradually formed them-
selves into five tribes or nations. The “five lands”
CIIAP. V.] SOCIAL I.I.F.ſ. 63
(Pancha-Kshiti) are alluded to in I, 7, 9; I, 176, 3 ; VI,
49, 7, and in other places. Similarly we read of the “five
cultivating tribes” (Pancha-Krishti) in II, 2, Io; IV, 38,
ro; and other places, and we read of “five peoples 3 y
(Pancha-ſana) in VI, II, 4 ; VI, 51, II : VIII, 32, 22 ;
IX, 65, 23, and other places.
It was these “five tribes” of simple, bold, and enter-
prising Aryans, living by agriculture and by pasture on
the fertile banks of the Indus and its tributaries, which
have spread their civilisation from the Himalayas to Cape
Comorin.
We now turn to the interesting and pleasing subject of
the social and domestic manners and the home-life of these
five tribes of the Punjab. The first thing that strikes us
here is the absence of those unhealthy rules and restric-
tions, those marked distinctions between man and man
and between class and class, which form the most un-
pleasant feature of later Hindu society. We have already
seen that the sturdy Hindus of the Vedic times recognised
no restrictions against the use of beef, and that they refer
with pride to their merchants going to the sea. We have
seen too, that the Rishis did not form a separate and exclu-
sive class, and did not pass their lives away from the world
in penance and contemplation. On the contrary, the
Rishis were practical men of the world who owned large
herds of cattle, cultivated fields, fought against the abori-
ginal enemies in times of war, and prayed to their gods
for wealth and cattle, for victory in wars, and for blessings
on their wives and children. Every father of a family was
in fact a Rishi on a small scale, and worshipped his gods
in his own house in his own humble fashion, and the
women of the family joined in the worship, and helped in
the performance of the ceremonies. Some among the
community were of course prominent in the composition
of hymns and the performance of great sacrifices ; and
kings and rich men sent for them on great occasions,
and rewarded them handsomely. But even these great
64 º VEDIC PERIOD. [3OOK I.
composers—these great Rishis of the Rig Veda—did not
form an exclusive caste of their own. They were worldly
men, mixed and married with the people, shared property
with the people, fought the wars of the people, and were
of the people, - r
One martial Rishi for instance (in V, 23, 2) prays for a
son who will conquer enemies in war. Another (in VI,
20, I) prays for wealth and corn-fields and a son who will
destroy his foes. Another (in IX, 69, 8) prays for wealth
and gold, for horses and cows, for profuse harvests, and
excellent progeny. Another Rishi, with naïve simplicity,
says that his cattle are his wealth and his Indra (VI,
28, 5.) Throughout the Rig Veda the Rishis are the
people. There is not the shadow of any evidence that
the Rishis or priests were a “caste” of their own, different
from the fighters and cultivators.” . . . . . .
This will be considered by impartial judges to be very
good evidence that the caste-system did not exist. It
proves a negative much more convincingly than many
positive facts can be proved. In a vast collection of
hymns, composed during six hundred years and more,
and replete with references to the habits and manners
and customs of the people, replete with allusions to
agriculture and pasture and manufacture, to wars against
aborigines, to marriage and domestic rules, and the duties
and position of women, to religious observances and to
elementary astronomy as then known, we have not one
single passage to show that the community was cut
up into hereditary “Casſes.” Is it possible to suppose
* The solitary mention of the four castes, in X, 9o, 12, will not be
considered an exception, or weaken our argument. The hymn itself
was composed centuries after the time when the Rig Veda hymns were
generally composed. as is proved by its language and its ideas. It was
composed aſtor the Rík, and the Saman and the Yajur Vedas had been
separately classified (verse 9), and after the idea of the sacrifice the
Supreme Being (unknown elsewhere in the Rig Veda) had found a
place in the Hindu religion. It was composed, as Colebrooke states,
after the rude versification of the Rig Veda had givgn place to the
more sonorous metre of a later age. All Scholars agree as to this
hymn being consparative!y moderb. # , - . . . ;
CHAP. V.) SOCIA [., I, 1 FE. - - 65
that that wonderful system existed, and yet there is no
allusion to that fundamental principle of society in the
ten thousand verses of the Rig Veda 2 Is it possible to
find a single religious work of later times, of one-tenth
the dimensions of the Rig Veda, which is silent on that
system P
So far, then, we have proved a negative in the only
way in which a negative can be proved. But curiously
enough there is positive proof, and various passages in
the Rig Veda show, that the caste-system did not exist.
The very word “zarma,” which in later Sanscrit indicates
caste, is used in the Rig Veda to distinguish the Aryans
and the non-Aryans, and nowhere indicates separate Sec-
tions in the Aryan community (III, 34, 9, &c.). The very
word Kshatriya, which in later Sanscrit means the mili-
tary caste, is used in the Veda simply as an adjective
which means strong, and is applied to gods (VII, 64, 2 ;
VII, 89, 1, &c.). The very word Vipra, which in later
Sanscrit means the pristly caste, is used in the Rig Veda
merely as an adjective which means wise, and which is
applied to gods (VIII, II, 6, &c.). And the very word
Brahmana, which in later Sanscrit means also the priestly
caste, is used in a hundred places in the Rig Veda to imply
the composers of hymns, and nothing else (VII, IoS, 8, &c.).
We would gladly multiply evidence, but our limits
forbid. But we cannot help producing one piece of
evidence. With that charming simplicity which is the
characteristic beauty of the Rig Veda, one Rishi says
pathetically of himself :-
“Behold, I am a composer of hymns, my father is a
physician, my mother grinds corn on stone, We are all
engaged in different occupations. As cows wander (in
various directions) in the pasture-fields for food, so
we (in various occupations) worship thee, O Somal for
wealth. Flow thou for Indra !” (IX, 1 12, 3). Those
who suppose that the hereditary caste-system existed
in the Vedic times will find some difficulty in explaining
V" () [.. [. Q
66 VEDIC PRRIOD. [BOOK I,
passages like the above, where father, mother, and son
are described as physician, corn-grinder, and composer
of hymns !
Later asserters of the caste-system have sometimes
tried to explain these passages, and with the most won-
derful results Like most other Rishis of the Rig Veda
(who, we have seen before, constantly prayed for warlike
sons), Visvamitra was a warrior and a composer of hymns.
Hater Hindus were shocked at this, and invented a
beautiful Puranic myth to explain how Visvamitra was
first a Kshatriya and then became a Brahman. Need-
less endeavour, for Visvamitra was neither a Kshatriya
nor a Brahman He was a Vedic Rishi, i.e., a warrior
and priest, long before the Brahmaps and the Kshatriyas,
as such, were known * g
As we have seen, then, every father of a family was his
own priest, and his home was his temple. There is no
mention of idols in the Rig Veda, none of temples or
places of worship where the people were to congregate.
The sacred fire was lighted in the house of every house-
holder, and he chanted the beautiful and simple hymns
which we now find collected in the Rig Veda. We have
a pleasing picture of women wbo assisted at these sacri-
* It gives us much pleasure to be able to cite here the authority of
three scholars who have devoted their lifetime to the study of the Veda,
and who form the Triumvirate of Vedic scholarship in Europe :-
“If then, with all the documents before us, we ask the question,
does caste, as we find it in Manu, and at the present day, form part
of the most ancient religious teaching of the Vedas P. We can answer
with a decided ‘No.’ ”—Max Müller, Chips from a Ger/ean Work-
shop, vol. ii. (1867), p. 307. - *
“There are no castes as yet, the people are still one united whole,
and bear but one name, that of Visas.”—Weber, Indian Ziterature
(translation), p. 38. **If p * *
And lastly, Dr. Roth shows how in the Vedic Age the domestic
priests of petty kings were called Brahmans, and had not yet formed
into a caste. And the great scholar explains how in a later age, that
of the Mahabharata, “powerful communities should arise among the
domestic priests of petty kings, and their families should attain to the
highest importance in every department of life, and should grow into
a raste.”—Quoted in Muir's Sanscrić Texts, vol. i. (1872), p. 291.
CHAr. V.] SOCIAL LIFE. 67
fices, who ordered the necessary things, prepared them
with pestle and mortar, extracted the Soma-juice, stirred
it with their figures, and strained it through a woollen.
strainer. In numerous places we find mention of wives
joining their husbands, and performing the sacrifice to-
gether. They offer the oblations together, and hº
thereby to go to heaven together (I, 131, 3 ; V, 43, 15,
&c.). A few verses from a pious hymn on this subject
will no doubt interest our readers.
“5. O ye gods ! The married couple who prepare
oblations together, who purify the Soma-juice and mix
it with milk. - - -
“6. May they obtain food for their eating, and come
united to the sacrifice. May they never have to go in
quest of food. -
“7. They do not make vain promises of offerings to
the gods, nor withhold your praise. They worship you
with the best offerings. . .
“8. Blest with youthful and adolescent offspring, they
acquire gold, and they both attain to a mature age. .
“9. The gods themselves covet the worship of such
a couple who are fond of sacrifices, and offer grateful food
to the gods. They embrace each other to continue their
race, and they worship their gods !” (VIII, 31). -
Still more grateful to usis the picture of cultured ladies
who were themselves Rishis, and composed hymns and
performed sacrifices like men. For there were no un-
healthy restrictions against women in those days, no
attempt to keep them secluded or uneducated or debarred
from their legitimate place in society. There is mention
of veiled wives and brides, but no allusion to women being
kept in seclusion. On the contrary, we meet them every-
where in their legitimate spheres of action, taking a share
in sacrifices, and exercising their influence on society.
We cherish the picture of the cultured lady Visvavara,
which has been handed down to us through thousands of
years, -a pious lady who composed hymns, performed
6$ V}. DIC PRRIO'ſ). - [Book 1,
sacrifices, and with true fervency invoked the god Agni
to regulate and keep within virtuous bounds the mutual
relations of married couples (V, 28, 3). We meet with
the names of other ladies also who were Rishis of the Rig
Veda. -
In a Society so simple as that of the Vedic times, the
relations of life were determined by the needs and re-
quirements of individuals rather than by cast-iron rules
as in later days ; and there was no religious obligation,
therefore, that every girl must be married. On the con-
trary, we find allusions to unmarried women who remained
in the homes of their fathers, and naturally claimed and
obtained a share of the paternal property (II, 17, 7).
On the other hand, we have frequent references to care-
ful and industrious wives who superintended the arrange-
ments of the house, and like the dawn roused and sent
every one in the house to his work in the morning (I,
124, 4), and who possessed those domestic virtues for
which Hindu wives have always been noted from the
earliest to the present times. Occasionlly we have allu-
sions to women who went astray (II, 29, 1); to maidens
who had no brothers to watch over their morals ; and
wives who were faithless to their husbands (IV, 5, 5 ;
X, 34, 4). And we are told of the wife of a ruined
gambler who becomes the object of other men's lust
(X, 34, 4). -
It would seem that girls had some voice in the selec-
tion of their husband. Their selection was not always
happy, for “many a woman is attracted by the wealth of
him who seeks her. But the woman who is of gentle
nature and of graceful form selects, among many, her own
loved one as her husband” (X, 27, 1 2 ). We can almost
imagine we see the Swayamvara system of later times
foreshadowed in the above verse. There can be no doubt,
however, that fathers always exercised a wise control in
the selection of husbands for their daughters ; and as at
the present day, fathers gave away their girls gracefully
CHAP. V.] SOCIAL LIFE. 69
adorned and decked with golden ornaments ( IX, 46, 2 ;
X, 39, I4 ).
The ceremony of marriage was an appropriate one,
and the promises which the bridegroom and bride made
to each other were suitable to the occasion. We will
translate some verses from a hymn in the later portion
of the Rig Veda, in which we find a pleasing picture of
the ceremony. The first two among the following verses
will show that the unnatural custom of child-marriage.
was unknown, and that girls were married after they had
attained their youth :—
“21. O Visvavasu ! ( god of marriage ), arise from
this place, for the marriage of this girl is over. We extol
Viswavasu with hymns and prostrations. Go to some
other maiden who is still in her father's house and has
attained the signs of the age of marriage. She will be
your share, know of her.
“22. O Visvavasu ! arise from this place. We wor-
ship thee, bending in adoration. Go to an unmarried
maiden whose person is well developed ; make her a
wife and unite her to a husband.
. “23. Let the paths by which our friends go in quest
of a maiden for marriage be easy and free of thorns.
May Aryaman and Bhaga lead us well. O gods may the
husband and wife be well united.
“24. O maiden the graceful sun had fastened thee
with ties (of maidenhood ), we release thee now of those
ties. We place thee with thy husband in a place which
is the home of truth and the abode of righteous actions.
“25. We release this maiden from this place (her
father's house), but not from the other place (her hus-
band's house). We unite her well with the other place:
O Indra ! may she be fortunate and the mother of
worthy sons.
“26. May Pushan lead thee by the hand from this
place. May the two Asvins lead thee in a chariot. Go
to thy (husband's) house and be the mistress of the house,
7 O V]. DIC Phºk IOID. [ book 1.
Be the mistress of all, and exercise thine authority over
all in that house.
“27. Let children be born unto thee, and blessings
attend thee here. Perform the duties of thy household
with care. Unite thy person with the person of this thy
husband ; exercise thy authority in this thy house until
old age.
“40. First Soma accepts thee ; then Gandharva ac-
cepts thee ; Agni is thy third lord ; the son of man is
the fourth to accept thee.*
“4 ſ. Soma bestowed this maiden to Gandharva,
Gandharva gave her to Agni, Agni has given her to me
with wealth and progeny.
“42. O bridegroom and bride do ye remain here
together ; do not be separated. Enjoy food of various
kinds ; remain in your own home, and enjoy happiness
in company of your children and grandchildren.
“43. (The bride and bridegroom say), May Prajapati
bestow on us children ; may Aryaman keep us united till
old age. (Address to the bride), O bride Enter with aus-
picious signs the home of thy husband. Do good to our
male servants and our female servants, and to our cattle.
“44. Be thine eyes free from anger ; minister to the
happiness of thy husband ; do good to our cattle. May
thy mind be cheerful ; and may thy beauty be bright.
J3e the mother of heroic sons, and be devoted to the
gods. Do good to our male servants and our female
servants, and to our cattle. -
“45. O Indra ! make this woman fortunate and the
mother of worthy sons. I.et ten sons be born of her,
so that there may be eleven men in the family with the
husband. g
“46. (Address to the bride), May thou have influence
over thy father-in-law, and over thy mother-in-law, and be
as a queen over thy sister-in-law and brother-in-law.
- - - - - - - - - - - -------> ---sºmº
* This and the following verse would show that the bride was
ºf ſcred to the three gods beforc She was unitcq to the bridlegroolin.
CHAP. V. SOCIAL LIFE, 7 I
“47. (The bridegroom and bride say), May all the
gods unite our hearts ; may Matarisvan and Dhatri and
the goddess of speech unite us together” (X, 85).
Our extract has been somewhat lengthy, but Our
readers will not regret it. The extract shows at once the
appropriate nature of the ceremony that was performed,
and the position which the young bride occupied in the
home and the affections of her lord.
Polygamy was allowed among kings and the rich
people in Vedic times, as it was allowed in olden times
in all countries and annong all nations. Domestic dissen-
sions were the natural result in such instances, and we
have hymns in the latter part of the Rig Veda in which
wives curse their fellow-wives (X, 145 ; X, 159). The
evil seems, however, to have grown in the latter part of
the Vedic Age, for there are scarcely any allusions to it
in the earlier hymns.
There are two curious verses which seem to lay down
the law of inheritance, and are therefore of peculiar in-
terest. We give a translation below : —
“I. The father who has no son honours his son-in-law,
capable of begetting sons, and goes (i. e., leaves his pro-
perty) to the son of his daughter. The sonless father
trusts in his daughter's offspring, and lives content.
“2. A son does not give any of his father's property
to a sister. He gives her away to be the wife of a hus-
band. If a father and mother beget both son and daughter,
then one (i. e., son) engages himself in the acts and
duties of his father, while the other (daughter) receives
honour” (III, 31).
This is the first germ of the Hindu law of inheritance,
which makes the son, and not the daughter, the inheritor
of his father's property and religious duties, and which
allows the property to go to the daughter's son only in
the absence of male issue. We think we discover the
first germs of the Hindu law of adoption too in such
passages as the following :--
72 VEDIC PrºRIO.D. [ROOK I.
“As a man, who is not indebted gets much wealth, so
we too shall get the treasure that endures (i.e., a son),
O Agni ! let us not have son begotten of another. Do
not follow the ways of the ignorant.
“A Son begotten of another may yield us happiness,
but can never be regarded or accepted as one’s own.
And verily he ultimately goes back to his own place.
Therefore, may a son be newly born unto us who
will bring us food and destroy ours foes” (VII, 4, 7
and 8). - R
We have spoken in this chapter of marriage and in-
heritance ; we will complete our account of domestic
customs, by making some extracts with regard to funeral
rites. Yama in the Rig Veda is not the god of hell, but
the god of the heaven of the righteous, the god who
rewards the virtuous man after his death, in a happy
land. His two dogs, however, are objects to be avoided
or propitiated. -
“7. O. thou deceased proceed to the same place
where our forefathers have gone, by the same path which
they followed. The two kings, Yama and Varuna, are
pleased with the offerings; go and see them. tº r
“8. Go to that happy heaven and mix with the early
forefathers. Mix with Yama and with the fruits of thy
virtuous deeds. Leave sin behind, enter thy home.
“9. O ye ghosts 1 leave this place, go away, move
away. For the forefathers have prepared a place for
the deceased. That place is beautiful, with day, with
sparkling waters and with light ; Yama assigns this place
to the dead. : 3.
“Io. O thou deceased these two dogs have four
eyes each, and a strange colour. Go past them quickly.
Then proceed by the beautiful path to those wise fore-
fathers, who spend their time in joy and happiness with
Yama” (X, 14). -
| These verses give us some idea of the belief in future
happiness as it prevailed among the Hindus of the Vedic
C{IAP, v. 1 SOCIAL LIFE. 73
Age. The rites of cremation and burial are alluded to
in the following passages:— - - .
“O fire I do not reduce this deceased into ashes ; do
not give him pain. Do not mangle his skin or his person.
O fire send him to the home of our fathers as soon as
his body is burnt in thy heat” (X, 16, 1). -
“Io. O thou deceased I go to the extended earth who
is as a mother ; she is extensive and beautiful. May her
touch be soft as that of wool or of a female. You
have performed sacrifices, may she save thee from un-
righteousness. - -
“I 1. O earth ! rise up above him, do not give him
pain. Give him good things, give him consolation. As
a mother covers her child with the hem of her cloth, so
cover the deceased. -
“12. Let the earth, raised on him as a mound, lie
light. Let a thousand particles of dust rest on him.
Let them be to him as a house filled with butter, let
them form a shelter to him” (X, 18).
It remains only to allude to one more remarkable
verse of this hymn, which distinctly sanctions the mar-
riage of widows:–
“Rise up, woman, thou art lying by one whose life is
gone ; come to the world of the living, away from thy
husband, and become the wife of him who holds thy
hand, and is willing to marry thee” (X, 18, 8).
The translation is based on Sayana’s rendering of the
passage in the Taittiriya Aranyaka, and there can be little
doubt as to its correctness, because the word Didhishu
used in the passage has only one meaning in the Sanscrit
language, ziz, the second husband of a woman. We
quote here with pleasure the following remarks with which
Dr. Rajendra Lala Mitra winds up a paper on Funeral
Ceremony in Ancient India :—“That the remarriage of
widows in Vedic times was a national custom, can be
established by a variety of proofs and arguments; the
very fact of the Sanscrit language having, from ancient
VQL. I. IO
74 VEDIC PERIOD). [BOOK I.
,------
a widow,’ Parapurva, ‘a woman that has taken a second
husband,’ Paunarbhava, ‘a son of a woman by her second
husband,’ are enough to establish it.” - #
It is with pain and regret that we refer to another
passage, also belonging to this remarkable hymn, which
is perfectly harmless in the Rig Veda itself, but which
was altered and mistranslated in later times to sanction
the barbarous custom of Safi, or the burning of the
widow on the pyre of her husband. That most cruel of
all modern Hindu institutions finds no sanction in the
Rig Veda. There is a perfectly harmless passage (X,
18, 7), which refers to a procession of women at a funeral
ceremony. The passage may be thus translated :--
“May these women not suffer the pangs of widowhood.
May they who have good and desirable husbands, enter
their houses with collyrium and butter. Let these women,
without shedding tears, and without any sorrow, first
proceed to the house, wearing valuable ornaments.”
There is not a word in the above relating to the
burning of widows. But a word in it Agre was altered
into Agne, and the text was then mistranslated and mis-
applied in Bengal to justify the modern custom of the
burning of widows. In the words of Professor Max
Müller, “This is, perhaps, the most flagrant instance of
what can be done by an unscrupulous priesthood. Here
have thousands of lives been sacrificed and a fanatical
rebellion been threatened on the authority of a passage
which was mangled, mistranslated, and misapplied.”
CHAPTER VI.
WAE/J/C A'AºA. MGAOAV.
THE religion of the Rig Veda is well known. It is pre-
eminently the worship of Nature in its most imposing
and sublime aspects. The sky which bends over all, the
beautiful and blushing dawn which like a busy housewife
wakes men from slumber and sends them to their work,
the gorgeous tropical sun which vivifies the earth, the
air which pervades the world, the fire which cheers and
enlightens us, and the violent storms which in India
usher in those copious rains which fill the land with
plenty-these were the gods whom the early Hindus
loved to extol and to worship. And often when an
ancient Rishi sang the praises of any of the gods with
devotion and fervour, he forgot that there was any other
god besides, and his sublime hymn has the character and
the sublimity of a prayer to the one God of the universe.
This is what makes many scholars often pause and hesi-
tate before they give the Vedic religion any other name
than Monotheism. Indeed the Rishis themselves often
rose higher than the level of Nature-worship, and they
boldly declared that the different gods were but different
manifestations or different names of the one Primal Cause.
The landmarks between Nature-worship and Monotheism.
have been passed, and the great Rishis of the Rig Veda.
have passed from Nature up to Nature's God. t
The sky was naturally the most prominent object of
worship, and as the sky assumes various aspects, various
names were given to it, and the conception of various.
75
76 VED IC PERIOD. [BOOK 1.
deities was formed. The oldest probably is Dyu (literally
the shining), the Zeus of the Greeks, the first syllable of
the Jupiter of the Romans, the Tiu of the Saxons, and
the Zio of the Germans. This common name among many
Aryan races indicates that the deity was worshipped by
the ancestors of all these nations in their first primeval
abode.
But while Zeus and Jupiter maintained their supre-
macy among the gods of Greece and Rome, in India he
soon lost his place, and the sky in one of its peculiar func-
tions soon usurped his place. For in India the annual
risé of rivers, the fertility of land, and the fuxuriance of
crops depend, not on the sky which shines above us, but
on the sky that rains, and Zndra, which means the rain-
giver, soon became the first among the Vedic gods.
Another ancient name of the sky was Varuna, the
Uranus of the Greeks. The word signifies to cover,
and Varuna was the sky which covered the earth, pro-
bably the sky without light, the nightly sky. For we
find another name for the bright sky of day, ziz., Mitra,
the Mithra of the Zendavesta. Sanscrit commentators
naturally explain Varuna as night and Mitra as day,
and the Iranians worshipped the sun under the name of
Mithra, and gave the name of Varuna to a happy region,
if not the sky.
These facts show that the idea and name of Varuna as
a god of sky was known to the ancestors of the Aryan
nations before those nations separated and migrated to
Greece, to Persia, and to India. Indeed the eminent
German scholar Dr. Roth is of opinion that before the
Indo-Aryans and the Iranians separated, Varuna was the
highest and holiest of the gods of their ancestors, and
represented the spiritual side of their religion. After the
separation had taken place, this deity of righteousness
was translated in Iran into Ahura Mazd, the Supreme
Deity. And although in India, Varuna yielded the fore.
most place among gods to the young and vigorous rain-
CHAP. VI.] VEDIC R1 LIGION'. 77
giver Indra, still he never became divested of that sanc-
tity and holiness which entered into his first conception,
and the holiest hymns of the Rig Veda are his, not
Indra's. Whatever be the value of these opinions, the fact
of Varuna's pre-eminent sanctity in the Rig Veda cannot
be denied, and we will give a few short translations from
the hymns to Varuna to illustrate this :—
“6. O Varuna the birds that fly have not attained
thy power, or thy vigour ; the water which flows cease-
lessly and the moving wind do not surpass thy speed.
“7. King Varuna of unsullied power remains in the
firmament, and holds on high the rays of light. Those
rays descend downwards, but proceed from above. May
they sustain our existence. -
“8. King Varuna has spread out the path for the
course of the sun. Ha has made the path for the sun to
traverse in pathless space. May he rebuke our enemies
who pierce our hearts.
“9. O King Varuna a hundred and a thousand
medicinal drugs are thine ; may thy beneficence be vast
and deep. Keep unrighteousness away from us, deliver
us from the sins we have committed.
“Io. Yonder stars” which are placed on high, and
are seen by night, —where do they go by day ? The acts
of Varuna are irresistible ; the moon shines brightly by
his mandate” (I, 24 ).
“3. O Varuna with an anxious heart I ask thee about
my sins. I have gone to learned men to make inquiry ;
*–
*The word used in the text is Riksha, which may either mean
Stars generally, or the stars of the constellation Great Bear. The
root rich means to shine, whence in course of time the word Riksha
came to have two meanings—the shining stars of a particular constel-
lation, and an animal with bright eyes and shining glossy hair. By
a natural confusion of ideas, therefore, the constellation itself ulti-
mately came to be called the Bear. The question is discussed with
remarkable eloquence and learning by Max Müller in his Science of
Language, and he explains that “the surprise with which many a
thoughtful observer has looked at these seven bright stars, wondering
why they were ever called the Bear, is removed by reference to the
early annals of human speech.”
78 V EDIC PERIOD, [Book 1.
the Sages have all said to me, ‘Varuna is displeased
with thee.’ - -
“4. O Varuna what have I done that thou wishest
to destroy thy friend, thy worshipper ? O thou of irre-
sistible power, declare it to me, so that I may quickly
bend in adoration, and come unto thee. -
“5. O Varuna 1 deliver us from the sins of our fathers.
Deliver us from the sins committed in our persons. O
royal Varuna deliver Vasishtha, like a calf from its
tether, like a thief who has feasted on a stolen animal.
“6. O Varuna all this sin is not wilfully committed
by us, Error or wine, anger or dice, or even thoughtless-
ness, has begotten sin. Even an elder brother leads his
younger astray, sin is begotten even in our dreams.
“7, Freed from sin, I will faithfully serve, as a slave,
the Varuna who fulfils our wishes and supports us. We
are ignorant, may the Arya god bestow on us knowledge.
May the wise deity accept our prayer and bestow on us
wealth” (VII, 86).
“I. O King Varuna may I never go to the earthen
home. O thou of great power I have mercy, have mercy.
“2. O Varuna with thy weapons ! I come trembling
even like a cloud driven by the wind. O thou of great
power have mercy, have mercy. -
“3. O rich and pure Varuna I have been driven
against righteous acts through weakness. O thou of
great power have mercy, have mercy.
“4. Tiny worshipper bath thirsted even when living
in water. O thou of great power have mercy, have
mercy. -
“5. O Varuna we are mortals. In whatever way
we have sinned against gods, in whatever manner we
have through ignorance neglected thy work—O ! do not
destroy us for these sins” (VII, 89).
These and many other hymns show that Varuna was
never divested in India of that idea of holiness which is
said to have entered into his original conception. But
CHAP. v1. ) f VF I) IC REI, IGION. 70
nevertheless, Varuna like Dyu was supplanted in power
by the younger Indra, a god who is peculiarly Indian,
and is unknown to other Aryan nations.
One of the most famous legends about Indra, the
most famous legend probably in the Aryan world, is
about the production of rain. The dark heavy clouds
to which man looks up with wistful eyes, but which often
disappoint him in seasons of drought, are called by the
ancient name of Vritra. -
Vritra is supposed to confine the waters, and will not
let them descend until the sky-god or rain-god Indra
strikes the monster with his thunderbolt. The captive
waters then descend in copious showers, rivers rise
almost instantaneously, and gods and men rejoice over
the changed face of nature. Many are the spirited hymns
in the Rig Veda in which this combat is narrated with
much glee and rejoicing. The Storm-gods, Maruts, help
Indra in the combat, the sky and earth tremble at the
noise, Vritra long wages an unequal combat, and then
falls and dies, the drought is over, and rains begin.
We have said that Indra is a peculiarly lndian name,
and is unknown to other Aryan nations. But the legend
given above and the name of Vritra appear in various
shapes among various Aryan nations. Vritraghna, or the
slayer of Vritra, is worshipped in the Zendavesta as
Werethraghna, and we also find in the same work an
account of the destruction of Ahi, which in the Veda is
another name for Vritra. Threyetana is the slayer of
Ahi, and the genius of the great French scholar Burnouf
has recognised this identical Threyetana in the Ferudin
of Ferdusi's Shah Nama, translated from mythology to
history after thousands of years It will probably sur-
prise modern readers more to know that scholars have
traced this Ahi of the Veda and the Zendavesta in the
dragon Echis and Echidna of Greek mythology; that in
the dog Orthros, the offspring of Echidna, they have
recognised our old friend Vritra or the rain-cloud, and
8o VIEDIC PERIOD, [BOOK 1.
Hercules therefore, the slayer of Orthros, is the counter-
part of Threyetana of the Zendavesta, and of Indra of
the Rig Veda +
It would be easy to multiply such legends, but our
limits forbid such a course. We will therefore only
make a passing mention of one more legend, ziz., that
about the recovery of light by Indra after the darkness
of night. The rays of light are compared to cattle
which have been stolen by the powers of darkness, and
Indra (the sky) seeks for them in vain. He sends
Sara/ya, i. e., the dawn, after them, and Sarana finds
out the Bilu, or fortress, where the Panis, or powers
of darkness, have concealed the cattle. The Panis try
to tempt Sarama, but in vain. Sarama comes back to
Indra, and Indra marches with his forces, destroys the
fort, and recovers the cattle ; darkness is gone, and it is
day ! This is a well-known Vedic legend, and there are
constant allusions to it in the hymns to Indra.
Professor Max Müller maintains that the story of the
siege of Troy is a development of this simple Vedic
myth, and is “but a repetition of the daily siege of the
East by the Solar powers that every evening are robbed
of their brightest treasures in the west.” Ilium according
to the Professor is Billz, the cave or the fortress of the
Rig Veda. Paris is the AE’anis of the Veda who tempt, and
Helena is the Vedic Sarama who resists the temptation
in the Veda, but succumbs to it in Greek mythology.
We cannot say that Max Müller has proved his theory,
but the evidence of a historical siege of Troy does not neces-
sarily disprove it, for nothing is more common in ancient
history than the blending of mythical names and incidents
with historical events. Arjuna the hero of a historical
Kuru-Panchala war is a myth, and is a name of the rain-
god Indra; and it is not impossible that the poet who sang
of a historical siege of Troy blended with it a solar myth
with its names and incidents. We will now make short ex-
tracts from the Rig Veda illustrating these two legends:—
CIIAP. VI.] 'VEDIC RELIGION, 81
“I. We sing the heroic deeds which were performed
by Indra the thunderer. He destroyed Ahi (cloud) and
caused rains to descend, and opened out the paths for
the mountain streams to roll.
“2. Indra Słayed Ahi resting on the mountains ;
Twashtri had made the far-reaching thunderbolt for him.
Water in torrents flowed towards the sea, as cows run
eagerly towards their calves.
“3. Impetuous as a bull, Indra quaffed the Soma-juice;
he drank the Soma libations offered in the three sacrifices.
He them took the thunderbolt, and thereby slayed the
eldest of the Ahis,
“4. When you killed the eldest of the Ahis, you de-
stroyed the contrivances of the artful contrivers. You
cleared the sun and the morning and the sky, and left
no enemies behind.
“5. Indra with his all-destructive thunderbolt slayed
the darkling Vritra (cloud), and lopped his limbs. Ahi
now lies touching the earth like the trunk of a tree felled
by the axe. º r
“6. The proud Vritra thought that he had no equal,
and defied the destroyer and conqueror Indra to combat.
But he did not escape destruction, and Indra's foe fell,
crushing the rivers in his fall. t
“8. Glad waters are bounding over the prostrate body
as rivers flow over fallen banks. Vritra when alive had
withheld the water by his power; Ahi now lies prostrate
under that water.
“I o. The prostrate body lies concealed and nameless
under ceaseless and restless waters, and the waters flow
above. Indra's foe sleeps the long sleep” (I, 32).
The above is a hymn relating to the legend of Vritra.
We now turn to a hymn relating to the legend of
Sarama :—- -
I. The Panis say :-‘‘O Sarama why hast thou
come here 2 It is a long distance. He who looks back
cannot come this way. What have we with us for which
\' () I., I, I 1
$2 VEDIC PERIOD. [BOOK 1.
thou hast come P. How long hast thou travelled P. How
didst thou cross the Rasa P”
2. Sarama replies :—“I come as the messenger of
Indra. O Panis it is my object to recover the abundant
cattle which you have hidden. The water has helped
me; the water felt a fear at my crossing, and thus I
crossed the Raša.”
3. The Panis.--"What is that Indra like, whose
messenger thou art, and hast come from a long distance P
How does he look P (To one another :) Let her come, we
will own her as a friend, Let her take and own our cows.”
4. Saramza.-‘‘I do not see any one who can conquer
the Indra whose messenger I am, and have come from
a long distance. It is he who conquers everybody. The
deep rivers cannot restrain his course. O Panis you
will surely be slain by Indra and will lie down.”
5. Pamis.-"O beautiful Sarama I thou hast come from
the farthest ends of the sky; we will give thee without
any dispute these cows as thou desirest. Who else
would have given the cattle without a dispute P We have
many sharp weapons with us.”
9. Panis.-‘‘O Sarama I thou hast come here because
the god threatened thee and sent thee here. We will ac-
cept thee as a sister ; do not return. O beautiful Sarama I
we will give thee a share of this cattle.”
Io. Sarama.-“I do not comprehend your words
about brothers and sisters. Indra and the powerful sons
of Angiras know all. They sent me here to guard the
cattle until recovery. I have come here under their
shelter, O Panis run away far far from here” (X, IoS).
It will be seen from the few extracts we have made that
the hymns to Indra are characterised by force and vigour,
as those to Varuna are marked with a feeling of righteous-
ness. Indra is, in fact, the most vigorous of the Vedic
gods, fond of Soma wine, delighting in war, leading his
comrades the Maruts to fight against drought, leading
hosts of the Aryans against the black aborigines, and
CIIAP. VI.] VE, DIC R }, ſ , IG F O N. 83
helping them to carve out for themselves with their strong
right arm the most fertile spots along the five rivers of the
Punjab. The sky and earth gave him birth as a cudget
for the enemies (III, 49, 1). The young and vigorous
infant went to his mother Aditi for food, and saw Soma
wine on her breast ; he drank Soma before he drank from
his mother's breast (III, 48, 2 and 3). And the great
drinker and fighter often hesitates between the temptation
of Soma libations at sacrifices, and the temptation of his
home where a beautiful wife awaits him (III, 53, 4–6).
We have thus far spoken of Dyu and Varuna and
Mitra and Indra as the principal sky-gods of the Rig
Veda. All these gods may, however, also be considered
as gods of light, as the idea of the bright light of sky
enters into the conception of all these deities, even of
Varuna in some passages. We will now, however, speak
of some deities who have more distinctly a solar charac-
ter, and some of whom are grouped together under the
common name of Adityas or sons of Aditi, and this
brings us to the most remarkable name that occurs in
the Rig Veda mythology. Unlike Indra, which comes
from Znd to raif, and Dyu, which comes from Dyu to
shine, the word Aditi involves a more complicated idea.
Aditi means the undivided, the unlimited, the eternal.
It is in reality, as has been stated, the earliest name
invented by man to express the Infinite, -the visible
infinite, the endless expanse, beyond the earth, beyond
the clouds, beyond the sky. The fact that such an
idea should enter into the conception of a deity argues
a remarkable advance in the culture and thought of the
early Hindus. The word has no counterpart among the
names of the deities of other ancient Aryan nations,
and must have been coined in India after the Indo-Aryan
Section had settled in this country. It means, according
to the eminent German scholar Dr. Roth, the eternal and
inviolable principle, the celestial light. t
There is much confusion in the Rig Veda as to who
84 V}\}DIC PERIOD), - [BOOK 1.
the Adityas are, -the sons of this celestial light. In
II, 27, Aryaman and Bhaga and Daksha and Ansa are
named besides Varuna and Mitra, of whom we have spoker,
before. In IX, I 14, and in X, 72, the Adityas are said
to be seven in number, but are not named. We have
seen before that Indra is called a son of Aditi. Savitri,
the Sun, is often described as an Aditya, and so are
Pushan and Vishnu, who are also different names of
the sun. When, in course of time, the year was divided
into twelve months, the number of the Adityas was fixed
at twelve, and they were the suns of the twelve months.
Surya and Savitri are the most common names of the
sun in the Rig Veda, the former word answering to the
Greek Helios, the ILatin Sol, and the Iranian Khorshed.
Commentators draw a distinction between Savitri, the
rising or the unrisen Sun, and Surya, the bright sun of
day. The golden rays of the sun were naturally com-
pared with arms until a story found its place in Hindu
mythology that Savitri lost his arm at a sacrifice, and
it was replaced by a golden arm. The same story re-
appears in a different form in German mythology, in which
the sun-god placed his hand in the mouth of a tiger and
lost it ! -
The only extract we will make from the hymns to
the sun will be that most celebrated of all the verses
in the Rig Veda, the Gayatri, or the morning hymn of
the later Brahmans. But the Rig Veda recognised no
Brahmans, the caste-system was not formed then, and
the sublime hymn was the ſtational property of the early
Hindus who dwelt on the banks of the Indus. We give
the original verse and Dr. Wilson's translation :-
“ Taf saviţur zarenyawl bhargo devasya dhimahi,
“A)/iyo yo ma/, frachodayat.” *
“We meditate on the desirable light of the divine
Savitri who influences our pious rites” (III, 62, Io).
Pushan is the sun as viewed by shepherds in their
wanderings in quest of fresh pasture-lands. He travels
CHAP. VI, ) VEDIC RFILI (STON, 85
in a chariot yoked with goats, guides men and cattle in
their travels and migrations, and knows and protects
the flocks. The hymns to Pushan, therefore, often
breathe a simplicity which is truly pastoral. A few
extracts from such hymns have been given before.
Vishnu has obtained such a prominent place as the
Supreme Deity in later Hinduism that there is a natural
reluctance among orthodox modern Hindus to accept
him in his Vedic character as a mere sun-god. Yet such
he is in the Rig Veda, and he is quite a humble deity
in the Vedic pantheon, far below Indra or Varuna, Savitri
or Agni. It was not till the Puranic times, long after
the Christian Era, that Vishnu was considered a Su-
preme Deity. In the Veda, Vishnu is said to traverse
space in three steps, viz., the Sun at rising, at Zenith, and
at setting. In the Puranas this simple metaphor has
led to a long story.
Fire was an object of worship among all ancient na-
tions, and in India sacrificial fire received the highest
regard. As no sacrifice could be performed without fire,
Agni or fire was called the invoker of the gods. He was
called Yavishtha, or the “youngest” among the gods,
because he was kindled anew at each time of sacrifice
by the friction of arami, or the sacrificial wood. For this
reason, he also received the name of Pramantha, i.e.,
produced by friction.*
So high was the esteem in which fire was held among
the gods of the Rig Veda, that when the ancient commen-
tator Yaska tried to reduce the number of the Vedic gods
º According to Mr. Cox, many of the Greek and Latin. deities
QWe, their name to the Sanscrit names of Fire. “In this name, .
Yavishtha, which is never given to any other Vedic god, we may
rºcognise, the Hellenic Hephaistos. Noſe.—Thus with the excep-
tion of Agni, all the names of the Fire and the Fire-gods were
carried away by the Western Aryans ; and we have Prometheus
answering to Pramantha, Phoronus to Bharanyu, and the Latin
V ulcanus to the Sanscrit Ulka.”—Cox's Mythology of Aryan Maſions.
Agni is the god of fire ; the Ignis of the Latins, the Ogni of
the Sclavonians.” Muir's Sanscril Zawis,
86 - V ji I) IC I’ll R1OD, [BOOK. I.
into three, he named Agni or fire as the god of the earth,
Indra or Vayu as the god of the firmannent, and the Sun
as the god of the sky.
But Agni is not only the terrestrial fire in the Rig
Veda ; he is also the fire of the lightning and the sun,
and his abode is the invisible heaven. The Bhrigus dis-
covered him there, Matarisvan brought him down, and
Atharvan and Angiras, the first sacrificers, first installed
him in this world as the protector of men.
Vayu, or the air, has received less consideration from
the Vedic bards, and there are but few hymns assigned
to him. But the Maruts or the storm-gods are oftener
invoked, as we have seen before, probably because they
inspired more terror ; and they are considered as the
companions of Indra in obtaining rain from the reluctant
clouds ! The earth trembles as they move in their deer-
yoked chariots, and men see the fishing of their arms or
the sparkle of their ornaments, the lightning. But they
are benevolent all the same, and they milk from the
udder of their mother Prisni (cloud) copious showers for
the benefit of man. -
Rudra, a fierce deity, is the father of the Maruts, loud-
sounding as his name signifies, and a form of fire as the
commentators Yaska and Sayana explain. There can be
no doubt, therefore, as to the correctness of Dr. Roth’s
conclusion, that the original meaning of this loud-sound-
ing fire, this father of storms, is Thunder. Like Vishnu,
Rudra is a humble deity in the Rig Veda, and only a
few hymns are assigned to him. But like Vishnu, Rudra
has attained prominence in later times, and is one of the
Hindu Trinity of the Puranic religion, a portion of the
- Supreme. In some of the Upanishads we find the names
Rali, Karali, &c., used as the names of different kinds of
flame, and in the White Yajus Sanhita, we find Ambika
spoken of as the sister of Rudra. But when Rudra
assumed a more distinct individuality in the Puranas, all
these names were construed as the different names of his
CHAP. VI.] V EDIC REI, IGION. 87
wife . We have only to add that none of these goddesses,
nor Lakshmi, the wiſe of Puranic Vishnu, is so much as
mentioned by name in the Rig Veda.
Another god who has also changed his character in
the Puranas (and very much for the worse () is Yama, the
king of the dead. In the Puranas he is called the child
of the Sun, and there are some reasons (which Professor
Max Müller explains with his usual eloquencC) for Sup-
posing that the original conception of Yama in the Rig
Veda is the conception of the departing sun. The sun
sets and disappears, just as a man’s life ends : and the
imagination of a simple race would easily conjure up an
after-world, where that departed deity would preside
over departed spirits.
According to the Rig Veda, Vivaswat the sky is the
father, and Saranyu the dawn is the mother, of Yama
and his sister Yami.
Who can be the offspring of the sky and the dawn but
the sun or the day P It is difficult to resist the conclusion
that the twins Yama and Yami are day and night in their
original conception. There is a curious passage in the
Rig Veda in which the amorous sister Yami desires to
embrace her brother as her husband, but the brother
declines such union as unholy (X, Io). It is not difficult
to fathom the import of this conversation –Day and
Night, though eternally pursuing each other, can never
be united. -
But whatever the original conception of Yama maybe,
there is no doubt that even in the Rig Veda itself, that
deity has attained a distinct individuality, and he is the
king of the departed. So far his Vedic character agrees
with his Puranic character, but here the parallel ends.
In the Veda, he is the beneficent king of the happy world
where the virtuous live and enjoy themselves in after-life.
Clothed in a glorious body, they sit by the side of Yama
in the realms of light and sparkling waters, they enjoy
endless felicity there, and are adored here below under
8S V EDIC PIERIO D. | BOOK (,
the name of Pitris or fathers. How different is the
character which Yama bears in the Puranas as the cruel
and dread Punisher of the guilty
“I. Worship Yama the son of Vivaswat with offerings.
All men go to him. He takes men of virtuous deeds to
the realm of happiness. He clears the way for many.
“2. Yama first discovered the path for us. That path
will not be destroyed again. All living beings will, ac-
cording to their acts, follow by the path by which our
forefathers have gone” (X, 14). -
We may also quote here another passage from a hymn
to Soma, which contains a fuller allusion to the future
world. Soma, it is well known, was the juice of a plant
made into wine, and used as libation in sacrifices. Soma
soon attained the rank of a deity, and all the hymns of
the ninth Miandala are dedicated to him.
“7. O flowing Soma take me to that immortal and
imperishable abode where light dwells eternal, and which
is in heaven. Flow, Soma for Indra.
“8. Take me where Yanna is king, where there are the
gates of heaven, and where mighty rivers flow. Take me
there and make me inanmortal. Flow, Soma 1 for Indra.
“9. Take me where there is the third heaven, where
there is the third realm of light above the sky, and where
one can wander at his will. Take me there and make
me immortal. Flow, Soma for Indra.
“Io. Take me where every desire is satiated, where
Pradhma has his abode, where there is food and content-
meat." Take me there and make me immortal. Flow,
Soma 1 for Indra.
“I I. Take me where there are pleasures and joys and
delights, where every desire of the anxious heart is
satiated. Take me there, and make me innmortal. Flow,
Soma 1 for Indra” (IX, 113).
We have spoken above of Yama and Yami as the twin
children of Vivaswat the sky, by Saranyu the dawn. It
is remarkable that the same parents had another twin
cHAP. V.), J V J. I.) IC RELIGION. 89
children, the two Asvins. There can be little doubt that
they too, like Yama and Yami, were in their original
conception the day and the night, or the dawn and the
evening. --~~
But whatever the original conception of the Asvins
may be, they appear in the Rig Veda as great physicians,
healers of the sick and the wounded, and tending many
persons with kindness. Long lists of the kind acts of the
two Asvins are given iri Several hymns, and the same
cures are spoken of over and over again. On their three-
wheeled chariot, they make the circuit of the world day
by day, and succour men in their distress.
Brihaspati or Brahmanaspati is the lord of hymns,
Brahman in the Rig Veda meaning hymn. The concep-
tion of this deity arose in much the same way as the con-
ception of the deities Fire and Soma. As there is power
in the flame and the libation of the sacrifice, so there is
power in the prayer uttered ; and this power of prayer
is personified in the Vedic god Brahmanaspati.
He is quite a humble god in the Rig Veda, but has
a great future. For in course of centuries, the thinkers
of the Upanishads conceived of a Supreme Universal
Being, and gave him the Vedic name Brahman. Then,
when Buddhism flourished in the land, the Buddhists
themselves tolerated Brahma as a gentle and beneficent
spirit in their pantheon. And when at last Puranic
Hinduism supplanted Buddhism in India, the Puranic
thinkers gave the name of Brahma to the Supreme Creator
of the Universe. Thus, by looking into our national
records of the farthest antiquity, we trace the simple
beginnings of that gorgeous Puranic mythology which
has for over a thousand years swayed the opinions and
conduct of hundreds of millions of our countrymen and
country-women. It is like tracing one of our great Indian
rivers, which spreads for miles together at its mouth, to its
very source, where a narrow but pure and crystal streamlet
issues from the eternal mountains ! Ideas develop in the
\' O I, I. I 2
go VEDIC PERIOD. {BOOK I.
course of time, just as rivers expand and receive fresh
supplies of water in their course, until they lose all their
primitive character, although still bearing the same names.
And we can no more recognise the simple Vedic character
of Brahman the prayer, of Vishnu the sun, and of Rudra
the thunder, in the Supreme Creator, the Preserver and
the Destroyer of the Puranas, than we can recognise the
crystal streamlet at Hardwar in the sea-like expanse of
the Ganges where it mingles with the Bay of Bengal.
These are the important gods of the Rig Veda. Of
the goddesses there are only two who have any marked
individuality, viz., Ushas, the dawn, and Sarasvati, the
goddess of the river of that name, and afterwards the
goddess of speech.
There is no lovelier conception in the Rig Veda than
that of the dawn. There are no hymns in the Veda
more truly poetical than those dedicated to her, and
nothing more charming is to be found in the lyrical
poetry of any ancient nation. We can make room here
for only a few extracts :-
“20. What mortal knoweth thee, O immortal Ushas
fond of our praise ! Whom, O mighty One, dost thou
favour P
“21. Far-extending, many-tinted, brilliant Ushas we
know not thy abode, whether it be nigh or remote.
“22. Daughter of the sky accept these offerings,
and perpetuate our welfare” (I, 30).
“7. She, the young, the white-robed daughter of the
sky, the mistress of all earthly treasure, dawns upon us,
dissipating darkness Auspicious Ushas shine upon us
to-day on this spot.
“8. Following the path of mornings that have passed,
to be followed by endless mornings to come, bright
Ushas dispels darkness, and awakens to life all beings,
unconscious like the dead in sleep. -
“ro. How long have the Dawns risen P. How long
will the Dawns arise P The present morning pursues
CHAP. VI, ) VEl) IC RELIGION. - 9 |
those that are gone, future mornings will pursue this
resplendent Ushas.
“I I. Mortals who beheld the pristine Ushas have
passed away ; we behold her now ; and men will conne
after us who will behold Ushas in the future” (I, II 3).
“4. Ahana gently proceeds to every house; she comes
ever diffusing light, and blesses us and accepts our offerings.
“I I. Radiant as a bride decorated by her mother,
thou displayest thy person to the view. Auspicious
Ushas remove the investing darkness ; no other dawns
but thee will disperse it” (I, 123).
The Dawn was known by various names, and most
of these names and the legends connected with them
were brought by the Hindus from their original abode,
since we find phonetical equivalents of these names, and
a repetition of some of the legends too, in Greek mytho-
logy. Ushas is the Eos of the Greeks and the Aurora of
the Latins. Arjuni, according to philologists, is the Greek
Argynoris, . Brisaya is Briseis, and Dahana is Daphne.
Sarama is, phonetically equivalent to the Greek Helena.
Saranyu, the mother of Yama and of the Asvins, is the
Greek Erinys, and Ahana is the renowned goddess Athena.
We have already alluded to the legend of Saranyu
running away from her husband Vivasvat, and then
giving birth to the twin Asvins. We find the same legend
among the Greeks who believed in Erinys Demeter
running away in the same manner, and giving birth to
Areion and Despoina. The idea in both cases is the
same ; it is the dawn or gloaming disappearing as the day
and night advance. The same idea has given rise to
another beautiful Greek legend whose origin, too, we trace .
in the Rig Veda. In many passages (I, II 5, 2, for in-
stance), we find allusions to the Sun pursuing the dawn
as a man pursues a woman. The Greek Apollo in the
same way pursues the Greek Daphne, until she is meta-
morphosed, i.e., the dawn disappears
Saraswati, as her name signifies, is the goddess of the
92 VEDIC PERIOD, [BOOK I,
river of that name, which was considered holy because
of the religious rites performed on its banks and the
sacred hyrnns uttered there. By a natural development
of ideas, she was considered the goddess of those hymns,
or in other words the goddess of speech, in which char-
acter she is worshipped now. She is the only Vedic
goddess whose worship continues in India to the modern
day ; all her modern companions, Durga, Kali, Lakshmi,
and others, are creations of a later day.
Such is the nature-worship of the Rig Veda ; such
were the gods and goddesses whom our forefathers wor-
shipped four thousand years ago on the banks of the
Indus. The conception of the nature-gods and the single-
hearted fervency with which they were adored, argue
the simplicity and vigour of a manly race, as well as the
culture and thoughtfulness of a people who had already
made a considerable progress in civilisation. And the
very conception of the Vedic gods argues an elevated
sentiment, a high tone of morality in the men who con-
ceived such deities. As M. Barth justly observes, the
Vedic gods are masters close at hand, and require a due
performance of duty by man. “He must be sincere
towards them, for they cannot be deceived. Nay he
knows that they in turn do not deceive, and that they
have a right to require his affection and confidence as a
friend, a brother, a father. . . . How could it be per-
mitted to men to be bad when the gods are good, to be
unjust while they are just, to be deceitful when they
never deceive P It is certainly a remarkable feature of the
hymns that they acknowledge no wicked divinities, and
no mean and harmful practices. . . . We must acknow-
ledge then that the hymns give evidence of an exalted
and comprehensive morality, and that in striving to be
‘without reproach before Aditi and the Adityas,’ the
Vedic minstrels feel the weight of other duties besides
those of multiplying offerings to the gods.”
* /he A'c//gions of ///dia ( translation ), p. 32 eſ sc/.
CHAP. VI.] VJ. DIC RELIGION. - 93
There are no indications in the Rig Veda of any
“temples reared by mortal hands” and consecrated as
places of worship. On the contrary, every householder,
every patriarch of his family, lighted the sacrificial fire in
his own home, and poured libations of the Soma-juice,
and prayed to the gods for happiness to his family, for
abundant crops and wealth and cattle, for immunity from
sickness, and for victory over the black aborigines. There
was no separate priestly caste, and men did not retire
into forests, and subject themselves to penances in order
to meditate on religion, and chant these hymns. On the
contrary, the old Rishis, –the real Rishis as we find then
in the Rig Veda, and not the fabled ones of whom we
have legendary accounts in the Puranas, -were worldly
men, men with considerable property in crops and in
cattle and surrounded by large families, men who in
times of danger exchanged the plough for the Spear and
the sword, and defended against the black barbarians
those blessings of civilisation which they solicited from
their gods, and secured with so much care.
But though each householder was himself the priest,
the warrior and the cultivator, yet we find evidence of
kings performing rites on a large scale by help of
men specially proficient in the chanting of hymns and
other religious rites, and engaged and paid for the pur-
pose. And as we go towards the later hymns of the Rig
Veda, we find this class of professional priests gaining in
reputation and in wealth, honoured by chiefs and kings,
and rewarded by gifts of cattle and cars. We find
mention of particular families specially proficient in the
performance of religious rites, and in the composition of.
hymns ; and it is probable that the existing hymns of the
Rig Veda were composed by members of these families,
and were traditionally learnt by rote and preserved in
those families.
The hymns of the Rig Veda are divided into ten
Mandalas, so arranged according to the Rishis by whom
94 V J. DIC PERIO D. [BOOK I.
they were composed. The first and the last Mandalas
contain hymns composed by numerous Rishis, but the
remaining eight Mandalas belong, each of them, to a
particular Rishi, or rather to a particular house or school
of Rishis. As we have stated before, the second Mandala
is a collection of hymns composed by Gritsamada of the
house of Bhrigu, the third Mandala belongs to Visva-
mitra, the fourth Mandala belongs to Vamadeva, the fifth
to Atri, the sixth to Bhārādvaja, the seventh to Vasishtha,
the eighth to Kanva, and the ninth to Angiras. All these
names are familiar to modern Hindus through the
numberless legends which have surrounded them in
Puranic times, and modern Hindus still love to trace
their descent from these ancient and revered houses. We
shall have something to say about these Rishis and their
legends in our next chapter.
It is to these and other venerable houses that the
Aryan world owes the preservation of the most ancient
compositions of the Aryan race. From century to century
the hymns were handed down without break or intermis-
sion, and the youths of the priestly houses spent the
prime of their life in learning by rote the sacred songs
from the lips of their grey-headed sires. It was thus that
the inestimable treasure, the Rig Veda, was preserved for
hundreds of years.
In course of time the priests boldly grappled with the
deeper mysteries of nature, they speculated about crea-
tion and about the future world, and they resolved the
nature-gods into the Supreme Deity.
“I. That all-wise Father saw clearly, and after due
reflection created the sky and the earth in their watery
form, and touching each other. When their boundaries
were stretched afar, then the sky and the earth became
separated. -
“2. He who is the Creator of all is great ; he creates
and supports all, he is above all and sees all. He is
beyond the seat of the Seven Rishis. So the wise
CHAP. VI, VEDIC RIELIGION, 95
men say, and the wise men obtain fulfilment of all their
desires.
“3. He who has given us life, he who is the Creator,
he who knows all the places in this universe-/*e is one,
although he bears the names of many gods. Other beings
wish to know of him. & - .
“7. You cannot comprehend him who has created all
this ; he is incomprehensible to your mind. People make
guesses, being shrouded in a mist ; they take their food
for the support of their life, and utter hymns and wander
about” (X, 82).
This sublime hymn teaches us in unmistakable words
that the different Vedic gods are but different names of
the One incomprehensible Deity. We quote another
such hymn below. -
“I. At that time what is, was not, and what is not,
was not. The earth was not, and the far-stretching Sky
was not. What was there that covered P. Which place
was assigned to what object P. Did the inviolate and deep
water exist P -
“2. At that time death was not, nor immortality ; the
distinction between day and night was not. There was
only ONE who lived and breathed without the help of
air, supported by himself. Nothing was, except H.E.
“3. At first darkness was covered in darkness. All
was without demarcation ; all was of watery form. The
world that was a void was covered by what did not exist
and was produced by meditation. - -
“4. Desire arose in the mind, the cause of creation
was thus produced. Wise men reflect, and in their wis-
dom ascertain the birth of what is from what is not. e
“5. Males with generating seed were produced, and
powers were also produced. Their rays extended on
both sides and below and above, a self-supporting prin-
ciple beneath, an energy aloft. -
“6. Who knows truly 2 Who will describe P When
was all born ? Whence were all these created P 7/he
90 VEDIC PERIOL). | BOOK I.
$od's ſave been made after the creation. Who knows
whence they were made P
“7. Whence all these were created, from whom they
Came, whether any one created them or did not create,
-is only known to Him who lives as Lord in the
highest place. If He knows not (no one else does)”
(X, I 29).
Such is the first recorded attempt among the Aryan
nations of the earth to pierce into the mysteries of crea-
tion ; such are the bold and sublime if vague ideas which
dawned in the minds of our forefathers thousands of
years ago, regarding the commencement of this great
universe. One more hymn we will quote here, a remark-
able hymn, showing, again, how the later Rishis soared
beyond the conception of the nature-gods to the sublime
idea of One Deity : —
“I. In the beginning the Golden Child existed. He
was the Lord of all from his birth, He placed this earth
and sky in their respective places. Whom shall we
worship with offerings P
“2. Him who has given life and strength ; whose will
is obeyed by all the gods; whose shadow is immortality,
and whose slave is death. Whom shall we worship with
offerings 2
“3. Him who by his power is the sole king of all the
living beings that see and move ; him who is the Lord
of all bipeds and quadrupeds. Whom shall we worship
with offerings P
“4. Him by whose power these snowy mountains
have been made, and whose creations are this earth and
its oceans. Him whose arms are these quarters of space.
Whom shall we worship with offerings P
“5. Him who has fixed in their places this sky and
this earth ; him who has established the heavens and the
highest heaven ; him who has measured the firmament.
Whom shall we worship with offerings P
“6. Him by whom the sounding sky and earth have
vºříAP. V-1. J WV JCIDIC R JEI, I (;ION. 9.7
been fixed and expanded ; him whom the resplendent
sky and earth own as Almighty ; him by whose support
the sun rises and gains its lustre. Whom shell we
worship with offerings?
“7. Mighty waters pervaded the universe, they held
in their womb and gave birth to fire. The One Being,
who is the life of the gods, appeared. Whom shall we
worship with offerings P
*8. He who by his own prowess controlled the waters
which gave birth to energy, he who is the Lord above
all gods, he was Gºne. Whom shall we worship with
offerings 2
“9. He, the True, who is the creator of this earth,
who is the creator of the sky, who is the creator of the
glad and mighty waters, may he not do us harm. Whom
shall we worship with offerings 2
“Io. O Lord of creatures | None but thee has pro-
duced all these created things. May the object with
which we worship be fulfilled. May we acquire wealth
and happiness” (X, I 21).
We now see the force of the remark that the religion
of the Rig Veda travels from Nature up to Nature's God.
The worshipper appreciates the glorious phenomena of
shature, and rises from these phenomena to grasp the
mysteries of creation and its great Creator.
* O.J., i
{
‘7
2
C f { \{^{ER V [I,
! / /) / C /º/S/V/.S.
WE have stated in the last chapter that certain pious
and learned families obtained pre-eminence in the Vedic
Period by their knowledge of performing religious sacri-
fices and their gift of composing hymns ; that kings
delighted to honour and reward these families ; and that
it is to them that the Aryan world is indebted for handing
down the Vedic hymns from generation to generation.
Modern Hindus take a pride in tracing their descent from
these ancient families, and their names are a household
word in modern Hindu society. Some account of these
ancient Rishis, -the revered pioneers of the Hindu reli-
gion,-will therefore not be unwelcome to Hindu readers.
Pre-eminent among the Vedic Rishis, or rather Rish;
families, stand the Visvamitras and the Vasishthas. The
learned and industrious scholar Dr. Muir has, in the first
volume of his “Sanscrit Texts,” collected many legends
about these Rishis (rom later Sanscrit literature ; but
there is no Hindu who has not heard from his boyhood
innumerable legends of this kind, connected with those
revered names.
The Vasishthas and the Visvamitras were both honour-
ed by the powerful conqueror, Sudas. The hymns of the
third Mandala are ascribed to the Visvamitras, and in the
53rd hymn we find the following passage :-"The great
god-born, god-commissioned Rishi, the beholder of men,
has stayed the watery current. When Visvamitra sacri-
ficed for Sudas, then Indra was propitiated through the
Q8
CHAP. Vli, ) vepic YRTS? T1S, 99
Kausikas.” Again, the hymns of the seventh Mandala
are ascribed to the Vasishthas, and in the 33rd hymn we
find the following passage —“The Vasishthas in white
robes, with their hair knots on the right, devoted to
sacred rites, have gladdened me. Rising up, I call the
people round the sacrificial grass. Let not the Vasishthas
depart from my door.”
There was naturally some jealousy between these two
priestly houses, and hard words were exchanged. The
following verses in III, 53, are said to contain an impre-
cation against the Vasishthas :—
“21. Indra, approach us to-day with many excellent
succour : be propitious to us. May he who hates us fall
low ; and let the breath of life forsake him whom we
hate. -
“22. As the tree suffers from the axe, as the Simbala
flower is broken, as the cauldron boiling over casts forth
foam, so may the enemy, O Indra. -
“23. The might of the destroyer is not perceived.
Men lead away the Rishi as if he were a beast. The
wise do not condescend to ridicule the fool. They do
not lead the ass before the horse. -
“24. These Bharatas have learnt to turn away fron),
not to associate with (the Vasishthas). They urge the
horse against them as against a foe. They bear about
the bow in battle.”
Vasishtha is supposed to have hurled back the in-
precation in the following verses of VII, Io.1 :—
“13. Soma does not bless the wicked nor the ruler
who abuses his power. He slays the demon ; he slays
the untruthful man ; both are bound by the ſetters of,
Indra.
“14. If I had worshipped false gods, or if I had
called upon the gods in vain, -but why art thou angry
with the, O Jatavedas P May vain talkers fall into thy
destruction, w - -
“15 May I die at once iſ I be a Yatudhana, or if I
ſco VICDIC PERIOD, [BOOK W.
hurt the life of any man. But may he be cut off from
his ten friends who falsely called me a Yatudhana. -
“16. He who called me a Yatudhana, when I am not
So, or who said I am a bright devil;—May Indra strike
him down with his great weapon; may he fall the lowest
of all beings.” - -
So far the jealousy of the two angry priests is intel-
ligible and even natural, however unbecoming of their
great learning and Sanctity. But when we proceed from
the Rig Veda to later Sanscrit literature, incidents which
are human and natural become lost in a cloud of miracu-
lous and monstrous legends.
It is assumed from the commencement in these later
legends that Vasishtha was a Brahman and Visvamitra
was a Kshatriya, although the Rig Veda justifies no such
assumption and knows no Brahmans and Kshatriyas as
castes. On the contrary, Visvanitra is the composer of
some of the finest hymns cherished by later Brahmans,
including the Sacred Gayatri, the morning prayer of
modern Brahmans.
Having assumed that Visvamitra was born a Kshatriya,
the Mahabharata, the Harivansa, the Vishnu Purana, and
other later works repeat an amusing story to account
for the sage's attaining Brahmanhood. Satyavati, a
Kshatriya girl, had been married to Richikā, a Brahman.
Richika prepared a dish for his wife, which would make
her conceive a son with the qualities of a Brahman,
and another dish for his mother-in-law (a Kshatriya's
wife), which would make her conceive a son with the
. Qualities of a Kshatriya. The two ladies, however, ex-
changed dishes ; and so the Kshatriya's wife conceived
and bore Visvamitra with the qualities of a Brahman,
and the Brahman’s wife Satyavati bore jamadagni, whose
son, the fiery Parasurama, though a Brahman, became
a renowned and destructive warrior Such were the
childish stories which the later writers had to invent to
remove the difficulty they had created for themselves
CHAP. VII.] V}\, DIC RISH IS. | O Ú
by assuming that Vedic Rishis belonged to particular
castes 1.
In the celebrated legend of Harischandra, Visvamitra.
appears as a rapacious Brahman. He not only made the
king give up his whole empire, but compelled him to Selk
his queen, his boy, and Himself as slaves to pay the
inexorable Brahman’s fee | If such stories are invented
to teach respect and duty due to Brahmans, they fail in
their object and inspire other sentiments. The bereaved
Harischandra was, however, rewarded in the end, and
Visvamitra anointed his son as king, and Harischandra
went to heaven. Vasishtha became angry and cursed
Wisvamitra to be a Vaka or crane, and Visvamitra, too,”
transformed Vasishtha into an Ari bird The two birds
began a furious contest which shook the whole world,
until Brahma had to interpose, and restored the Saints
to their own forms, and reconciled them
In the legend of Trisanku, we are told that that prince
wished to go bodily to heaven. Vasishtha declared the
thing impossible, and in return for the king's angry words
changed him to a Chandala. The fiery Visvamitra now
appeared on the scene. He declared the thing quite
possible, and began a great sacrifice and proceeded with
it in spite of Vasishtha’s absence. Trisanku ascended
to heaven, but Indra refused to receive him, and threw
the intruder, head downwards, towards the earth. The
irrepressible Visvamitra, however, threatened to create
another heaven with Indra and gods and stars . The
gods had to give in, and Trisanku ascended to heaven,
and shone like a star beyond the Sun's course, but in a
somewhat uncomfortable position, with his head still
downwards ! º
In various other legends, which have almost become
household stories for Hindu boys and girls, these two
Sages continually appear, in deſiance of chronology and
date, and are always at enmity with each other. The
rival priests appear in courts of kings, twenty, thirty,
J O 2 VI. I.) I C Piº R Y OD, | BOOK I,
or fifty generations removed from each other, and there
is hardly a classical composition of note about a royal
house or a semi-divine hero in which we do not find
mention of Vasishtha and Visvamitra, eternally the rivals
of each other. Thus the Vishnu Purana makes Vasishtha
the priest of Ikshvaku's son Nimi, as well as the priest
of Sagara, who was thirty-seventh in descent from Iksh-
vaku ; and the Ramayana makes Vasishtha the priest
of Rama, who was sixty-first in descent from Ikshvaku !
Such is the use which later romancers have made of the
simple materials furnished by the Rig Veda, and such is
the manner in which they have piled story upon story,
and myth upon myth in connection with incidents which
in the ancient Veda are simple, natural, and human. Not
only the Rishis of the Veda, but every deity, and we may
almost say every simile or allegory in the Rig Veda about
a natural phenomenon, have received such treatment in
the hands of the later imaginative Hindus.
But while a hundred wild stories were invented in later
days to account for Visvamitra's attaining Brahmanhood,
there was no thought of denying that accepted fact. Every
legend, every learned disquisition, every childish tale,
every great work, from the Mahabharata to Manu and the
Puranas, -admit that Visvamitra was a Kshatriya and a
3rahman. Yudhisthira in the Anusasana Parva (section
3) of the Mahabharata inquires of Bhishma how Visva-
mitra had not only become a Brahman but had established
“the great and wise family of the Kusikas, which included
/37-ahmans and hundreds of Brahman Rishis.” The ques-
tion would be a difficult one to answer in the Puranic
Age in which the Mahabharata received its last touches.
The question would not be difficult of solution in the Epic
Age when the caste-system was still a pliable institution.
And the question would not arise at all in the Age of
Visvamitra himself, i.e., in the Vedic Age, when caste as
such did not exist.
From the legends of the Visvamitras and the Vasish-
CHAP. VII, V EL) IC RISH IS. ſ O3
thas, let us now turn to the scarcely less renowned houses
of the Angirases, the Vamadevas, the Bharadwajas, and
the Bhrigus. All these were families of Vedic Rishis, com-
posers of Vedic hymns; and later writers therefore feel
somewhat uncertain about their caste. They are some.
times called Brahmans with the character of Kshatriyas,
sometimes Kshatriyas with the character of Brahmans ;
and occasionally the bold truth is conjectured that these
Rishis lived before the institution of caste was formed.
The Angirases are the reputed authors of the ninth
Mandala of the Rig Veda. About the Angirases, the
Vishnu Purana (IV, 2, 2) has the following :-"The SOll
of Nabhaga was Nabhaga ; his son was Ambarisha ; his
son was Virupa ; from him sprang Prishadasva, and from
him Rathinara. On this subject there is this verse :
These persons descended from a Kshatriya stock and
afterzwards &ndºwn as Angirases were the chief of the
Rathinaras, Brahmans possessing also the character of
A shatriyas.”
Vamadeva and Bharadwaja are reputed to be the au-
thors of the fourth and sixth Mandalas of the Rig Veda.
The Matsya Purana includes them (section 132) among
the Angirases of whom we have spoken before.
To the Gritsamadas are attributed the hymns of the
second Mandala of the Rig Veda. The commentator
Sayana says of him that he was formerly of the Angiras
race, but he afterwards became Gritsamada, of the Bhrigu
race. This somewhat mystic legend is elaborated in the
Mahabharata, Amusasana Parva (section 30), in which
we are told that Vitahavya, a Kshatriya king, had taken
shelter with Bhrigu, and Bhrigu, in order to save the
fugitive from his pursuer, stated “there is no Kshatriya
here, all these are Brahmans.” The word of Bhrigu
could not prove untrue, and the fugitive Kshatriya
Vitahavya forthwith bloomed into Brahmanhood and
became Gritsamada It must be allowed that this was an
easier process than the penance of thousands of years
* O.4. V Fil) 1 C PERIOD. {33OGK [.
which Visvamitra is said to have performed,—not to
mention that his mother had exchanged dishes with a
JBrahman’s wife
But the story of Gritsannada’s change of caste is not
universally accepted. The Vishnu Purana and the Vayu
Purana conjecture the bold truth that Gritsamada lived
before the caste institution was formed. “From Gritsa-
mada was descended Saunaka, z0/6 originated the four
casſes” (Vish. Pur., IV, 8).
Lastly, let us turn to the Kanvas and the Atris. The
Kanvas are the authors of the eighth Mandala of the Rig
Veda, and we find the same uncertainty about their caste.
The Vishnu Purana (IV, 19), and the Bhagavata Purana
(IX, 20, 6, 7), maintain that Kanva was a descendant of
Puru, a Kshatriya. Nevertheless the Kanvas were re-
garded as Brahmans. “From Ajamidha sprang Kanva,
and from him Mcdhatithi, from zwhom Zwere descended the
Åſantºſanaya Brahmans” (Wish. Pur., IV, 19).
The Atris are the reputed authors of the fifth Mandala
of the Rig Veda, and we find the same uncertainty about
their caste also. Thus the Vishnu Purana (IV, 6), calls
Atri the grandfather of Pururavas, 70%0 belonged to the
As/afriya race.
These extracts are enough. They are made from
works composed or revised two or three thousand years
after the time of the Vedic Rishis, but those extracts
enable us to comprehend the status and position of
the Vedic religious leaders and warriors, and are there-
fore not out of place in an account of the Vedic Period.
Writing at such a long distance of time from the Vedic
Age the modern authors often misapprehended ancient
facts and traditions. But nevertheless, the unswerving
loyalty to the past which has ever characterised Hindu
writers prevented them from tampering with such tradi-
tions. Those traditions pointed to a state of Society which
had long passed away, and which had become almost
unintelligible, Puranic writers could scarcely comprehend
c. I \P. VII.] V. J. L.) IC ſº ISH IS. 1 O5
that priests and warriors could spring from the same race,
that a Rishi could be a warrior, or that a warrior could
be a priest. They tried to explain such traditions by a
hundred diſferent theories and legends, but nevertheless
they have faithfully and piously handed down the tradi-
tions unchanged and unaltered. Thus, to make only one
more extract, the Matsya Purana enumerates 9 I Vedic
Rishis, and concludes with the following Suggestive
passage, (section 132):—“Thus 91 persons have been
declared, by whom the hymns have been given forth.
They awere Brahmans, Kshatriyas, and Vaisyas, all sons
of Rishis. They were the offspring of the Rishikas,
sons of Rishis, Vedic Rishis.”
Thus the Purana faithfully preserves the ancient tradi-
tion that the Vedic hymns were the common property of
the entire Aryan population. And when the writer tells
us that the composers of those hymns were Brahmans,
Kshatriyas, and Vaisyas, we have little difficulty in dis-
covering in that statement a dim recollection of the truth
that the hymns were composed by the undivided ancesſors
of those casſes.
Modern writers have classed Rishisunder three classes,
ziz., Devarshis, or saintly gods like Narada ; Brahmar-
shis, or Saintly Brahmans like Kanva of the Sakuntala
drama ; and Rajarshis, or Saintly Kshatriyas like Janaka,
king of the Videhas. The ancient Vedic Rishis did not
answer to any of these classes, did not belong exclusively
to any of these categories, and were therefore a standing
puzzle to modern writers. Hence the numerous legends
to account for what was unaccountable ; and often in the
midst of these wild conjectures, the modern writer made
a bold guess after the truth, and maintained that the
Vedic Rishis must have lived before caste was originated.
We do not wonder at the theories and legends which
were multiplied in such profusion ; we admire the bold-
ness with which the truth was sometimes conjectured.
For the rest, these invaluable traditions—that priests
W' ().J., J.
- J.;
I off VEDIC PRRIOD, [BOOK i.
and warriors were descended from the same races, and
that the same Rishis were often both priests and warriors,
—enable us to comprehend the true position of Vedic
Rishis. For, divested of their miraculous and legendary
character, what do these traditions indicate P They indi-
Cate that the venerable families of the olden times, -
like those of the Vasishthas, the Visvamitras, the Angi-
rases, and the Kanvas, -furnished renowned warriors and
eminent priests at the same time. A Percy or a Douglas
might be an ambitious priest or a fiery warrior, and so
might a Kanva or an Angiras. To be sure, the Hindu
houses were pre-eminently priestly as the European
houses were military, but caste was as unknown to the
one as to the other. Many a baron of Mediaeval Europe,
whose name is still preserved in the history of the cru-
sades, had his father or uncle, son or nephew, immured
in the solitude of holy monasteries ; and many a Vasish-
tha or Visvamitra, whose religious hymns we still cherish
and revere, had his son or nephew engaged in the wars
of the Vedic Period, in the unending contests against
the aborigines of the soil. These facts are proved by the
text of the Rig Veda itself which we have quoted in a
previous chapter ; and they are confirmed by the legends
and traditions which we have quoted in this chapter from
later Sanscrit literature. The Vedic Rishis composed
their hymns, fought their wars, and ploughed their fields;
but were neither Brahmans, nor Kshatriyas, nor Vaisyas.
The great Rishi houses of the Vedic Age furnished priests
and soldiers, but were no more Brahmans or Kshatriyas
than the Percies or Douglases of Mediæval Europe were
Brahmans or Kshatriyas.
BOOK II.
EPIC PERIOD, B.C. 14oo To Iooo.
CHAPTER I.
I./TERATUA’A, OF 7'HE PAE /º/O D.
WE have closed our account of the Vedic Age, when the
Hindu Aryans gradually conquered and occupied the
whole tract of the country watered by the Indus and its
five tributaries. We have seen that the sole work of this
period which remains to us is the collection of hymns
known as the Rig Veda Sanhita, and we have also seen
how these hymns illustrate the civilisation of the Vedic
Period. We now proceed to describe the civilisation of
the Epic Period, when the Hindus crossed the Sutlej,
moved down the basin of the Ganges and the Jumna,
and founded powerful kingdoms along the entire valley
as far down as modern Benares and North Behar. And
as in the case of the Vedic Age, so in the case of the
Epic Age, we will base our account on contemporaneous
literature.
What is the contemporaneous literature of the Epic
Age P And what is the contemporaneous literature of
the Philosophical or Rationalistic Age that followed P
The Brahmanas, the Aranyakas, and the Upanishads,
which constantly refer to the actions of the Kurus, the
Panchalas, the Kosalas, and the Videhas living in the
zalley of the Ganges, form the literature of the Epic Age.
The Sutras, which presuppose the rise of rationalism in
to:
7 & FFIC [?], RFOO). [BOOK IX.
India, and which were composed when the Aryans had
ex/anded all over Zndia, form the literature of the Ration-
alistic Age. -
About thirty years ago Professor Max Müller published
his great work on Sanscrit literature, and gave reasons,
which have since generally been accepted, for considering
the mass of Sutra literature as subsequent to the Brah-
mana literature. He showed that the Sutra literature
presupposed and quoted from the Brahmatra literature,
and the converse was never the case. He showed that
the Brahmana literature reflected an age of priestly supre-
macy and unquestioning obedience on the part of the
people, which was anterior to the practical and philo-
Sophical and Sceptical age of the Sutras. He showed that
the Brahmana literature down to the Upanishads was
considered rezºeaſed in India, while all Sutra works were
ascribed to human authors. And he enforced these
arguments by a wealth of illustrations and a degree of
erudition which left nothing to be desired.* -
It is need}ess to say that we cannot enter into the
*-*.
* Izater researches have confirmed the view. Not only are the
Sutras of a particular school subsequent to the Brahmanas of the
same school, but the body of the Sutra literature as a whole is subse-
quent to the body of the Brahmana literature. Thus, to quote one
instance only, Dr. Bühler, who does not altogether agree with Max
Müller on this point, nevertheless points out in his Introductions to
the Dharma Sutyas that those Sutras, repeatedly quote from Brah-
manas of different schools. He shows that Gautama’s Dharma Sutra,
which is the oldest extant, presupposes an Aranyaka of the Black
Yajur Veda, a Brahmana of the Sama Veda and even an Upanishad
of the Atharva Veda . He points out that Vasishtha's Dharma Sutra
quotes from a Brahmana of the Rig Veda, an Aranyaka of the Black
Yajur Veda and a Brahmana of the White Yajur Veda, and also men-
tions an Upanishad of the Atharva Veda. So also Baudhayana’s
IDharma Sutra quotes from the Brahmanas both of the Black and the
White Yajur Veda. On the other hand, no Brahmana ever quotes
from any Sutra work. - - - -
No scholar maintains that the last Brahmana work was composed
15cſore the first Sutra work was written. But there can be little
doubt on the evidence now before us, that there was a period when
the Arezailing style of writing was the prose style of the Brahmanas,
and that this period was followed by a period when the fºczai/ng
s/y/c was aphorisms or Sutras. * - -
CHAP. I.] LITERATURE OF THE PERIOD. Io9
details of these learned discussions. True to the plan
of the present work, we will make only a few remarks
not on the literary, but on the historical bearings of the
facts stated above. What is the historical import of
this sequence in the different classes of Ancient Sanscrit
literature ? What is the historical reason of this sequence P
Why did the Ancient Hindus compose their works in one
particular form, the Vedic hymns, for a number of cen-
turies P. Why did they gradually abandon that style of
composition, and write the prolix and dogmatic prose
Brahmanas, for some succeeding centuries P And why
again did they gradually change this for the concise
aphorisms of the Sutras during the next few centuries P
What is there in the nature of things that would induce
the Ancient Hindus to take up different styles of com-
position at different periods of their history, as if to
aſford the future historian a clue to the dates of their
writings?
The question is more easily asked than answered. It
may be answered, however, by a counter-question. What
is there in the nature of things which prevented the
Chronicles and Romances of Mediaeval Europe being
composed after the fourteenth and fiſteenth centuries P
Why did not Hume and Gibbon compose Chronicles P
Why did not JFielding and Scott compose Mediaeval
Romances P. The subjects were still the same ; – why was
the composition so different that it would be possible to
demarcate the feudal ages from the modern period on the
testimony of European literature, even if every vestige of
European history was destroyed P. }
An Englishman would answer: It was impossible that
Chronicles and feudal Romances should be continued
after Elizabeth had reigned and Shakespeare and Bacon
had written. A new light had dawned on Europe. The
human mind had expanded. Religion was purified. A
new world had been discovered. Modern philosophy had
taken its rise, Commerce and maritime enterprise had
I I O . EPIC PERIO D. [BOOK II.
received a wonderful development. Feudalism had died
a natural death. The face of the European world had
been changed.
Were it possible to bring before the reader the history
of Hindu civilisation as vividly as he has before him
the history of European civilisation, he would give similar
replies with regard to the epochs of Indian History. It
was impossible in the nature of things that Hymns like
those of the Rig Veda should be composed after the
Hindus had achieved the elaborate civilisation, and adopt-
ed the pompous religious rites of the Epic Period. The
simple fervency with which the Punjab Aryans looked
up to the Sky, the Dawn, or the Sun, had passed, once
and for ever. Simple natural phenomena did not excite
the wonder and religious admiration of the cultured and
somewhat artificial Gangetic Aryans engaged in solemn
rites and pompous sacrifices. The fervent prayer to
the rain-god Indra, or the loving address to the dawn-
goddess Ushas, was almost impossible. The very import
and object of the old simple hymns were forgotten,
and sacrifices of various descriptions, from the simple
morning and evening libations to the elaborate royal
sacrifices lasting for many years, formed the essence of
the later religion. The rules of the sacrifices, the import
and object of every minute rite, the regulations for each
insignificant observance,—these occupied the religious
minds of the people, these formed the subjects of discus-
sion between learned kings and royal priests, these formed
the bulk of the Brahmana literature. It was as impossible
for the cultured writers and thinkers of the day to go
back to the buried past and disinter the simple faith of
the Vedic Hymns, as it was impossible for the erudite
schoolmen of Mediaeval Europe to produce the wild and
simple Norwegian Sagas of a bygone age.
Again, the elaborate and dogmatic trifling of the
scholastic philosophy of Europe was impossible after
Descartes had lived and Bacon had written. In the
CHAP. I.] LITERATURE OF THE PERIOD. I I I
same way, and for the same reason, the elaborate trifling
of the Brahmanas were impossible in the Hindu world
after Kapila had taught and Gautama Buddha had preach-
ed. The human mind in India had received a new im-
petus. A new world had been discovered beyond the
Vindhya range, though the name of the Indian Columbus,
who first planted the Hindu flag in a southern kingdom,
is forgotten. The earnest and ſervent Upanishads had
been written, and marked a strong reaction against priest-
ly pedantry. Kapila—the Descartes of India—had startled
the Hindu world by his Sankhya philosophy; and Gautama
—the Luther of India—had proclaimed a reformed faith
for the poor and the lowly, and protested against the
privileges of priests. New sciences had started into
existence. A new light had dawned in the Hindu world.
The Brahmana literature died a natural death. The
elaborate and unmeaning dogmas were left in the shade ;
the rules for the performance of the ancient sacrifices
were condensed for practical purposes. It was a practical
age, when everything was condensed and codified. The
rules of life were codified. Philosophy was condensed
into aphorisms, science and learning in every department
were condensed. Treatises were composed in every
branch of human knowledge in a concise style, in which
teachers could teach and learners could learn by rote.
And thus it is that we have the entire literature of
the Rationalistic Age in the shape of aphorisms, of
Sutras.
This is the historical import of the three different
classes of Ancient Sanscrit literature, which represent
three distinct epochs of Hindu history. The Hymns
reflect the manly simplicity of the Vedic Age. The
Brahmanas reflect the pompous ceremonials of the Epic
Age. The Sutras reflect the science and learning, and
even the scepticism of the Rationalistic Age.
We have said before that the tide of Hindu colonisation
rolled eastward and Southward in each successive period,
H I 2 EPHC PF RIO D. º [BOOK II.
and the different classes of Sanscrit literature spoken
of attest to this onward movement. In Europe feudal
literature and modern literature were developed on the
same arena, in Italy and Germany, in France and England.
In India the case was different. For the Aryans of
India went on conquering through successive periods,
and the literature of each period speaks of the portion
of India under the Aryan influence and donaination in
that particular period. This in itself is an invaluable
index to the dates of the different classes of literature.
The Hymns of the Rig Veda speak of the Punjab
alone,—India beyond the Punjab is unknown to the Rig
Veda. The banks of the distant Ganges and the Jumna
are rarely alluded to ; the scenes of all the wars and
social ceremonies and religious sacrifices of the Rig Veda.
are the banks of the Indus and its tributaries and the
Sarasvati. This was the Hindu world when the hymns
were composed.
But the Hindus soon threw out colonies all over
Northern India. In course of centuries these colonies
rose into importance and were formed into powerful
kingdoms, and by their progress and learning threw the
mother-country, the Punjab, into the shade. In the
Brahmanas we hear of the mighty Kurus in the tract
of the country round modern Delhi; we hear of the
powerful Panchalas in the country round modern Kanouj;
we read of the Videhas in the country now known as
North Behar ; we read of the Kosalas in Oudh ; and
we read of the Kasis in the country round modern
Benares. These colonists developed pompous sacrificial
rites, and had illustrious and learned kings like Janaka
and Ajatasatru and Janamejaya Parikshita. They founded
schools or parishads in villages and towns, and they
developed a new social system based on caste dis-
tinctions. It is of these colonists and their civilisation
that we mostly read in the Brahmanas ; – the Punjab is
almost forgotten, and Southern India is still unknown,
chap. 1.] LITERATURE OF THE PERIOD. II 3
or is referred to as the home of wild beasts and wild
l]] (21).
And lastly, the Sutra literature makes us familiar with
great Hindu kingdoms in Southern India, and some of
the existing Sutras were composed in Southern India.
Thus the countries and nations described by the different
classes of literature point to their respective ages.
We have spoken of the Vedic Period and the Rig
Veda Hymns in the First Book of this work. We will
speak of the Epic Period and the Brahmana literature in
this Second Book. And we will speak of the Rationalistic
Period and the Sutra literature in the Third Book.
We have seen before that the Rig Veda Hymns were
composed in the Vedic Age and were finally compiled in
the Epic Age. The other three Vedas known as the
Sama Veda, the Yajur Veda (White and Black), and the
Atharva Veda, were also compiled in this Epic Age.
The reasons which led to the compilation of the Sama
Veda and the Yajur Veda have been ascertained with a
fair degree of certainty. We find mention in the hymns
of the Rig Veda of different classes of priests who per-
formed different duties at sacrifices. The Adhvaryus
were entrusted with the material performance of sacrifice,
They measured the ground, built the altar, prepared the
sacrificial vessels, fetched wood and water, and immolated
animals. The Udgatris, on the other hand, were entrusted
with the duty of singing, as according to ancient custom
some parts of the sacrifice had to be accompanied by
songs. The Hotris had to recite hymns. And lastly, the
Brahmans presided at sacrifices over all the rest.
Of these four classes of priests, neither the Brahman
nor the Hotri required any special manual. For the
Brahman was required to know the entire ceremonial, to
be able to superintend the performance of the sacrifice, to
advise the other priests on doubtful points, and to correct
their mistakes. The Hotri too had simply to recite, and
if he knew the hymns of the Rig Veda, he did not require
*
VOL. I. IS
4 + 4 EPIC PER HOD, [BOOK II,
any separate compilation. But the duties of the Adhvaryu
and the Udgatri required special training. Special sacri-
ficial formulas must have existed for the former, and a
Stock of the Rig Veda Hymns, set to music, must have
also existed for the latter in the Vedic Period, for we find
the names Yajus and Saman in the Rig Veda Hymns.
These formulas and chants were, however, separately col-
lected and compiled at a later age, i.e., in the Epic Period ;
and these separate compilations, in the shape which they
last took, are the Yajur Veda and the Sama Veda as we
have them now.
No name has been handed down to us as the compiler
of the Sama Veda. Professor Benfey has pointed out,
what Dr. Stevenson previously suspected, that all the
verses of the Sama Veda, with the exception of a few,
are to be found in the Rig Veda ; and it is supposed that
these few verses too must have been contained in some
other recension of the Rig Veda now lost to us. It is
quite clear, therefore, that the Sama Veda is only a
selection from the Rig Veda set to music for a special
purpose.
Of the compilers of Yajur Veda, we have some informa-
tion. The more ancient or Black Yajur Veda is called the
Taittiriya Sanhita from Tittiri, who probably compiled or
promulgated it in its present shape. In the Anukramani
of the Atreya recension of this Veda, however, we are told
that the Veda was handed down by Vaisampayana to
Yaska Paingi, by Yaska to Tittiri, by Tittiri to Ukha, and
by Ukha to Atreya. This would show that the existing
oldest recension of the Yajur Veda was not the first
recension.
We have fuller information with regard to the more
recent White Yajur Veda, It is called the Vajasaneyi
Sanhita, from Yajnavalkya Vajasaneya, the compiler or
promulgator of that Veda. Yajnavalkya held the influ-
ential position of chief priest in the court of Janaka,
king of the Videhas, and the promulgation of this new
crap. 1.] LITERATURE OF THE PERIOD. I 15
Veda proceeded probably from the court of that learned
king. . . -
There is a striking difference in arrangement between
the White Yajur Veda and the Black Yajur Veda. In
the latter, the sacrificial formulas are followed by dog-
matic explanations, and by accounts of ceremonials
belonging to them. In the former, the formulas only find
place in the Sanhita, the explanation and the ritual being
assigned to the Brahmana. It is not improbable, as has
been supposed, that it was to improve the old arrange-
ment, and to separate the exegetic matter from the
formulas, that Yajnavalkya, of the court of Janaka,
founded the new school known as the Vajasaneyins, and
that their labours resulted in a new (Vayasaneyi) Sanhita
and an entirely separate (Satapatha) Brahmana.
But although the promulgation of the White Yajur
Veda is ascribed to Yajnavalkya, a giance at its contents
will show that it is not the compilation of any one man
or even of one age. Of its 40 chapters only the first 18
are cited in full and explained in due order in the first
nine books of the Satapatha Brahmana ; and it is the
formulas of these 18 chapters only which are found in
the older Black Yajur Veda. These 18 chapters then are
the oldest portion of the White Yajur Veda, and may
have been compiled or promulgated by Yajnavalkya
Vajasaneya. The next 7 chapters are very likely a later
addition. The remaining 15 chapters are undoubtedly a
still later addition, and are expressly called Parisishta
or Khila, i.e., supplement.
Of the Atharva Veda, we need only state that it was
not generally recognised as a Veda till long after the
period of which we are speaking, though a class of litera-
ture known as the Atharvangiras was growing up during
the Epic Period, and is alluded to in the later portions
of some of the Brahmanas. Throughout the first three
Periods of Hindu history, and even in Manu and other
metrical codes, three Vedas are generally recognised.
# 16 EPIC PERIOD, | BOOK II.
And although the claims of the Atharvan were sometimes
put forward, still the work was not generally recognised as
a fourth Veda till long after the Christian Era. Numerous
passages recognising three Vedas only could be cited.
from the literature of the period of which we are now
Speaking ; but we are unable to make room for such pas-
sages. We will only refer our readers to some of them,
viz., Aitareya Brahmana, V, 32 ; Satapatha Brahmana,
IV, 6, , ; Aitareya Aranyaka, III, 2, 3 ; Brihadaranyaka
TJpanishad, I, 5; and Chhandogya Upanishad, III and
VII. In this last work, after the three Vedas are named,
Atharvangiras is classed with Itihasa. It is only in the
|Brahmana and Upanishads of the Atharva Veda itself that
we find a uniform recognition of this work as a.Veda.
For instance, it is the principal object of the Gopatha
Brahmana to show the necessity of four Vedas. . A car-
riage, we are told, does not proceed with less than four
wheels, an animal cannot walk with less than four feet,
nor can sacrifice be perfect with less than four Vedas
Such special pleading only proves that the fourth Veda was
not yet recognised generally, even in the comparatively
recent times when the Gopatha Brahmana was composed.
Atharvan and Angiras are, as Professor Whitney
remarks, half mythical names of ancient and venerated
Indian families, and it was sought to bring the recent
Veda into connection with these ancient names | The
Veda is divided into twenty books, and contains nearly .
six thousand verses, and a sixth of this is in prose. Of
the remaining, one-sixth is found among the hymns of
the Rig Veda, mostly in the tenth book. The nineteenth
book is a kind of supplement to the previous eighteen,
while the twentieth book is made up of extracts from
the Rig Veda. * * .
The entire Veda principally consists of formulas in-
tended to protect men against the baneful influences of
divine powers, against diseases, noxious animals, and
curses of enemies. It knows a host of “imps and hob-
CHAP. I.] LITERATURE OF THE PIERIOD. II 7
goblins,” and offers homage to them to prevent them from
doing harm. The hymns are supposed to bring from the
unwilling hands of gods the favours that are wanted. In-
cantations calculated to procure long life or wealth or
recovery from illness, and invocations for good luck in
journeys, in gaming, &c., fill the work. These hymns re-
semble similar hymns in the last book of the Rig Veda ;
only, as professor Weber has pointed out, in the Rig
Veda they are apparently additions made at the time of
the compilation, while in the Atharva Veda they are the
natural utterance of the present.
We must now hasten to an account of the compo-
sitions called Brahmanas, after which the literature of
this Age has been named the Brahmana literature. We
have seen that in the Black Yajur Veda the texts are as
a rule followed by their dogmatic explanations. These
explanations were supposed to elucidate the texts and to
explain their hidden meanings, and they contained the
speculations of generations of priests. A single dis-
course of this kind was called a Brahmana ; and in later
times collections or digests of such discourses were called
I}rahmanas.
The Rig Veda has two Brahmanas, viz., the Aitareya
and the Kaushitaki. The composition of the former is
attributed to Mahidasa Aitareya, son of Itara. In the
Kaushitaki Brahmana, on the other hand, special regard
is paid to the sage Kaushitaka, whose authority is con-
sidered to be final. For the rest, these two Brahmanas
seem to be only two recensions of the same work, used
by the Aitaryins and the Kaushitakins respectively, and
they agree with each other in many respects, except that
the last ten chapters of the Aitareya are not found in the
*Caushitaki, and belong probably to a later age.
The Sama Veda has the Tandya or Panchavinsa Brah-
mana, the Sadvinsa Brahmana, the Mantra Brahmana,
and the better known Chhandogya.
The Black Yajur Veda or Taittiriya Sanhita has its
I IS EPIC PFR1OD, [BOOK II,
Taittiriya Brahmana, and the White Yajur Veda or
Vajasaneyi Sanhita has its voluminous Satapatha Brah-
mana. We have already stated that the Satapatha
Brahmana is attributed to Yajnavalkya, though it is more
likely the handiwork of the school he founded, as he is
often quoted in the work. Nor does the work belong
entirely to one school or to one age. On the contrary,
as in the case of the White Yajur Veda Sanhita so in
the case of its Brahmana, there are reasons to think
that the work belongs to different periods. The first 18
chapters of the Sanhita are the oldest part of the work,
and the first nine books of the Brahmana, which comment
on these 18 chapters, are the oldest part of the Brab-
mana. The remaining five books are of later date than
the first nine books. -
The Atharva Veda has its Gopatha Brahmana, a com-
paratively recent production, the contents of which are a
medley, derived to a large extent from other sources.
Next after the Brahmanas come the Aranyakas, which
may indeed be considered as the last portions of the
Brahmanas. They are so called, as Sayana informs us,
because they had to be read in the forest, while the
Brahmanas were for use in sacrifices performed by house-
holders in their homes.
The Rig Veda has its Kaushitaki Aranyaka and its
Aitareya Aranyaka, the latter ascribed to Mahidasa
Aitareya. The Black Yajur Veda has its Taittiriya
Aranyaka, and the last book of the Satapatha Brahmana
is called its Aranyaka. The Sama Veda and the Atharva
Veda have no Aranyakas. • -
What gives these Aranyakas a special importance,
however, is, that they are the proper repositories of those
celebrated religious speculations known as the Upaniº
shads. The Upanishads which are the best known, and
which are undoubtedly ancient, are the Aitareya and the
Kaushitaki, found in the Aranyakas of those names, and
belonging to the Rig Veda ; the Chhandogya and the
CHAP. I, ) LITE IX ATU R I, OF THE PER I () D, I ()
Talavakara (or Kena) belonging to the Sama Veda ; the
Vajasaneyi (or Isa) and the J3rihadaranyaka belonging
to the White Yajur Veda ; the Taittiriya and Katha and
Svetasvatara belonging to the Black Yajur Veda ; and
the Mundaka and Prasna and Mandukya belonging to the
Atharva Veda. These twelve are the ancient Upanishads
to which Sankaracharya principally appeals in his great
commentary on the Vedanta Sutras. But once after the
Upanishads had come to be considered sacred and autho-
ritative works, new compositions of the class began to
be added, until the total number reaches 2 oo or more.
The later Upanishads, which are generally known as the
Atharva Upanishads, come down as far as the Puranic
times, and enter the lists in behalf of sectarian views,
instead of being devoted to an inquiry into the nature
of Brahman or the Supreme Spirit, like the old Upani-
shads. Indeed, the later Upanishads come down to a
period long subsequent to the Mahom medan Conquest
of India, and the idea of a universal religion which was
cherished by the great emperor Akbar finds expression
in an Upanishad called the Allah, Upanishad We need
hardly say that we will refer in this work only to the
ancient Upanishads, and not to the later Upanishads.
With the Upanishads the Epic Period ends, and the
so-called revealed literature of India ends also. Other
classes of works, besides those named herein, undoubtedly
existed in the Epic Period, but have now been lost to us,
or more frequently replaced by newer works. A fragment
only of the vast literature of the Epic Period has come
down to us, and the principal works which remain have
been detailed above.
Of the Epics themselves, the Mahabharata and the
Ramayana, We will speak in the next two chapters.
CHAPTER II.
Å U/C US AAWD P.4 NCF/A/AS.
THE tide of Aryan conquests rolled onward. If the reader
will refer to a map of India, he will find that from the
banks of the Sutlej to the banks of the Jumna and the
Ganges, there is not a very wide strip of country to cross.
The Aryans, who had colonised the whole of the Punjab,
were not likely to remain inactive on the banks of the Sutlej
or of the Sarasvati. Already in the Vedic Period bands
of enterprising colonists had crossed those rivers and ex-
plored the distant shores of the Jumna and the Ganges,
and those noble streams, thcugh alluded to in the hymns
as on the very horizon of the Hindu world, were not
unknown. In course of time the emigrants to the fertile
banks of the two rivers must have swelled in number,
until the colonists founded a powerful kingdom of their
own in the country near modern Delhi, the kingdom of
the Kurus.
The colonists were no others than the Bharatas re-
nowned in the wars of Sudas, but their kings belonged
to the house of Kurus, and hence the tribe went by
both names, Bharatas and Kurus. From what part of
the Punjab the Kurus came, is a question still involved
in obscurity. In the Aitareya Brahmana (VIII, 14),
it is stated that the Uttara Kurus and the Uttara Madras
lived beyond the Himalaya. In later works, the Maha-
bharata (I, 47, 19, &c.) and the Ramayana (IV, 44,
88, &c.), the land of the Uttara Kurus, has already
become a mythical country, Uttara Kuru is identified
1 20
CHAP. II, KU RUS AN ID PA NCHAI, AS, T 2 iſ
with Ottorakorra Óf Ptolemy, and Lassen places the
country somewhere cast of modern Kashgar ; but we
would place the Uttara Kuru alluded , to in the Aitareya
Brahmana somewhere north of the Sub-Himalayan range,
i.e., in Kashmir, We assume that the colony of the
Kurus on the Ganges rose to prowess and fame about
I4OO B.C. - -
When the Hindus had once begun to colonise the
fertile banks of the Jumna and the Ganges, swarms of the
colonists marched down the course of those streams and
soon occupied the whole of the 190ab, i.e., the tract of
country between those rivers. While we find the Kurus
or Bharatas settling down in the country near modern
IDelhi, we find another adventurous tribe, the Panchalas,
occupying the tract of country near modern Kanouj. The
original seat of the Panchalas is still less known than that
of the Kurus, and it has been supposed that thcy also came
from, the northern hills, like the Kurus. Their name, how.
ever, which means “Five tribes,” would seem to indicate
that they were of the Pancha-Krishti or Pancha-jana,
“five cultivating tribes” of whom we read so often in the
Rig Veda. -
The Panchala kingdom probably rose to distinction
about the same time as the kingdom of the Kurus, and
the Brahmana literature frequently refers to these allied
tribes as forming the very centre of the Hindu world, and
renowned by their valour, their learning, and their civilisa-
tion. Many of the Brahmanas allude to the culture of
their schools, the sanctity of their priests, the ostentatious
religious sacrifices of their kings, and the exemplary lives
of the people. • , - - -
For centuries had elapsed since the Aryans had first
settled on the banks of the Indus, and the centuries had
done their work in progress and civilisation. The Kurus
and the Panchalas were no longer like the warrior-culti-
vators who battled against the black aborigines and won
the banks of the Indus and its tributaries. Manners had
VOL, I. IG
j 2 2 TCPIC PIERIOD. [BOOK II.
changed, society had become more refined and polished,
!earning and arts had made considerable progress. Kings
invited wise men to their courts, held learned contro-
versies with their priests, performed elaborate sacrifices
according to the rules of the age, led respectable
and trained armies to the field, appointed duly qualified
men to collect taxes and to administer justice, and per-
formed all the duties of civilised administrators. The
relations and friends of the king and all the warriors of
the nation learnt archery and driving the war chariot
from their early youth, and also learned the Vedas and
all the holy learning that was handed down from gene-
ration to generation. The priests multiplied religious
rites and observances, preserved the traditional learning
of the land, and instructed and helped the people in their
religious duties. And the people lived in their towns and
villages, cherished the sacred sacrificial fire in their houses,
cultivated the arts of peace, trained their boys from early
youth in the Vedas and in their social and religious duties,
and gradually developed those social customs which in
India have the force of laws. Women had their legiti-
mate influence in Society, and moved without restriction
or restraint. Society in India, fourteen hundred years
before Christ, was more polished and refined than that
of the preceding Vedic Age, and had more of healthy
life and vigour than Hindu Society has had in succeeding
ages. *
Civilisation, however, does not necessarily put a stop
to wars and dissensions ; and of the political history of
the Kurus and the Panchalas, the only reminiscences we
possess are those of a sanguinary war in which many
neighbouring tribes took part, and which forms the sub-
ject of one of the two great epics of India.
The incidents of the war described in the Mahabha-
rata are undoubtedly mythical, as the incidents described
in the Iliad are mythical. The five Pandava brothers and
their common wife are myths, as Achilles and Paris and
CHAP. II. J KU RUS AN ID PANC II AI, A.S. 1 2 3
Helen are myths. But nevertheless the great epic based
on the recollections of a true war of the great Bharatas
(hence the name of the epic), and faithfully describes the
manners and customs of the ancient Hindus, as the Iliad
describes the manners of the ancient Greeks.
It is because the story of the existing epic throws valu-
able side-lights on the state of the society of the ancient
Hindus that we think it necessary to briefly narrate it
here. Let the reader attach no value to the names, which
are mostly mythical, or to the incidents, which are mostly
imaginary ; let him only endeavour to draw from the story
a picture of Hindu life in the Epic Period, i.e., the period
of Aryan expansion in the Gangetic valley.
The capital of the Kurus at the time of which we are
speaking was the city of Hastinapura, the supposed ruins
of which have been discovered on the upper course of the
Ganges, about sixty-five miles to the north-east of Delhi.
Santanu, the old king of Hastinapura, died, leaving two
sons, Bhishma, who had taken a vow of celibacy, and
a younger prince who became king. This young prince
died in his turn, leaving two sons, Dhritarashtra who was
blind, and Pandu who ascended the throne.
Pandu died, leaving five sons who are the heroes of
the epic. Dhritarashtra remained virtually the king during
the minority of the five Pandavas and of his own children,
while Dhritarashtra's uncle Bhishma, a renowned warrior,
remained the chief councillor and friend of the state.
The account of the training of the young Pandavas
and the sons of Dhritarashtra to arms throws much light
on the manners of royal houses. Drona was a Brahman,
and a renowned warrior, for caste had not yet completely
formed itself, Kshatriyas had not yet obtained the
monopoly of the use of arms, nor Brahmans of religious
learning. He had been insulted by his former friend the
king of the Panchalas, and had retired in disgust to the
court of the Kurus and undertook to train the princes in
3 IIllS.
3.24. Eſ’IC PERIOD . [BOOK II.
Yudhisthira, the eldest of the Pandavas, never became
much of a warrior, but became versed in the religious
learning of the age, and is the most righteous character
in the epic, Bhima, the second, learnt to use the club,
and was renowned for his gigantic size and giant strength,
and is indeed the Ajax of the poem. The third, Arjuna,
excelled all other princes in the skill of arms, and aroused
the jealousy and hatred of the sons of Dhritarashtra, even
in their boyhood. Nakula, the fourth, learned to tame
horses, and Sahadeva, the fifth, became proficient in as-
tronomy. . Duryodhana, the eldest son of Dhritarashtra,
was proficient in the use of the club, and was a rival to
Bhima. - - . ſ
At last the day came for a public exhibition of the
proficiency which the princes had acquired in the use of
arms. A spacious area was enclosed. Seats were arranged
all round for the accommodation of ancient warriors and
chieftains, of ladies and courtiers. The whole population
of Kuruland flocked to see the skill of their young princes.
The blind king, Dhritarashtra was led to his seat ; and
foremost among the ladies were Gandhari, the queen of
Dhritarashtra, and Kunti, the mother of the first three
'Pandavas. The last two were Pandu's sons by another
wife. - - - - -
There was shooting of arrows at a butt, and there was
fighting with swords and bucklers and clubs. Duryodhana
and, Bhima soon began to fight in right earnest, and
rushed towards each other like mad elephants. Shouts
ascended to the sky, and Soon the fight threatened to
have a tragic end. At last the infuriated young men
were parted, and peace was restored. -
Then the young Arjuna entered the lists in golden
mail, with his wondrous bow. His splendid archery
surprised his most passionate admirers and thrilled the
heart of his mother with joy, while shouts of admiration
rose from the multitude like the roar of the ocean. He
played with his Sword, which flashed like lightning, and
cHAP. II.] KURUS AND PAN CH A LAS, 1 2 5
also with his sharp-edged quoit or chakra, and never
missed his mark. Lastly, he brought down horses and
deer to the ground by the noose, and concluded by doing
obeisance to his worthy preceptor Drona, annidst the
ringing cheers of the assembled multitude. -
The dark cloud of jealousy lowered on the brow of
Dhritarashtra's sons, and soon they brought to the field
an unknown warrior, Karna, who was a match for Arjuna
in archery. King's sons could only fight with their
peers, like the knights of old, and Dhritarashtra therefore
knighted the unknown warrior, or rather made him a
king on the spot, so that Arjuna might have no excuse
for declining the fight. To awkward questions which
were put to him, the haughty Karna replied that rivers
and warriors knew not of their origin and birth, their
prowess was their genealogy. But the Pandavas declined
the fight, and the haughty Karna retired in silence and
in rage. -
Drona now demanded the reward of his tuition. Like
doughty warriors of old he held revenge to be the dearest
joy of a warrior, and for his reward he asked the help of
the Kurus, to be revenged on Drupada, king of the Pan-
chalas, who had insulted him. The demand could not
be refused. Drona marched against Drupada, Conquered
him, and wrested half his kingdom. Drupada swore to
be avenged. -
Dark clouds now arose on the horizon of Kuruland.
The time had come for Dhritarashtra to name a Yuva-
raja, i.e., or a prince who would reign during his old age.
The claim of Yudhisthira to the throne of his father
could not be gainsaid, and he was appointed Yuvaraja.
But the proud Duryodhana rebelled against the arrange-
ment, and the old monarch had to yield, and sent the
five Pandavas in exile to Varanavata, said to be near
modern Allahabad, and then the very frontier of Hindu
settlements. The vengeance of Duryodhana pursued
thom there, and the house where the Pandavas lived was
I 26 EPIC PERIOD. [BOOK II.
burnt to ashes. The Pandavas and their mother escaped
by an underground passage, and for a long time roamed
about disguised as Brahmans.
Heralds now went from country to country, and pro-
claimed in all lands that the daughter of Drupada, king
of the Panchalas, was to choose for herself a husband
among the most skilful warriors of the time. As usual
on such occasions of Swayamvara, or choice of a husband
by a princess, all the great kings and princes and warriors
of the land flocked to the court of Drupada, each hoping
to win the lovely bride, who had already attained her
youth, and was renowned for her beauty. She was to
give her hand to the most skilful archer, and the trial
ordained was a pretty severe one. A heavy bow of
great size was to be wielded, and an arrow was to be
shot through a whirling chakra or quoit into the eye of a
golden fish, set high on the top of a pole !
Not only princes and warriors, but multitudes of spec-
tators, flocked from all parts of the country to Kampilya,
the capital of the Panchalas. The princes thronged the
seats, and Brahmans filled the place with Vedic hymns.
Then appeared Draupadi with the garland in her hand
which she was to offer to the victor of the day. By her
appeared her brother Dhrishtadyumna, who proclaimed
the feat which was to be performed.
Kings rose and tried to wield the bow, one after
another, but in vain. The skilful and proud Karna
stepped forth to do the feat, but was prevented.
A Brahman suddenly rose and drew the bow, and
shot the arrow through the whirling chakra into the eye
of the golden fish. A shout of acclamation arose ! and
Draupadi, the Kshatriya princess, threw the garland
round the neck of the brave Brahman, who led her away
as bride. But murmurs of discontent arose like the
sound of troubled waters from the Kshatriya ranks at this
victory of a Brahman, and the humiliation of the warriors;
and they gathered round the bride's father and threatened
chap. II.] KURUS AND PANCHALAS, I 27
violence. The Pandavas now threw off their disguise,
and the victor of the day proclaimed himself to be
Arjuna, a true-born Kshatriya
Then follows the strange myth that the Pandavas went
back to their mother and said, a great prize had been
won. Their mother, not knowing what the prize was, told
her sons to share it among them. And as a mother's
mandate cannot be disregarded, the five brothers wedded
Draupadi as their wife. It is needless to say that the
story of Draupadi and of the five Pandavas is a myth.
The Pandavas now formed an alliance with the powerful
king of the Panchalas, and forced the blind king
Dhritarashtra to divide the Kuru country between his
sons and the Pandavas. The division, however, was
unequal ; the fertile tract between the Ganges and the
Jumna was retained by the sons of Dhritarashtra, while
the uncleared jungle in the west was given to the
Pandavas. The jungle Khandava Prastha was soon
cleared by fire, and a new capital called Indraprastha
was built, the supposed ruins of which are shown to
every modern visitor to Delhi.
Military expeditions were now undertaken by the Pan-
davas on all sides, but these need not detain us, especially
as the accounts of these distant expeditions are modern
interpolations. When we find in the Mahabharata
accounts of expeditions to Ceylon, or to Bengal, we may
unhesitatingly put them down as later interpolations.
And now Yudhishthira was to celebrate the Rajasuya,
or coronation ceremony, and all the princes of the land,
including his kinsmen of Hastinapura, were invited. The
place of horfour was given to Krishna, chief of the Yadavas
of Gujrat. Sisupala of Chedi violently protested, and
Krishna killed him on the spot. Krishna is only a great
chief, and not a deity, in the older portions of the Maha-
bharata, and his story shows that Gujrat was colonised
from the banks of the Jumna in the Epic Age.
The tumult having subsided, the consecrated water
I 28 EPIC PERIOD, . [BOOK II.
*
was sprinkled on the newly-created monarch, and
I3rahmans went away loaded with presents.
But the newly-created king was not long to enjoy his
kingdom. With all his righteousness, Yudhishthira had
a weakness for gambling like the other chiefs of the time,
and the unforgiving and jealous Duryodhana challenged
him to a game. Kingdom, wealth, himself and his
brothers, and even his wife were staked and lost,-and
behold now, the five brothers and Draupadi the slaves
of Duryodhana | The proud Draupadi reſused to submit
to her position, but Duhsasana dragged her to the
assemble-room by her hair, and Duryodhana forced her
down on his knee in the sight of the stupefied assembly.
The blood of the Pandavas was rising, when the old
Dhritarashtra was led to the assembly-room and stopped
a tumult. It was decided that the Pandavas had lost
their kingdom, but should not be slaves. They agreed
to go in exile for twelve years, after which they should
remain concealed for a year. If the sons of I)hritarashtra
failed to discover them during the year, they would get
back their kingdom. º
Thus the Pandavas again went in exile ; and after
twelve years of wanderings in various places, disguised
themselves in the thirteenth year and took service under
the king of Virata. Yudhishthira was to teach the king
gambling ; Bhima was the head cook; Arjuana was to
teach dancing and music to the king's daughter ; Nakula
and Sahadeva were to be master of horse and master of
cattle respectively, and Draupadi was to be the queen's
handmaid. A difficulty arose. The queen's brother
was enamoured of the new handmaid of superb beauty,
and insulted her and was resolved to possess her. Bhima
interfered and killed the lover in secret.
Cattle-lifting was not uncommon among the princes of
those days, and the princes of Hastinapura carried away
some cattle from Virata. Arjuna, the dancing master,
could stand this no longer ; he put on his armour, drove
CHAP. II.] KURUS AND PANCHALAs. 129
. . . º
out in chariot, arid recovered the cattle, but was dis-
covered The question whether the year of secret exile
had quite expired was never settled. -
to claim back their kingdom. The claim was refused, and
both parties prepared for a war, the like of which had
never been seen in India. All the princes of note joined
one side or the other, and the battle which was fought
in the plains of Kurukshetra, north of Delhi, lasted for
eighteen days, and ended in fearful slaughter and carnage.
The long story of the battle with its endless episodes
need not detain us. Arjuna killed the ancient Bhishma
unfairly, after that chief was forced to desist from fighting.
I)rona, with his impenetrable “squares” or phalanxes,
killed his old rival I)rupada, but Drupada’s son revenged
his father's death and killed Drona unfairly. Bhima met
Duhsasana, who had insulted Draupadi in the gambling
room, cut off his head, and in fierce vindictiveness drank
his blood Lastly, there was the crowning contest be-
tween Karna and Arjuna, who had hated each other
through life ; and Arjuna killed Karna unfairly when his
chariot wheels had sunk in the earth, and he could not
move or fight. On the last or eighteenth day, Duryodhana
fled from Bhima, but was compelled by taunts and rebukes
to turn round and fight, and Bhima by a foul blow (be-
cause struck below the waist) smashed the knee on
which Duryodhana had once dragged Draupadi. And the
wounded warrior was left there to die. The bloodshed
was not yet over, for Drona’s son made a midnight raid
into the enemy's camp and killed Drupada's son, and
thus an ancient feud was quenched in blood. -
The remainder of the story is soon told. The Panda-
was went to Hastinapura, and Yudhishthira became king.
He is said to have subdued every king in Aryan India,
and at last, celebrated the Asvamedha ceremony or the
great horse-sacrifice. A horse was let loose and wandered
at its will for a year, and no king dared to stop it,
WOL. I. 17
§
- ** , a, A. '' - - ? $.
And now the Pandavášsent an envoy to Hastinapura’’
+ 3O - EPIC PERIOD, [BOOK II.
This was a sign of the submission of all the surrounding
kings, and they were then invited to the great horse-
sacrifice. We have seen that in the Vedic times the horse
was sacrificed simply for eating ; in the Epic Period the
horse-sacrifice became a means of expiation of siu, and of
the assumption of Supremacy among kings.
Such is the story of the great epic divested of its
numerous legends and episodes, its supernatural incidents
and digressions. Krishna, the Island-born, and compiler of
the Vedas, (not Krishna the Yadava chief), is said to have
been the son of the unmarried girl who afterwards married
Santanu. He was therefore the half-brothers of Bhishma.
He often appears on the scene abruptly and in a super-
natural manner, and imparts instruction and advice. The
story has a historical interest, and shows that the Vedas
were compiled before the time of the Kuru-Panchala war.
For the rest, it will appear from the above brief ac-
count that the first Hindu colonists of the Gangetic valley
had not yet lost the sturdy valour and the stubborn war-
like determination of the preceding Vedic Age. Kings now
ruled over larger countries and peoples, manners were
more polished, the rules of social life and of chivalry
were more highly developed, and the science of war itself
was better organised. But nevertheless, the stern and
relentless valour of the Vedic warriors breaks through
the polished manners of the Kurus and the Panchalas,
and those nations, if they had gained in civilisation, had
scarcely yet lost much in the vigour of national life. How
imperfectly the caste-system flourished among these
sturdy races is shown by many facts which still loom out.
in bold outline amidst the interpolations and additions of
later writers. Santanu, the ancient king of Hastinapura,
had a brother Devapi, who was a priest. The most learned.
character in the epic, Yudhishthira, is a Kshatriya, and
the most skilful warrior Drona is a Brahman. And the
venerable compiler of the Vedas, Krishna Dvaipayana.
himself—was he a Brahman or a Kshatriya P
CHAPTER III,
VIDE/IAS, A‘OSA LAS, AAVZ) AAS/S.
THE tide of Aryan conquests rolled onward. When the
country between the Jumna and the Ganges had been
completely conquered, peopled, and Hinduised, new bands
of adventurous settlers crossed the Ganges and marched
further eastwards to found new colonies and new Hindu
kingdoms. Stream after stream was crossed, forest after
forest was explored and cleared, region after region was
slowly conquered, peopled, and Hinduised in this onward
march towards the unknown east. The history of the
long struggles and the gradual development of the
Hindu power in these regions has been lost to us; and
we only see, in the literature which has been preserved,
the establishment of powerful and civilised Hindu king-
doms east of the Ganges, the kingdom of the Kosalas
in the country known as modern Oudh, that of the
Videhas in North Behar, and that of the Kasis round
modern Benares.
Some recollection of the eastern march of the Videhas
has been preserved in a stray passage in the Satapatha
Brahmana, quoted below :-- r
“Io. Madhava the Videgha carried Agni Vaisvanara
in his mouth. The Rishi Gotama Rahugana was his
family priest. When addressed by the latter he made no
answer, fearing lest Agni might fall from his mouth.
“13. Still he did not answer. (The priest continued):
“Thee, O butter-sprinkled one, we invoke l’ (Rig Veda,
©
I 30
f
y
132 JCPIC Pl: RIOD, [ BOOK II.
V, 26, 2). So much he uttered when, at the very men-
tioning of butter, Agni Vaisvanara flashed forth from the
king's mouth ; he was unable to hold him back ; he
issued from his mouth and fell down on this earth.
“14. Madhava the Videgha was at that time on the
river Sarasvati. He (Agni) thence went burning along
this earth towards the east ; and Gotama Rahugana and
the Videgha Madhava followed after him as he was burn-
ing along. He burnt over (dried up) all these rivers.
Now that river which is called Sadanira (Gunduck river)
flows from the northern (Himalaya) mountain : that one
he did not burn over. That one the Brahmans did not
cross in former times, thinking it has not been burnt
over by Agni Vaisvanara. t
“15, Nowadays, however, there are many Brahmans
to the east of it. At that time it (the land east of the
Sadanira) was very uncultivated, very marshy, because it
had not been tasted by Agni Vaisvanara.
“16. Nowadays, however, it is very cultivated, for
the Brahmans have caused Agni to taste it through
sacrifices. Even in late summer that river, as it were,
rages along ; so cold it is, not having been burnt over by
Agni Vaisyanara. - . . . "
“17. Madhava the Videgba then said to Agni,
‘Where am I to abide P’ ‘To the east of this river be
thy abode l’ said be. Even now this river forms the
boundary of the Kosalas and Videhas ; for these are
the Madhavas (or descendants of Madhava)” (Satapatha
Brahmana, I, 4, 1). . . .
Here then we have an account, in a legendary form,
of the gradual march of the colonists from the banks of
the Saraswati eastwards until they came to the Gunduck,
That river formed the boundary between the two king-
doms ; the Kosalas lived to the west of it, and the
Videhas to the east of it. . . . . .
In course of years, probably of centuries, the kingdom
of the Videhas rose in power and in civilisation, until
(TIAP. III.] VIDEHAS, KOSALAS, AND KASIS. I 33
it became the most prominent kingdom in Northern
India, f - -
Janaka, king of the Videhas, is probably the most
prominent figure in the history of the Epic Period in
India. That monarch had not only established his power
in the farthest confines of the Hindu dominions in India,
but he gathered round him the most learned men of his
time, he entered into discussion with them, and instructed
them in holy truths about the Oniversal Being. It is this
that has surrounded the name of Janaka with undying
glory. King Ajatasatru of the Kasis, himself a learned
man and a most renowned patron of learning, exclaimed
in despair, “Verily, all people run away, saying, Janaka
is our patron l’’ (Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, II, I, I).
The great fame of Janaka, is partly owing to the
culture and learning of the chief priest of his court,
Yajnavalkya Vajasaneyin. Under the royal auspices of
Janaka this priest conceived the bold idea of revising the
Yajur Veda as it then existed, of separating the formulas
from the exegetic matter, of condensing the former in the
shape of a new Yajur Veda (the White Yajur Veda), and
of amplifying the latter into a vast body of Brahmana (the
Satapatha Brahmana). Generations of priests laboured
at this stupendous work, but the glory of starting the
work belongs to the founder of the school, Yajnavalkya,
Wajasaneyin, and his learned patron, King Janaka of
the Videhas. * - * º
But Janaka has a still higher claim to our respect
and admiration. While the priestly caste was still
multiplying rituals and supplying dogmatic, explanations
for each rite, the royal caste seems to have felt some
impatience at this priestly pedantry. Thinking and
earnest. Kshatriyas asked themselves if these rites and
dogmas were all that religion could teach. Learned
Kshatriyas, while still conforming to the rites laid
down by priests, gave a start to healthier speculations
and inquired about the destination of the Soul and the
I 34 EPIC PERIOD. - [BOOK II,
nature of the Supreme Being. So bold, so healthy and
vigorous were these new and earnest speculations, that
the priestly classes, who were wise in their own esteem,
at last felt their inferiority, and came to Kshatriyas to
learn something of the wisdom of the new school. The
Upanishads contain the healthy and earnest speculations
which were started at the close of the Epic Period; and
King Janaka of Videha is honoured and respected,—more
than any other king of the time, as an originator of the
earnest speculations of the Upanishads. .'
The teaching of the Upanishads will be dwelt on more
fully in a subsequent chapter of this Book, but an account
of Janaka and of the other kings of the period and their
place in Hindu literature will not be complete unless we
cite a few passages here, illustrating their relations with
their priests, and their labours in the cause of earnest
philosophical thought in India.
“Janaka of Videha once met some Brahmans who had
just arrived. They were Svetaketu Aruneya, Soma-
sushama Satyayajni and Yajnavalkya. He said to them :
‘How do you perform the Agnihotra P’”
The three Brahmans' replied as best they could ; but
not correctly. Yajnavalkya came very near the mark, but
was not quite correct. Janaka told then, so, and mount-
ed his car and went away !
The priests said: “This fellow of a Rajanya has
insulted us.” Yajnavalkya mounted his car, followed
the king, and had the difficulty explained ( Satapaſha
Arahmana, XI, 4, 5). “Henceforth Janaka became as
Brahman” (S. Br. XI, 6, 2, 1). p
We find in Chhandogya Upanishad, V, 3, that one of
the three Brahmans named above, Svetaketu Aruneya,
came to an assembly of the Panchalas, and Pravahana
Jaivali, a Kshatriya, asked him some questions which
puzzled him. He came back sorrowful to his father and
said : “That fellow of a Rajanya asked me five ques-
tions, and I could not answer one of them.” The father,
cHAP. III.] v IDEHAS, KOSALAS, AND KASIS. I 35
Gautama, was himself puzzled and went to the Kshatriya
to have his difficulty removed. Pravahana Jaivali replied,
“Gautama, this knowledge did not go to any Drahman
before you, and therefore this teaching belonged in all the
worlds to the Kshatra class alone.” And then he imparted
the knowledge to Gautama.
In another place in this Upanishad (I, 8), this Prava-
hana silenced two boastful Brahmans, and then imparted
the true knowledge of the Highest God to them.
A story is told in the Satapatha Brahmana (X, 6, I, I),
and is repeated in the Chhandogya Upanishad (V, II),
that five Brahman householders and theologians became
anxious to know, ‘What is our Self and what is God P’
They came to Uddalaka Aruni to obtain the know-
ledge, but Aruni had his misgivings, and therefore took
them to the Kshatriya king, Asvapati Kaikeya, who
courteously invited them to stay at a sacrifice he was
going to perform. He said: “In my kingdom there is
no thief, no miser, no drunkard, no man without an altar
in his house, no ignorant person, no adulterer, much less
an adulteress. I am going to perform a sacrifice, sirs, and
as much wealth as I give to each Ritvik priest, I shall
give to you, sirs. Please to stay here.”
They stayed and told him what they had come for, and
“on the next morning they approached him, carrying fuel
in their hands (like students), and he, without any pre-
paratory rites,” imparted to them the knowledge they had
come for. -
It is curious how we meet the same names over and
over in the different Upanishads, and often the same story
too in different forms, showing that the old Upanishads
were composed at much the same time. We find Udda-
laka Aruni, also called Gautama, and his son Svetaketu
again in the Kaushitaki Upanishad ; and the father and
the son went to Chitra Gangyayani, fuel in hand, to learn
the truth. Chitra, a Kshatriya king, said: “You are
worthy of Brahman, O Gautama, because you were not led
1.36 . . . . . . EPIC PERIOD. j [BOOK II.
away by pride. Come hither, I shall make you know
clearly” (I, 1). . . . . . . .
A celebrated story is told in the Kaushitaki Upanishad
(IV), of a conversation between Gargya Balaki, a cele-
brated many of learning, and Ajatasatru, the learned king
of the Kasis. The boastful Brahman challenged the king,
but in course of the learned dispute, which followed, he
Collapsed and became silent. Ajatasatru said to him :
“Thus far do you know, O Balaki P’’ ‘Thus far only,”
replied Balaki. Then Ajatasatru said to him : ‘Vainly
did you challenge me, saying, Shall I tell you of God P’.
‘O Badaki, He who is the maker of those objects (which
you mentioned), He of whom all this is the work, He
alone is to be known.” . . . .
“Then Balaki came, carrying fuel in his hand, saying:
‘May I come to you as a pupil P’ Ajatasatru said to him
‘I deem it improper that a Kshatriya should initiate a
Brahman. Come, I will make you know clearly.’”
This story, as well as the story of Svetaketu Aruneya:
and the Kshatriya king Pravahana Jaivali, are repeated
in the Brihadaranyka Upanishad. • :
There are numerous such passages in the Upanishads
in which the Kshatriyas are represented as the wisest
teachers in true religious knowledge. But it is needless
to multiply instances here. What we have said is enough
to indicate the place which belongs to the royal caste at
the close of the Epic Period in the history of Hindu religion
and philosophy. The Upanishads mark a new era in the
history of human knowledge, and this knowledge, which
dates about 1 ooo B.C., “did not belong to any Brahman
before,” “it belonged in all the worlds to the Kshatra
class alone.” . ;
These are real claims of Janaka, king of the Videhas,
to the admiration and gratitude of posterity. Curiously
enough, posterity remembers him and the Videhas and
the Kosalas also through a myth which has clung round
their revered names. That myth relates to the Aryan
cIIAP. III. J VIDEHAS, KOSALAS, AND KASIS. I 37
conquest of Southern India; and with a fervid and blind
gratitude poets of subsequent ages have connected that
great historical event with the names of ancient kings who
had nothing to do with the conquest Historical know-
ledge in Europe, even in the dark ages, was never so dim
as to allow a poet to attribute the recovery of Jerusalem
to Charlemagne or Alfred the Great But the second
great epic gf India conceives and describes the conquest
of Ceylon by a king of the Kosalas who had married the
daughter of Janaka, king of the Videhas.
It is not possible with our present knowledge to state
when the Ramayana was composed in its original shape.
We find references to the Mahabharata in the Sutra
literature, but we find no such reference to the Rama-
yana. The discovery and conquest of Ceylon by Vijaya
from Bengal took place in the fifth century B.C., and
at first sight one would be inclined to refer the first
conception of the epic, which has its scene of action
in that island, to that date. On the other hand, the
existence of the island was well known to the Hindus
for centuries before its conquest by Vijaya. And the
composition of the Ramayana, which makes no allusion
to Vijaya's conquest, may be referred to an age anterior
to Vijaya, when the island was still very imperfectly
known to the Hindus.
That this view is more probable appears from the fact
that the whole of India south of the Vindhya chain is
described in the Ramayana as one interminable forest,
inhabited by aborigines who are described as monkeys
and bears. Now we knöw that the banks of the Godavari
and even of the Krishna river were colonised by the
Aryans early in the Rationalistic Period, and great em-
pires like that of the Andhras rose to power and started
new Schools of Science and learning several centuries be-
fore Christ. The first conception of the Ramayana must
be referred to a period anterior to these movements in the
South, for the Ramayana speaks of no Aryan civilisation
WOI., I, 18
1 38 EPIC PERIOD. [BOOK II.
south of the Vindhyas. The original Ramayana, like the
original Mahabharata, belongs therefore to the Epic Age.
Like the Mahabharata, the Ramayana is utterly value-
less as a narrative of historical events and incidents. As
in the Mahabharata, so in the Ramayana, the heroes are
myths, pure and simple.
Sita, the field furrow, had received divine honours
from the time of the Rig Veda, and had been worshipped
as a goddess. When cultivation gradually spread in
Southern India, it was not difficult to invent a poetical
myth that Sita was carried to the South. And when this
goddess and woman—the noblest creation of human ima-
gination,-had acquired a distinct and lovely individu-
ality, she was naturally described as the daughter of the
holiest and most learned king on record, Janaka of the
Videhas
But who is Rama, described in the epic as Sita’s hus-
band and the king of the Kosalas P. The later Puranas
tell us that he was an incarnation of Vishnu, but Vishnu
himself had not risen to prominence at the time of which
we are speaking ! Indra was still the chief of the gods
of the Epic Period. And in the Sutra literature (e.g.,
Paraskara Grihya Sutra, II, 17, 9) we learn that Sita,
the ſurrow goddess, is the wife of Indra. Is it then an
untenable conjecture that Rama, the hero of the Rama-
yana, is in his original conception, like Arjuna, the
hero of the Mahabharata, only a new edition of Indra
battling with the demons of drought P. The myth of
Indra has thus been mixed up with the epic which de-
scribes as a historic war in Northern India, and with
the epic which describes the historic conquest of South-
ern India -
But though the Ramayana is utterly valueless as a
narrative of events, still, like the Mahabharata, it throws
side-lights on the state of ancient society in India, and
the story of the epic therefore needs be briefly told.
Only we must premise that, even as a picture of life,
CHAP. III.] VIDEHAS, KOSALAS, AND KASIS. I 39
the Ramayana is long posterior to the Mahabharata, and
belongs to the very close of the Epic Period. We miss
in the Ramayana the fiery valour and the proud self-
assertion of the Kshatriyas of the Mahabharata ; and
the subordination of the people to the priestly caste is
more complete. Janaka himself is not described as the
proud asserter of Kshatriya learning and dignity that
he was, but as a humble servant of priests. And Rama
himself, the hero of the epic, though he encounters and
defeats a Brahman warrior Parasu Rama, does so with
many apologies and due submission The story of
Parasurama probably conceals a great historic truth. He
is said to have fought against the Kshatriyas and exter-
minated the caste ; and then he was conquered by the
Kshatriya Rama, the hero of the epic. It would seem
that this story indicates the real rivalry and hostilities
between the priestly and warrior castes, indications of
which we have found in a literary form in the Upani-
shads.
For the rest, one feels on reading the Ramayana that
the real heroic age of India had passed, and that centu-
ries of residence in the Gangetic valley had produced an
enervating effect on the Aryans. . We miss the heroic
if somewhat rude and sturdy manners and incidents
which mark the Mahabharata. We miss characters dis-
tinguished by real valour, and battles fought with real
obstinacy and determination. We miss men of flesh
and blood, and pride , and determination, like Karna
and Duryodhana and Bhima ; and the best developed
characters in the Ramayana are women like the
proud and scheming Kaikeyi or the gentle and ever
suffering Sita. The heroes of the Ramayana are some-
what tame and commonplace personages, very respect-
ful to priests, very anxious to conform to the rules
of decorum and duty, doing a vast amount of fighting
work mechanically, but without the determination, the
persistence of real fighters | A change had come over
I 4O EPIC PERIOD. [BOOK II.
the spirit of the nation; and if princes and men had
become more polished and law-abiding, they had become
less sturdy and heroic. For a picture of Hindu life of
the thirteenth century, when the hardy and conquering
Kurus and the Panchalas ruled in the Doab, we would
refer our readers to the Mahabharata. For a picture of
Hindu life of the eleventh century, when the Kosalas
and the Videhas had, by a long residence in the Gangetic
valley, become law-abiding and priest-ridden, learned
and enervated, we would refer our readers to the Rama-
yana. The two epics represent the change which Hindu
life and society underwent from the commencement to
the close of the Epic Age.
We proceed now with the story of the Ramayana.
The people who lived in the wide tract of eountry be-
tween the Ganges and the Gunduck were known by the
general name of the Kosalas, as we have seen before.
Dasaratha, a distinguished king of this nation, had his
capital in Ayodhya, or Oude, the ruins of which ancient
town are still shown to travellers in some shapeless
mounds. Dasaratha had three queens honoured above
the rest, of whom Kausalya bore him his eldest born
Rama, Kaikeyi was the mother of Bharata, and Sumitra
of Lakshmana and Satrughna. Dasaratha in his old age
decided on making Rama the Yuvaraja or reigning prince,
but the proud and beauteous Kaikeyi insisted that her
son should be Yuvaraja, and the feeble old king yielded
to the determined will of his wife. -
Before this Rama had won Sita, the daughter of Janaka
king of the Videhas, at a Swayamvara. Kings and princes
had assembled there, but Rama alone could lift the heavy
bow, and bent it till it broke in twain. But now, when
Ayodhya was still ringing with acclamation at that pros-
pect of Rama's being installed as Yuvaraja, it was
decided in queen Kaikeyi's chambers that Bharata must
be the Yuvaraja, and further that Rama must go into
exile for fourteen years.
CHAP. III.] VIDEHAs, KOSALAS, AND KASIS I 4 I
Rama was too obedient and dutiful to resist or even
resent this decision. His faithful half-brother Lakshmana
accompanied him, and the gentle Sita would not hear
of parting with her lord. Amidst the tears and lamen-
tation of the people of Ayodhya, Rama and Sita and
Lakshmana walked out of the city.
The exiles first went to the hermitage of Bharadvaja
in Prayaga or Allahabad, and then to that of Valmiki in
Chitrakuta, somewhere in modern Bandelkund. Valmiki
is reputed to be the author of the epic Ramayana, just as
Krishna Dvaipayana Vyasa, the compiler of the Vedas,
is said to be the author of the Mahabharata.
Dasaratha died of grief for Rama, and Bharata followed
Rama to Chitrakuta, and informed him of their father’s
death, and implored his return. But Rama felt himself
bound by the promise he had made, and it was agreed
that Rama would return after fourteen years and ascend
the throne. Bharata returned to Ayodhya.
Leaving Chitrakuta, Rama wandered in the Dandaka
forest and towards the sources of the Godavari among
jungles and non-Aryan tribes. For Southern India had
not yet been colonised by the Aryans. Thirteen years
thus passed away. - -
Ravana, the monster king of Lanka or Ceylon, and of
Southern India, heard of the beauty of Sita now dwelling
in jungles ; and in the absence of Rama took her away
from their hut, and carried her off to Ceylon. Rama,
after a long search, obtained clue of her ; he made
alliances with the non-Aryan tribes of Southern India,
who are described as monkeys and bears, and made
preparations for crossing over to Ceylon to recover his
wife. -
Bali was a great king among the non-Aryans, but his
brother Sugriva thirsted after his kingdom and his wife.
Rama fought and killed Bali, helped Sugriva to win the
kingdom and Bali's widow, and Sugriva then marched
with his army to Lanka.
I 42 w EPIC PERIOD. [BOOK II.
Hanuman, the commander-in-chief of the non-Aryan
army, led the way. He leaped over the strait of sixtv
miles which separates India from Ceylon, found Sita,
and gave her the ring sent by Rama. He then caused
a conflagration in the capital of Ravana, and returned to
Rama.
A causeway was then built across the strait by boulders
and Stones. The reader is aware that a natural causewa
runs nearly across the strait, and there is no doubt that
the physical aspect of this locality suggested to the poet
the idea that the causeway was built by the superhuman
labours of Rama’s army. The whole army then crossed
over and laid siege to the capital of Ravana.
The account of the war which follows, though full of
poetical incidents and stirring description, is unnatural
and tedious. Chief after chief was sent out by Ravana
to beat back, the invaders, but they all fell in the war,
Rama using his supernatural weapons and mystic mantras.
Indrajit, the proud son of Ravana, battled from the clouds,
but Lakshmana killed him. Ravana came out in rage and
killed Lakshmana, but the dead hero revived under the
influence of some medicine brought by the faithful
Hanuman. One of Ravana's brothers, Bibhisana, had
left his brother and had joined Rama, and told him the
secret by which each warrior would be killed, and thus
chief after chief of Ravana's proud host fell. At last
Ravana himself came out, and was killed by Rama.
Sita was recovered, but she had to prove her untainted.
virtue by throwing herself into a lighted pyre, and then
coming out of it uninjured.
The fourteenth year of exile having now expired,
Rama and Sita returned to Ayodhya and ascended the
throne. But the suspicions of the people fell on Sita,
who had been in Ravana's house, and could not, they
thought, have returned untainted. And Rama, as weak
as his father had been, sent poor, suffering Sita—then
gone with child—to exile,
CHAP. III.] VIDEHAS, KOSALAS, AND KASIS. I 43
Valmiki received her at Chitrakuta, and there her two
sons, Lava and Kusa, were born. Valmiki composed
the poem of the Ramayana and taught the boys to repeat
the piece, and thus years were passed.
Then Rama decided to celebrate the Asvamedha sac-
rifice, and sent out the horse. The animal canne as
far as Valmiki’s hermitage, and the boys, in a playful
humour, caught it and detained it. Rama’s troops tried in
vain to recover the animal. At last Rama himself saw
the princely boys, but did not know who they were ; he
heard the poem Ramayana chanted by them, and it was
in a passion of grief and regret that he at last knew them
and embraced them as his own dear boys.
But there was no joy in store for Sita. The people's
suspicions could not be allayed, and Rama was too weak
to act against his people. The earth which had given
poor Sita birth- yawned and received its long-suffering
child. The Vedic conception of Sita, as the field-furrow,
manifests itself in the Epic in this incident. But to the
millions of Hindus, Sita is a real human character, a
pattern of female virtue and female self-abnegation. To
this day Hindus hesitate to call their female children
by the name of Sita ; for if her gentleness, her virtue,
her uncomplaining devotion, and her unconquerable
love for her lord, were more than human, her sufferings
and woes too were more than usually fall to the lot of
woman. There is not a Hindu woman in the length
and breadth of India to whom the story of suffering
Sita is not known, and to whom her character is not a
model to strive after and to imitate. And Rama too,
though scarcely equal to Sita in the worth of character,
has been a model to men for his truth, his obedience,
and his piety. And thus the epic has been for the
millions of India a means of moral education, the value
of which can hardly be over-estimated.
CHAPTER IV.
A R VA MS AAWD AWON A /& V AAVS.
THE great river systems of Northern lndia determined
the course of Aryan conquests ; when we survey the
course of these rivers, we comprehend the history of
Aryan conquests during ten centuries. And when we
have traced the course of the Indus and its tributaries,
and of the Ganges and the Jumna as far as Benares and
North Behar, we have seen the whole extent of Indo-
Aryan world as it existed at the close of the Epic Period,
or about looo B.C. Beyond this wide tract of Hindu
kingdoms lay the whole extent of India yet unexplored
or rather unconquered by the Aryans, and peopled by
various aboriginal tribes. A wide belt of this Non-
Aryan tract, surrounding the Hindu world to the east,
south, and west, was becoming known to the Hindus
about the very close of the Epic Period. South Behar,
Malwa, and a portion of the Deccan and the regions to
the south of the Rajputana desert, formed a wide semi-
circular belt of country, as yet not Hinduised, but becom-
ing gradually known to the Hindus, and therefore finding
occasional mention in the latest works of the Brahmana
literature, as regions peopled by Satvas, i. e., living
creatures, hardly human beings. We can imagine hardy
colonists penetrating into this encircling belt of unknown
and uncivilised regions, obtaining a mastery over the
aborigines wherever they went, establishing some iso-
lated settlements on the banks of fertile rivers, and pre-
senting to the astonished barbarians some of the results
| 44
CHAP. l V. ARY ANS AN I) NON-A RYANS. I 45
of civilised administration and civilised life. We can
imagine also saintly anchorites retiring into these wild
jungles, and fringing the tops of hills or fertile valleys
with their holy hermitages, which were the seats of
learning and of sanctity. And lastly, adventurous royal
huntsmen not unoften penetrated into these jungles, and
unhappy princes, exiled by their more powerful rivals,
often chose to retire from the world and took up their
abodes in these solitudes. In such manner was the belt
of Non-Aryan country gradually known to the Hindus,
and we will cite a passage or two which will show how far
this knowledge extended, and how the civilised Hindus
named the different aboriginal tribes dwelling in this
tract, probably in the eleventh century B.C.
There is a passage in the last book of the Aitareya
Brahmana which, along with an account of the principal
Hindu kingdoms of the time, makes some mention of
aboriginal races in the south and south-west; and the
passage deserves to be quoted : —
“The Vasavas then inaugurated him (Indra) in the
eastern direction during thirty-one days by these three
Rik verses, the Yajus verse, and the great words (all
just mentioned), for the sake of obtaining universal
sovereignty. Hence all kings of eastern nations are in-
augurated to universal sovereignty and called Samraſ, i.e.,
universal sovereign, after this precedent made by the gods.
“Then the Rudras inaugurated Indra in the southern
region during thirty-one days, with the three Rik verses,
the Yajus, and the great words (just mentioned), for ob-
taining enjoyment of pleasures. Hence all kings of
living creatures* in the southern region, are inaugurated
for the enjoyment of pleasures and called Bhoja, i.e., the
enjoyer.
“Then the divine Adityas inaugurated him in the wes-
term region during thirty-one days, with those three Rik
* Salvanam is the word in the original.
VOI. I. I9
I 46 EPIC PF RI ().D. [ROOK II.
verses, that Yajus verse, and those great words for obtain-
ing independent rule. Hence all kings of the AVichyas
and Apachyas in the western countries* are inaugurated
to independent rule, and called “independent rulers.”f
“Then the Visvedevah inaugurated him during thirty-
one days in the northern region by those three Rik verses,
&c., for distinguished rule. Hence all people living in
northern countries beyond the Himalaya, such as the
Ottara Kurus, Uttara Madras, are inaugurated for living
without a king ( Vairajyam), and called Viraj, i.e., without
king.
“Then the divine Sadhyas and Aptyas inaugurated
Indra during thirty-one days in the middle region, which
is a firmly established footing (the immovable centre)
to the kingship (Rajya). Hence the kings of the Åuru
Aancha/as, with the Vasas and Osinaras, are inaugurated
to kingship and called kings (Raja).”
This passage shows us at one glance the whole of the
Hindu world as it existed at the close of the Epic Period.
To the farthest east lived the Videhas and the Kasis and
the Kosalas, as we have seen before, and those newest
and youngest of the Hindu colonists excelled in learning
and reputation their elder brethren in the west. Their
kings, Janaka and Ajatasatru and others, took the proud
title of Samraj, and worthily maintained their dignity by
their learning and their prowess.
In the south, some bands of Aryan settlers must have
worked their way up the valley of the Chumbal, and
become acquainted with the aboriginal tribes inhabiting
the country now known as Malwa. These tribes were
called Satzas, i.e., living creatures, scarcely human beings
We note, however, that the kingdoms in this direction
already went by the name of Bhoja (however fanciful the
derivation which the author gives to the word), and Bhoja
was in later times the name of the same region, lying
* Pratichyam is the word in the original.
f Szarat is the word in the original, whence Saurashtra and Surat.
|
f
CHAr. IV.] ARY ANS AND NON-A RYANS. } +7
immediately to the north of the Vindhya chain, and
along the valley of the Chumbal.
Westwards from this place surged the waves of Aryan
settlers or adventurers, until the invaders came to the
shores of the Arabian sea, and could proceed no further.
The aboriginal races in these distant tracts were looked
upon with some degree of contempt by the civilised colo-
nists or invaders, and were significantly called ZVichyas
and Apachyas, and their rulers had the significant name
of Svarat or independent rulers. These, races dimly
known at the very close of the Epic Period, were the
ancestors of the proudest and most warlike Hindu tribe
of later times, viz., the Maharattas.
To the north the Uttara Kurus and the Uttara Madras
and other tribes lived—beyond the Himalaya we are told
—but which probably means beyond the lower ranges and
among the valleys of the Himalayas. To the present day
men in these hills live in independent primitive communi-
ties, and have very little concern with chief or king ; and
it is no wonder that in ancient times they should be
known as peoples without kings.
And then, in the very centre of the Hindu work,
along the valley of the Ganges, lived the powerful tribes
of the Kurus and the Panchalas, and the less known
tribes, the Vasas and the Usinaras.
In the west, the deserts of Rajputana were wholly
unexplored by the Aryans. The Bhil aborigines of those
deserts and mountains Were left undisturbed until new and
hardy tribes of invaders entered India after the Christian
era and settled down in these parts.
In the far east, South Behar was not yet Hinduised.
In a passage in the Atharva Veda pointed out by Professor
Weber, special and hostile notice is taken of the Angas
and the Magadhas. The passage shows that the people
of South Behar did not yet belong to the Hindu confedera-
tion of nations ; but were nevertheless becoming known
to the Aryans, Bengal proper was as yet unknown.
148 EPIC PERIOD. [Book ii.
And the whole of Southern India, i.e., India south of
the Vindhya range, was yet unoccupied by the Hindus.
The Aitareya Brahmana gives (VII, 18), the names of
certain degraded barbarous tribes, and among others that
of the Andhras. We shall see that in the Rationalistic
Period the Andhras rose to be a great civilised Hindu
power in the Deccan.
We have now spoken of all the principal Aryan races
and kingdoms which flourished in the Epic Period, and of
the non-Aryan kingdoms, which formed a semicircular belt
in the south of the Hindu world. It will be our pleasant
task in the following chapters to give some account of the
social customs and the domestic life of the people. But
before we take leave of kings, we must make some mention
of the great coronation ceremony, as it has been des-
cribed in many works of the Epic Period. This ceremony
and the horse-sacrifice were the most imposing and
ostentatious royal ceremonials of Ancient India, and
we have already said something about both these rites,
in connection with the two Epics of the Hindus. An
extract or two about the coronation ceremony are all that
is needed here — -
“He spreads the tiger-skin on the throne in such a
manner that the hairs come out-side, and that part which
covered the neck is turned eastward, For the tiger is the
Kshattra (royal power) of the beasts in the forests. The
Kshattra is the royal prince ; by means of this Kshattra,
the king makes his Kshattra (royal power) prosper. The
king, when taking his seat on the throne, approaches it
from behind, turning his face eastwards, kneels down
with crossed legs, so that his right knee touches the earth,
and holding the throne with his hands, prays over it an
appropriate mantra. . .
“The priest then pours, the holy water over the king's
head, and repeats the following : ‘With these waters,
which are happy, which cure everything, increase the royal
power, the immortal Prajapati sprinkled Indra, Soma
CHAP. IV.] ARY ANS AND NON-A RYA, NS. I 49
sprinkled the royal Varuna, and Yama sprinkled Manu ;
with the same sprinkle I thee Be the ruler over kings
in this world. The illustrious mother bore thee as the
great universal ruler over men ; the blessed mother has
borne thee, &c.’ And the ceremony concludes with a
drink of the Soma wine which the priest hands over to
the king” (Aitareya Brahmana, VIII, 6–9).
We are then told that with this ceremony priests in-
vested a number of kings whose names are already known
to us. Tura, the son of Kavasha, thus inaugurated Jana-
mejaya, the son of Parikshit. “Thence Janamejaya went
everywhere, conquering the earth up to its ends, and
sacrificed the sacrificial horse.” Parvata and Narada thus
invested Yudhamsraushti, the son of Ugrasena. Vasishtha
invested Sudas, the great conqueror of the Rig Veda
hymns ; and Dirghatamas invested Bharata, the son of
Duhshanta, with this ceremony. -
We have another excellent account of the coronation
rite in the White Yajur Veda, from which we quote a
remarkable passage in which the priest blesses the newly-
crowned king : “May God who rules the world bestow
on you the power to rule your subjects. May fire, wor-
shipped by householders, bestow on you supremacy over
the householders. May Soma, the lord of trees, bestow
on you supremacy over forests. May Vrihaspati, the god
of speech, bestow on you supremacy in speech. May
Indra, the highest among gods, bestow on you the
highest supremacy. May Rudra, the cherisher of animals,
bestow on you supremacy over animals. May Mitra, who
is truth, make you supreme in truth. May Varuna, who
cherishes holy works, make you supreme in holy acts”
(IX, 39). -
In the address to the people which follows, the priest
tells them : “This is your king, O ye such and such
tribes.” The Kanva text reads thus : “This is your king,
O ye Kurus, O ye Panchalas.”
We will conclude this chapter with an excellent piece
1 50 EPIC Pl, lê 1 OD. [BOOK II.
4
of advice which is given to kings further on, in the same
Veda, which modern rulers will do well to remember :-
“If thou shalt be a ruler, then from this day judge the
strong and the weak with equal justice, resolve on doing
good incessantly to the public, and protect the country from
all calamities” (X, 27).
CHA P. VI.] SOCIA I, Ll I E. ' 1 63
of the cultivation of learning ; and many of the Brah-,
manas which have been handed down to us, were com-
posed in the schools which these priests founded. On
great occasions men of learning came from distant towns
and villages, and discussions were held not only on
ritualistic matters, but on such subjects as the human.
mind, the destination of the Soul after death, the future.
world, the nature of the gods, the fathers, and the
different orders of being, and lastly, on the nature of
that Universal Being who has manifested himself in all
the works we see. -
But learning was not confined to royal courts. There
were Parishads or Brahmanic establishments for the
cultivation of learning, answering to the Universities of
Europe, and young men went to these Parishads to acquire
learning. Thus in Brihadaranyaka Upanishad VI, 2, we
learn that Svetaketu went to the Parishads of the Panchalas
for his education. Professor Max Müller, in his History
of Sanscrit Literature, quotes passages which show that,
according to modern writers, a Parishad ought to con-
sist of twenty-one Brahmans well versed in philosophy,
theology, and law ; but these rules, as he points out, are
laid down in later law books, and do not describe the
character of the Parishads of the Epic Period. Parasara.
says that four, or even three, able men from amongst the
Brahmans in a village, who know the Veda and keep the
sacrificial fire, form a Parishad. -
Besides these Parishads, individual teachers established
what would be called private schools in Europe, and often
collected round themselves students from various parts
of the country. These students lived with their teachers,
served them in a menial capacity during the time of
their studentship, and after twelve years or longer, made
suitable presents to their teachers and returned to their
homes and their longing relatives, Learned Brahmans
too, who retired to forests in their old age, often collected
students round them, and much of the boldest speculations
I64 EPIC IPERIOD. [BOOK II.
of this period has proceeded from these sylvan and re-
tired seats of sanctity and learning. Such is the way in
which learning has been cultivated and preserved during
thousands of years among the Hindus, a nation who
valued learning and knowledge perhaps more than any
other nation in ancient or modern times. Good works
and religious rites lead, according to the Hindu creed, to
happier states of life and to their due reward ; but true
knowledge akone leads to final union with God.
When students had thus acquired the traditional learn-
ing of the age either in Parishads or under private teachers,
they returned to their homes, married, and settled down
as householders. With marriage began their duties as
householders, and the first duty of a householder was to
Right the sacrificial fire under an auspicious constellation,
to offer morning and evening libations of milk to the
fire, to perform other religious and domestic rites, and
above all, to offer hospitality to strangers. The essence
of a Hindu's duties are inculcated in passages like the
following :- - - .
“Say what is true : Do thy duty : Do not neglect
the study of the Veda . After having brought to thy
teacher the proper reward, do not cut off the lives of
children, 1 EXO not swerve from the truth ! Do not swerve
from duty Do not neglect what is useful I Do not
neglect greatness I Do not negleet the learning and
teaching of the Veda - - - - -
Do not neglect the works due to the gods and fathers t
I.et thy mother be to thee like unto a god Let thy father
be to thee like unto a god flet thy teacher be to thee
like unto a god Whatever actions are blameless, those
should be regarded, not others. Whatever good works
have been performed by us, those should be observed by
thee." (Taittiriya Upanishad, I, 2 ). -
Pleasing pictures of a happy state of society are pre-
sented in many passages which we meet with in the
literature of the period : “May the Brahmans in our
CHAP. VI.j SOCIAL LIFE. J 65
kingdom,” says the priest at a horse-sacrifice, “live in
piety; may our warriors be skilled in arms and mighty;
may our cows yield us profuse milk, our bullocks carry
their weights, and our horses be swift ; may our women
defend their homes, and our warriors be victorious ; may
our youths be refined in their manners...... May Parjanya
shower rain in every home and in every region; may our
crops yield grains and ripen, and we attain our wishes
and live in bliss” (White Yajur Veda, XXII, 22).
The wealth of rich men consisted in gold and silver
and jewels; in cars, horses, cows, mules and slaves; in
houses and fertile fields, and even in elephants (Chhan-
dogya Upanishad, V, 13, 17, and 19 ; VII, 24 ; Sata-
patha Brahmana, III, 2, 48 ; Taittiriya Upanishad, I, 5,
12, &c., &c.). Gold is considered a proper gift at sacrifice,
the gift of silver being strictly prohibited. The reason is
sufficiently grotesque, as the reasons given in the Brah-
manas generally are: When the gods claimed back the
goods deposited with Agni, he wept, and the tears he shed
became silver; and hence if silver is given as dakshina,
there will be weeping in the house ! The reason scarcely
veils the cupidity of priests, which was the real cause
of gifts in gold. w -
Not only was the use of gold and silver known, but
several other metals are mentioned in White Yajur Veda,
XVIII, 13. The following passage from the Chhandogya
Upanishad specifies some metals then in use :—
“As one binds gold by means of lavana (borax),
and silver by means of gold, and tin by means of silver,
and lead by means of tin, and iron by means of lead,
and wood by means of iron, and also by means of
leather” (IV, 17, 7).
In Aitareya Brahmana (VIII, 22), we are told, evident-
ly in the language of exaggeration, that the son of Atri
presented ten thousand elephants, and ten thousand slave
girls, “well endowed with ornaments' on their necks,
who had been gathered from all quarters.”
I (36 1. PIC PERIOD, [BOOK II.
As in the Vedic Period, the food of the people con-
sisted of various kinds of grain as well as the meat of
animals. In the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad (VI, III, 13),
ten kinds of seeds are mentioned, viz., rice and barley
(brihiyavas), sesamum and kidney beans (tilamashas),
millet and panic. Seed (anupriyangavas), wheat (godhumas)
lentils (masuras), pulse (khalvas) and vetches (khalakulas).
In the White Yajur Veda (XVIII, 12) we have a list
of these grains, beside mudga, nivara, and syamaka.
Grains were ground and sprinkled with curds, honey,
and clarified butter, and made into different kinds of
cake. Milk and its various preparations have ever been
a favourite food in India. s
Animal food was in use in the Epic Period, and the
cow and the bull were often laid under requisition. In
Aitareya Brahmana (I, 15) we learn that an ox or a cow.
is killed when a king or an honoured guest is received ;
and an honoured guest is called, even in comparatively
modern Sanscrit, a cow-killer. -
In the Brahmana of the Black Yajur Veda, the kind
and character of the cattle which should be slaughtered
in minor sacrifices, for the gratification of particular
divinities, are laid down in detail. The same Brahmana,
lays down instructions for carving, and the Gopatha
Brahmana tells us who received the different portions.
The priests got the tongue, the neck, the shoulder, the
rump, the legs, &c.; while the master of the house (wisely)
appropriated to himself the sirloin, and his wife had to
content herself with the pelvis Plentiful libations of the
Soma beer were taken to wash down the meat
In III, 1, 2, 21 of the Satapatha Brahmana there is an
amusing discussion as to the propriety of eating the meat.
of an ox or a cow. The conclusion is not very definite :
“Let him (the priest) not eat the flesh of the cow and
the ox.” Nevertheless Yajnavalkya said (taking appa-
rently a very practical view of the matter), “I for Onc eat.
it, provided that it is tender . " -
CHAP. VI.] SOCIAL LIFE. 167
The practical Yajnavalkya could scarcely, however,
have contemplated the wonderful effects of vegetable
and animal diets respectively, as laid down in the
following passage in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad
(VI, 4, 17 and 18):— -
“And if a man wishes that a learned daughter should
be born to him, and that she should live to her full age,
then after having prepared boiled rice with sesamum
and butter they (the husband and wife) should both eat,
being fit to have offspring. -
“And if a man wishes that a learned son should be
born to him, famous, a public man, a popular speaker,
that he should know all the Vedas, and that he should
live to his full age, then, after having prepared boiled
rice with meat and butter, they (the husband and wife)
should both eat, being fit to have offspring. The meat
should be of a young or of an old bull.”
We scarcely thought that the venerable composers of
the Vedic Brahmanas ever suspected any sort of con-
nection between beef-eating and public-speaking, such
as has manifested itself in later days -
And now let our readers construct for themselves a
picture of the social life which the Hindus of the Epic
period—which the citizens of Hastinapur and Kampilya
and Ayodhya and Mithila—lived three thousand years
ago. The towns were surrounded by walls, beautified by
edifices, and laid out in streets, which would not bear
comparison with the structures and roads of modern
days, but were probably the finest of their kind in ancient
times. The king's palace was always the centre of the
town, and was frequented by boisterous barons and a
rude soldiery, as well as by holy saints and learned
priests. The people flocked to the palace on every great
occasion, loved, respected and worshipped the king, and
had no higher faith than loyalty to the king. House-
holders and citizens had their possessions and wealth in
gold, silver, and jewels ; in cars, horses, mules, and
1,68 H.PIC PERIOD. [BOOK II.
slaves; and in the fields surrounding the town. They
kept the sacred fire in every respectable household,
honoured guests, lived according to the law of the
land, offered sacrifices with the help of Brahmans, and
honoured knowledge. Every Aryan boy was sent to
School at an early age. Brahmans and Kshatriyas
and Vaisyas were educated together, learnt the same
lessons and the same religion, and returned home,
married, and settled down as householders. Priests
and soldiers were a portion of the people, intermarried
with the people, and ate and drank with the people.
Various classes of manufacturers supplied the various
wants of a civilised society, and followed their ancestral
professions from generation to generation, but were not
cut up into separate castes. Agriculturists lived with
their herds and their ploughs in their own villages, and
according to the ancient custom of India, Hindu village
communities managed and settled their own village
concerns. The picture of ancient life can be indefinitely
enlarged ; but each reader will probably do this for
himself. We will turn from this general account of
ancient society to examine the position which women
held in that society. -
We have seen that the absolute seclusion of women was
unknown in ancient India. Hindu women held an honour-
ed place in society from the dawn of Hindu civilisation
four thousand years ago; they inherited and possessed pro-
perty; they took a share in sacrifices and religious duties;
they attended great assemblies on state occasions ; they
openly frequented public places; they often distinguished
themselves in science and in the learning of their times ;
and they even had their legitimate influence on politics
and administration. And although they never, mixed
so freely in the society of men as women do in modern
Europe, yet absolute seclusion and restraint were not
Hindu customs; they were unknown in India till the
Mahommedan times, and are to this day unknown in
chAP. VI.j SOCIAL LIFE, I 69
parts of India like the Maharashtra, where the rule of
the Moslems was brief. No ancient nation held their
women in higher honour than the Hindus, but the Hindus
have been misjudged and wronged by writers unacquain-
ted with their literature, and who received their notions
of the women of the East from Turkish and Arab customs.
Innumerable passages could be quoted from the Brah-
mana literature, showing the high esteem in which women
were held, but we will content ourselves with one or two.
The first is the celebrated conversation between Yajna.
valkya and his learned wife Maitreyi on the eve of his
retirement into forests :—
“1. Now when Yajnavalkya was going to enter upon
another state, he said : ‘Maitreyi, verily I am going away
from this my house. Forsooth let me make a settlement
between thee and Katyayani.’ •
“2. Maitreyi said : ‘My Lord, if this whole earth full
of wealth belonged to me, tell me, should I be immortal
by it P’ ‘No,' replied Yajnavalkya ; ‘like the life of rich
people will be thy life. But there is no hope of immor-
tality by wealth P’
“3. And Maitreyi said : ‘What should I do with that
by which I do not become immortal P What my lord
knoweth of immortality, tell that to me P’
“4. Yajnavalkya replied : ‘Thou who art truly dear
to me, thou speakest dear words. Come, sit down, I will
explain it to thee, and mark well what I say.’”
And then he explained the principle which is so often
and so impressively taught in the Upanishads, that the
Universal Soul dwells in the husband, in the wife, in the
Sons, and in wealth ; in the Brahmans and Kshatriyas,
and in all the worlds ; in the Devas, in all living creatures,
yea, in all the universe. Maitreyi, -the wise, the accom-
plished, the learned lady—received and grasped this
great truth, and valued it more than all the wealth of
the world (Brihadaranyaka Upanishad).
Our next quotation, which is also from the same
*WQL. I. 22
17 o' EPIC PERIOD. [BOOK 11.
Upanishad, relates to a great assembly of learned men
in the court of Janaka, king of the Videhas :—
“Janaka Videha sacrificed with a sacrifice at which
many presents were offered to the priests of (the Asva-
medha). Brahmans of the Kurus and the Panchalas
had come thither, and Janaka wished to know which of
those Brahmans was the best read. So he enclosed a
thousand cows, and ten padas (of gold) were fastened
to each pair of horns. -
“And Janaka spoke to them : ‘Ye venerable Brah-
mans, he who among you is the wisest, let him drive
away these cows.’ Then those Brahmans durst not, but
Yajnavalkya said to his pupil, ‘Drive them away, my
dear.’ He replied, “O glory of the Saman P and drove
them away.” -
On this the Brahmans became angry, and plied the
haughty priest Yajnavalkya with questions, but Yajna-
valkya was a match for them all. Asvala the Hotri
priest, Jaratkarava Artabhaga, Bhujyu Labyayani, Ushasta
Chakrayana, Kahola Kaushitakeya, Uddalaka Aruni, and
others plied Yajnavalkya with questions, but Yajnavalkya
was not found wanting ; the learned men, one by one,
held their peace. - -
There was one in the great assembly—and this is a
remarkable fact which throws light on the manners of
the time—who was not deficient in the learning and the
priestly lore of those times, because she was a lady. She
rose in the open assembly, and said : “O Yajnavalkya,
as the son of a warrior from the Kasis or Videhas might
string his loosened bow, take two pointed foe-piercing
arrows in his hand and rise to battle, I have risen to
fight thee with two questions. Answer me these ques-
tions.” The questions were put and were answered, and
Gargi Vachaknavi was silent. -
Do not these passages and such passages as these in-
dicate that women were honoured in ancient India, more
perhaps than among any other ancient nation in the ace
CHAP. VI.] SOCIAL LIFE, 17 I
of the globe P Considered as the intellectual companions
of their husbands, as their affectionate helpers in the
journey of life, and as the inseparable partners of their
religious duties, Hindu wives received the honour and
respect due to their position. They also had their rights
to property and to inheritance, which indicate the regard
in which they were held. It would be scarcely fair to
compare ancient customs with the institutions of modern
civilisation ; but the historian of India, who has studied
the literature of the ancient Hindus, will have no hesita-
tion in asserting that never in the most polished days of
Greece or Rome were women held in such high regard
in those countries as in India three thousand years ago.
As we have said before, early marriage and child-
marriage were still unknown in the Epic Period, and we
have numerous allusions, in the Epics and elsewhere, to
the marriage of girls at a proper age. Widow-marriage
was not only not prohibited, but there is distinct sanction
for it ; and the rites which the widow had to perform
before she entered into the married state again are dis-
tinctly laid down. As caste was still a pliable institution,
men belonging to one caste not unoften married widows
of another, and Brahmans married widows of other castes
without any scruple. “And when a woman has had
ten former husbands, not Brahmans, if a Brahman then
marries her, it is he alone who is her husband” (Atharzºt
Veda, V, 17, 8). * * .
Polygamy was allowed among the Hindus as among
many other ancient nations, but was confined to kings
and wealthy lords as a rule, Modern readers, who would
judge harshly of ancient Hindu civilisation from the pre-
valence of this custom, should remember that polygamy
was nearly universal among the wealthy people of all
nations in ancient times, and that, to take some instances,
Alexander the Great and his successors Lysimachus,
Seleucus, Ptolemy, Demetrius, Pyrrhus, and others were
all polygamists Polyandry, we need hardly say, was
172 EPIC PRRIOD. [Book 11,
unknown in Aryan India : “For one man has many
wives, but one wife has not many husbands at the same
time” (Aitareya Brahmana, III, 23).
There is in the Satapatha Brahmana (I, 8, 3, 6) a curi-
ous passage prohibiting marriages among blood relations
to the third or fourth generation : “Hence from one and
the same man spring both the enjoyer (the husband) and
the one to be enjoyed (the wife);” “for now kinsfolk
live sporting and rejoicing together, saying, in the fourth
or third generation we unite.” The rule of prohibition
became more strict in later times.
Women in India have ever been remarkable for their
faithfulness and their duteous affection towards their
husbands, and female unfaithfulness is comparatively
rare. It would appear that Hindu priests, like Roman
Catholic priests, found a way to discover the most hidden
secrets of frail women, and the following reads like a rule
of Catholic confessional :-
“Thereupon the Pratiprasthatri returns to the place
where the sacrificer's wife is seated. When he is about
to lead the wife away, he asks her : ‘With whom holdest
thou intercourse P’ Now when a woman who belongs
to one man carries on intercourse with another, she
undoubtedly commits a sin against Varuna. He there-
fore asks her, lest she should sacrifice with a secret pang
in her mind ; for when confessed, the sin becomes less,
since it becomes truth : this is why he thus asks her.
And whatever connection she confesses not, that indeed
will turn be injurious to the relatives” (Salafatha
Brahmana, II, 5, 2, 20).
CHAPTER VII.
LAW, ASTRONOMY, AND LEARNING.
THE punishment of criminals and the proper administra-
tion of laws are foundations on which all civilised societies
are built, and we find a true appreciation of laws in some
passages in the Brahmana literature : “Law is the kshatra
(power) of the Kshatra, therefore there is nothing higher
than the law. Thenceforth even a weak man rules a
stronger with the help of the law as with the help of a
king. Thus the law is what is called the true. And if
a man declares what is true, they say he declares the
law ; and if he declares the law, they say he declares what
is true. Thus both are the same” (Brihadaranyaka, I,
4, 14). No nobler definition of law has been discovered
by all the jurists in the world.
The judicial procedure was still however crude, and,
as among other ancient nations, criminals were often
tried by the order of fire.
“They bring a man hither whom they have taken by
the hand, and they say : “He has taken something, he has
commited theft.” (When he denies, they say); ‘Heat
the hatchet for him.’ If he committed the theft, then
he . . . grasps the heated hatchet, he is burnt, and he
is killed. But if he did not commit the theft, then he
. grasps the heated hatchet, he is not burnt, and he is
delivered” (Chhandogya, VI, 16). Murder, theft, drunken-
ness, and adultery are considered the most heinous
offences.
We will now turn to Astronomy. The first elementary
knowledge of the astronomical science is discernible in
173
I 74 It l’ſ C PERIOD. [BOOK II.
the Rig Veda itself. The year was divided into twelve
lunar months, and a thirteenth or intercalary month was
added to adjust the lunar with the solar year (I, 25, 8).
The six seasons of the year were named Madhu, Madhava,
Sukra, Suchi, Nabha, and Nabhasya, and were connected
with different gods (II, 36). The different phases of the
moon were observed and were personified as deities,
Raka is the full moon, Sinivali is the last day before the
new moon, and Gungu is the new moon (II, 32). The
position of the moon with regard to the Nakshatras or
the lunar mansions is also alluded to (VIII, 3, 20), and
some of the constellations of the lunar mansions are also
named in X, 85, 13. It would appear from this that the
Nakshatras were observed and named in the Vedic Age,
and it was in the Epic Period that the lunar zodiac was
finally settled. t
As might be expected, there was a considerable pro-
gress made in the IEpic Period. Astronomy had now
come to be regarded as a distinct science, and astro-
nomers by profession were called Nakshatra Darsa and
Ganaka (Taittiriya Brahmana, IV, 5, and White Yajur
Veda, XXX, Io, 20). The twenty-eight lunar mansions
are also enumerated in the Black Yajur Veda, and
a second and later enumeration occurs in the Atharva
Samhita and in the Taittiriya Brahmana. An interesting
passage in Satapatha Brahmana (II, 1, 2) shows how
sacrificial rites were regulated by the position of the moon
in reference to these lunar asterisms. It is too long to
be quoted, and we will therefore give extracts —
“1. He may set up two fires under the Kriſtikas
(the pleiades), for they, the Krittikas, are doubtless
Agni's asterism. . . . -
“6. He may also set up his fires under Kohini. For
under Rohini it was that Prajapati, when desirous of
progeny, set up his fires. . . . -- -
“8. He may also set up his fires under the asterism
or Mrigasirsha. For Mrigasirsba, indeed, is the head
... }
CHAP, VII.] LAW, ASTRONOMY, J.T.C. I 75
of Prajapati. . . . He may also set up his ſires under
the Phalgunis. They, the Phalgunis, are Indra's aster-
ism, and even correspond to him in name ; for, indeed,
Indra is also called Arjuna, this being his mystic name ;
and they (Phalgunis) are also called Arjunis.
“12. Let him set up his fire under the asterism
Jasta, whosoever should wish that presents should be
offered him : then indeed that will take place forthwith ;
for whatever is offered with the hand (hasta ), that in-
deed is given to him.
“13. He may also set up his fires under Chitra,”
&c., &c. - -
It will thus appear that the setting up of the sacri-
ficial fires was regulated by the constellations. In
the same way, sacrifices having for a year were regulated
by the sun's annual course, Dr. Martin Haug, the edi-
tor and translator of the Aitareya Brahmana, has made
some excellent remarks on this subject, which deserve
to be quoted :-- -
“The great sacrifices take place generally in spring
in the months Chaitra and Vaisakha (April and May).
The Sattras, which lasted for a year, were, as one may
learn from a careful perusal of the fourth book of the
Aitareya Brahmana, nothing, but an imitation of the
sun's yearly course. They were divided into two dis-
tinct parts, each consisting of six months of thirty days
each ; in the midst of both was the Vishuvan, i. e., equa-
tor or central day, cutting the whole Saffra into two
halves. The ceremonies were in both the halves exactly
the same ; but they were in the latter half performed in
an inverted order. This represents the increase of the
days in the northern and their decrease in the southern
progress; for both increase and decrease take place ex-
actly in the same proportions” (Introduction, p. 47).
We have said that the lunar zodiac was finally
arranged in India towards the commencement of the
lºpic Period, say, B, C, 14oo. The illustrious Colebrooke
176 H.PIC PERIOD, [BOOK II,
first stated his opinion that the Hindus arranged the
lunar mansions from their own observations, and later
researches into the intimate connection between the
Vedic rites and the position of the moon with regard to
the stars, leave no doubt whatever as to the indigenous
origin of Hindu astronomy. But nevertheless some Euro-
pean scholars have indulged in conjectures as to the
foreign origin of Hindu astronomy, and a controversy
which may really be called a battle of books has raged
in Europe and America
The eminent French savant Biot, writing in 1860,
described the Chinese system of Sieu as an indigenous
Chinese institutions, and the inference was that the
Hindu AWa/s/affras and Arab Manazil were borrowed
from the Chinese. The German scholar Lassen was led
to adopt this opinion. Professor Weber, however, took
up the subject, and in two elaborate essays, published in
1860 and 1861, proved that the Chinese Sieu as well as
the Arab Manazi/, “in respect of order, number, iden-
tity of limiting stars, and inequality of distance, corres-
pond to one of the most modern phases of the Hindu
AWakshatras, prior to which these have their own peculiar
history of development.” Professor Weber thus ſinally
disposes of the theory of the Chinese origin of the
AWakshatras, and further proves that the Arab lunar man-
sions were imported by the Arabs from India. And this
is exactly the conclusion to which Colebrooke had arrived
as far back as 1807, when he wrote that the Hindus had
an ecliptic, “seemingly their own : it was certainly bor-
rowed by the Arabians.” **
Having thus finally disposed of the Chinese and
Arabian theories, Professor Weber must needs start a
theory of his own, which we may call the Chaldean
theory ! He conjectures that the IHindu system may
have been derived from some foreign source, probably
13abylon. This is nothing but a conjecture, a mere
suspicion, for Assyrian scholars have not yet obtained
*— - - - – '
ºn Ar. VII.] LAW, ASTRONOMY, ETC. 177
any trace of a lunar zodiac among the archives of old
Babylonian learning; but Professor Whitney of America
supports this “suspicion,” as he calls it, because he thinks
the Hindus “were not a people of such habits of mind.”
as to make observations in the heavens and settle the
lunar zodiac. The argument is so amusing that the
learned professor almost withdraws it himself, stating
that the argument “is not of a character to compel
belief.”
When scholars condescend to such wild reasoning, it
is idle to pursue the controversy. We will therefore
conclude this subject with a passage in which Professor
Max Müller puts forward the common sense view of the
subject. “The 27 Nakshatras, or the 27 constellations
which were chosen in India as a kind of lunar zodiac,
were supposed to have come from Babylon. Now the
Babylonian zodiac was solar, and in spite of repeated
researches, no trace of a lunar zodiac has been ſound,
where so many things have been found, in the cuneiform
inscriptions. But supposing even that a lunar zodiac
had been discovered in Babylon, no one acquainted with
Vedic literature, and with the ancient Vedic ceremonial,
would easily allow himself to be persuaded that the
Hindus had borrowed that simple division of the sky
from the 13abylonians.”
* Besides fixing the lunar zodiac, the Hindus of this
period observed the solstitial points to fix the dates of
momentous events, and divided the year into months,
naming each month after the lunar constellation in which
the moon was at its full in the particular month. Accord-
ing to Bentley the lunar zodiac was fixed in 1426 B.C.,
and the months were named in 1181 B.C. f A knowledge
of the Solar zodiac was borrowed from the Greeks, after
the Christian era, as we will see in a subsequent book.
Besides astronomy, other branches of learning were
* India : What can it teach us (1883), p. 126.
+ Hindu Astronomy (London, 1825), pp. 3 and Io.
VC) (,, I, 23
178 EPIC PERIOD. [BOOK I 1.
also cultivated in the Epic Period. Thus in Chhandogya
Upanishad (VII, 1, 2) we find Narada saying to Sanat-
kumara, “I know the Rig Veda, sir, the Yajur Veda, the
Sanja Veda, as the fourth the Atharvana, as the fifth the
Itihasa Purana, the Veda of the Vedas (grammar); the
Pitrya (rules for sacrifices for the ancestors); the Rasi
(the science of numbers); the Daiva (the science of
portents); the Nidhi (the science of time); the Vakovakya
(logic); the Ekayana (ethics); the Deva Vidya (etymo-
logy); the Brahma Vidya (pronunciation, prosody, &c.);
the Bhuta Vidya (the science of demons); the Kshatra
Vidya (the science of weapons); the Nakshatra Vidya
(astronomy); the Sarpa Devanjana Vidya (the science
of serpents and of genii). All this I know, sir.”
In Brihadaranyaka (II, 4, Io) we are told that “Rig-
Veda, Yajur Veda, Sama Veda, Atharvangirasas, Itihasa
(legends), Purana (cosmogonies), Vidya (knowledge), the
Upanishads, Slokas (verses), Sutras (prose rules), Anu
Vyakhyanas (glosses), Vyakhyanas (commentaries), have
all been breathed forth from the Supreme Being.”
Again, in the eleventh book of the Satapatha Brahmana,
we have mention of the three Vedas, the Atharvangirasas,
the Aunsasanas, the Vidyas, the Vakovakya, the Itihasa
Purana, the Narasansis, and the Gathas.
Professor Weber is of opinion that these names do
not necessarily imply distinct works which existed in the
Epic Period, and which have been since lost to us. He
points out that many of the names merely imply the
different subjects which we will still find in the Brah-
manas. It was at a later age, in the Rationalistic Period,
that these different subjects which we find interwoven
in the Brahmanas and Upanishads branched out as
separate subjects of study, and were taught in the
separate Sutra works and compositions which have
came down to us.
There is some force in this supposition, but, at the
same time, many of the subjects enumerated above could
cHAP. VII.] LAW, ASTRONOMY, ETC. 179
scarcely have been taught properly and handed down
from teacher to pupil without the help of special works
on those subjects. We therefore believe that such sepa-
rate works existed in the Epic Period, which have been
lost to us, because they have been replaced by more
elaborate and scientific works of a later age on the same
subjects,
CHAPTER VIII.
7A/E SAC/8//7/CIAL RITES OF THE BA’A H/l/A/VA.S.
THE main feature which distinguishes the religion of the
Epic Period from that of the preceding age is the great
importance which came to be attached to sacrifice. In
the earlier portion of the Vedic Period, men composed
hymns in praise of the most imposing manifestations of
mature ; they deified these various natural phenomena, and
they worshipped these deities under the name of Indra or
Varuna, of Agni or the Maruts. And the worship took
the shape of sacrifice, i. e., the offering of milk or grain,
of animals or libations of the Soma-juice to the gods.
A gradual change, however, is perceptible towards
the close of the Vedic Age, and in the Epic Age sacrifice
as such,-the mere forms and ceremonials and offerings,
—had acquired such an abnormal importance, that
everything else was lost in it. This was inevitable when
the priests formed into a caste. They multiplied cere-
monials, and attached the utmost importance to every
minute rite, until both they and the worshippers almost
lost sight of the deities they worshipped in the volumin-
ous rites they performed.
Sacrifices were generally accompanied by gifts of
cattle, gold, garments, and food, and by the offering of
animals as victims. There is a curious passage in Sata-
patha Brahmana, 1, 2, 3, 7 and 8, about animal sacrifice,
which deserves to be quoted :—
“At first, namely, the gods offered up a man as a
victim. When he was offered up, the sacrificial essence
j So
CHAP. v III.] SACRIFICIAL RITES. | 8 ||
went cut of him. It entered into the horse. They offered
up the horse. When it was offered, the sacrificial essence
went out of it. It entered into the ox. When it was offered
up, the sacrificial essence went out of it. It entered into
the sheep. They offered up the sheep. When it was
offered up, the sacrificial essence went out of it. It
entered into the goat. They offered up the goat. When
it was offered up, the sacrificial essence went out of it. It
entered into this earth. They searched for it by digging.
They found it in the shape of those two substances, the
rice and barley: therefore even now they obtain those
two by digging ; and as much efficacy as all those sacri-
ficed animal victims would have for him, so much efficacy
has this oblation (of rice, &c.) for him who knows this.”
Professor Max Müller infers from this passage that
human sacrifices prevailed among the ancient Hindus,
not in the Epic Period, not even in the Vedic Period,
but at a still remoter age. Dr. Rajendra Lala Mitra,
we regret to observe, follows the lead of Professor Max
Müller, and infers from certain other passages which
he quotes from the literature of this period, that the in-
human custom prevailed in the remote past. We demur
to the conclusions of both these scholars. - . ."
If human sacrifice had prevailed in India before th
Rig Veda hymns were composed, we should certainly
have found allusions to it in the hymns themselves—
allusions far more frequent than we find in the later
Brahmana literature. We find no such allusions. The
story of Sunahsepha, as told in the Rig Veda, is no
evidence of human sacrifice. And there is absolutely
nothing else in the Rig Veda which can be construed
as evidence of this custom. It is impossible to suppose
that such a striking and fearful custom should have
existed and gradually fallen into disuse without leaving
the slightest trace in the Vedic hymns, some of which
have come down from a very ancient date.
And where do we find allusions to this custom in the
182 EPIC PERIOD. [BOOK II.
literature of the Epic Period 2 The Sama Veda is compiled
from the Vedic hymns, and of course there is no mention
of human sacrifice in this Veda. There is no mention
of the custom in the Black Yajur Veda, and there is
no mention of it in the White Yajur Veda, properly so-
called. It is in the very latest compositions of the Epic
Period, in the Khila or supplementary portion of the
White Yajur Veda, in the Brahmana of the Black Yajur
Veda, in the Aitareya Brahmana of the Rig Veda, and
the last but one book of the Satapatha Brahmana, that we
have accounts of human sacrifice. Is it possible to pos-
tulate the existence of a horrible custom in India in the
remote past of which we find no mention in the Rig Veda,
in the Sama Veda, in the Black or White Yajur Veda, but
the memory of which suddenly revived after a thousand
years in the supplements and Brahmanas of the Vedas P
Or is it not far more natural to suppose that all the allu-
sions to human sacrifice in the later compositions of the
Epic Period are the speculations of priests, just as there
are speculations about the sacrifice of the Supreme Being
Himself 2 If the priests needed any suggestion, the
customs of the non-Aryan tribes with whom they became
familiar in the Epic Period would yield that suggestion.
We will now give a brief account of the principal
sacrifices which were performed in this ancient age. We
know from the Yajur Veda what these sacrifices were,
The Darsa ſurnamasa was performed on the first
day after the full and new moon, and Hindus down to
the present time consider these days as sacred. The
Aindapitri yajna was a sacrifice to the departed ances-
tors, and is one of the few ancient sacrifices which are
performed to this day. -
The Agni hotra was the daily libation of milk to the
sacred fire, performed morning and evening. And the
Chałurmasya was a sacrifice which was performed only
once every four months.
The Agni shloma was a Soma sacrifice ; while the
CHAP. VIII.] SACRIFICIAL RITES, 183
Sautramani was originally an expiation for over-indul-
gence in Soma. The Raja suya was the imperial coro-
nation sacrifice which was performed by great kings after
they had established their prowess and fame by con-
quests; and the Aswa medha was the celebrated horse-
sacrifice which was also performed after great wars and
conquests. Humbler than these, but far more important
for our purpose, was the Agniadhana or setting up of the
sacrificial fires, which had an important bearing on the
life of every Hindu, and which deserves a few words in
explanation.
Asvapti, as has been observed before, boasted that in
his kingdom there was no thief, no miser, no drunkard,
no ignorant person, no adulterer or adulteress, and “no
man without an altar in his house.” In those days, to
keep the sacred fire in the altar was a duty incumbent
on every householder, and the breach of this rule was re-
garded as positive impiety and irreligiousness. The
student who had returned home from his teacher or his
Parishad married in due time, and then set up the sacri-
ficial fires. This was generally done on the first day of
the waxing moon, but sometimes also at full moon, pro-
bably to enable the newly married couple to enter on the
sacred duties as early as possible. The performance of
the Agniadhana, or the establishment of the sacred fires,
generally required two days. The sacrificer chose his
four priests, the Brahman, the Hotri, the Adhvaryu, and
the Agnidhra, and erected two sheds or fire-houses, for
the Garhapatya and the Ahavaniya fires respectively. A
circle was marked for the Garhapatya fire, and a square
for the Ahavaniya fire; and if a southern or Dakshinagni
was required, a semicircular area was marked to the
south of the space between the other two.
The Adhvaryu then procured a temporary fire, either
producing it by friction, or obtaining it from certain
specified sources in the village, and after the usual five-
fold lustration of the Garhapatya fire-place, he laid down
184 EPIC PERIOD, [BOOK II.
the fire thereon. Towards sunset the sacrificer invoked
the gods and manes. He and his wife then entered the
Garhapatya house, and the Adhvaryu handed him two
pieces of wood, the Arani, for the production of the
Ahavaniya fire on the next morning. And the sacrificer
and his wife laid them on their laps, performed propitia-
tory ceremonies, and remained awake the whole night
and kept up the fire. In the morning the Adhvaryu
extinguished the fire, or if there was to be a Dakshinagni,
he kept it till that fire was made up. Such in brief is
the ceremony of the Agniadhana, or the setting up of
sacrificial fires, which formed an important duty in the
life of every Hindu householders in ancient days, when
the gods were worshipped by each man in his fire-place,
and temples and idols were unknown.
The illustrious scholar Dr. Roth first pointed out in
1854, from a passage in the Rig Veda (X, 18, 11), that
in ancient ages burial was practised by the Hindus. This
custom was followed by the burning of the dead and the
burial of the ashes. That this latter custom was also in
vogue in the Rig Veda Period appears from other pas-
sages, such as X, 15, 14, and X, 16, I. In the Epic Period,
of which we are now speaking, the custom of burying had
ceased altogether, and the dead were burnt, and the
ashes were buried. We find an account of this in the
35th chapter of the White Yajur Veda. The bones of the
deceased were collected in a vessel and buried in the
ground near a stream, and a mound was raised as high
as the knee and covered with grass. The relatives then
bathed and changed their clothes and left the funeral
ground. The same ceremony is more fully described in
the Aranyaka of the Black Yajur Veda. It is scarcely
necessary to add that the custom which now prevails
among the Hindus is simple cremation, without the
burial of the ashes. This recent custom began, accord-
ing to Dr. Rajendra Lala Mitra, shortly after the com-
mencement of the Christian Era.
CIIAP. Vl II.] SACR H FIACIAL RITES. 185
Another important rite which deserves some explana-
tion is the Pindapitri yajna, or the gift of cakes to the
departed ancestors. The cakes were offered to Fire
and to Soma, and the Fathers were invoked to receive
their shares. Then followed an address to the Fathers
with reference to the six seasons of the year. The
worshipper then looked at his wife and said: “Fathers
you have made us domestic men—we have brought these
gifts to you according to our power.” Then offering a
thread or wool or hair, he said: “Fathers this is your
apparel, wear it.” Then the wife ate a cake with a desire
to have children, and said : “Fathers let a male be
born in me in this season. Do you protect the son in
this womb from all sickness.” Departed spirits, accord-
ing to the Hindu religion, receive offerings from their
living descendants, and get none when the family is
extinct. Hence the extreme fear of Hindus to die with-
out male issue, and the birth or adoption of a son is a
part of their religion.
We do not propose to give an account of the other
sacrificial rites; what we have already said will convey a
general idea as to how sacrifices were performed. We
will now turn to some of the legends of the Brahmanas,
which are curious and interesting. A most remarkable
legend is told of Manu, who in the Vedic hymns is alluded
to as the ancient progenitor of man, who introduced culti-
vation and worship by fire, The legend in the Satapatha
|Brahmana (I, 8, 1) is not unlike the account of the
Deluge in the Old Testament. As Manu was washing
his hands a fish came unto him and said : “Rear me, I
will save thee.” Manu reared it, and in time it told him
“in such and such a year that flood will come. Thou
shalt then attend to me (i. e., to my advice) by preparing
a ship.” The flood came, and Manu entered into the
ship which he had built in time, and the fish swam up to
him and carried the ship beyond the northern mountain.
The ship was fastened to a tree there, and as the flood
VOL. I. 24
I 86 - EPIC PERIOD. [Book II.
subsided, Manu gradually descended. “The flood then
swept away all these creatures, and Manu alone remained
here.”
The legends relating to the creation of the world are
also interesting. There is a beautiful Vedic simile in
which the Sun, pursuing the Dawn, is compared to a
lover pursuing a maiden. This gave rise to the legend
which is found in the Brahmanas (Satapatha, I, 7, 4 ;
Aitereya, III, 33, &c.) that Prajapati, the supreme god,
felt a passion for his daughter, and this was the origin
of creation This legend in the Brahmanas was further
developed in the Puranas, where Brahma is represented
as amorous of his daughter. The whole of these mon-
strous legends arose from a simple metaphor in the Rig
Veda about the Sun following the Dawn. That such is
the origin of the Puranic fables was known to Hindu
thinkers and commentators, as will appear from the follow-
ing well-known argument of Kumarila, the great opponent
of Buddhism, and the predecessor of Sankaracharya :—
“It is fabled that Prajapati, the Lord of Creation, did
violence to his daughter. But what does it mean P
Prajapati, the Lord of Creation, is a name of the sun ;
and he is called so because he protects all creatures.
His daughter Ushas is the dawn. And when it is said
that he was in love with her, this only means that at
sunrise the sun runs after the dawn, the dawn being at
the same time called the daughter of the sun because
she rises when he approaches. In the same manner it
is said that Indra was the seducer of Ahalya. This does
not imply that the god Indra committed such a crime;
but Indra means the sun, and Ahalya the night; and as
the night is seduced and ruined by the Sun of the morning,
therefore is Indra called the paramour of Ahalya.”
There is another legend of creation in the Taittiriya
Brahmana (I, 1, 3, 5). In the beginning there was
nothing except water, and a lotus leaf standing out of it.
Prajapati dived in the shape of a boar and brought
CHAP. VIII.] SACRIFICIAL RITES, 187
up some earth and spread it out and fastened it down
by pebbles. This was the earth.
A similar story is told in the Satapatha Brahmana
(II, I, 1, 8), that after the creation, the gods and asuras
both sprung from Prajapati, and the earth trembled like a
lotus leaf when the gods and asuras contended for mastery.
We know that in the Rig Veda, the word Asura is an ad-
jective which means strong or powerful, and is invariably
applied to gods except in the very last hymns of the last
Mandala. In the Brahmanas the word has changed its
meaning altogether, and is applied to the enemies of the
gods, about whom many new legends were invented.
Another account of creation is given in the Satapatha
Brahmana (II, 5, 1): “Verily in the beginning Prajapati
alone existed here.” He created living beings and birds
and reptiles and snakes, but they all passed away for
want of food. He then made the breasts in the forepart
of their body (i.e., of the mammals) teem with milk, and
so the living creatures survived. And thus the world
was originally peopled.
While thus legends and sacrificial rites multiplied
in the Epic Period, religion was still the same as in
the Vedic Period. The gods of the Rig Veda were still
worshipped, and the hymns of the Rik, Saman, or Yajus
were still uttered as texts. Only the veneration with
which the gods were looked up to in the Vedic Period
was now merged in the veneration for the sacrificial
ceremonies. -
New gods, however, were slowly finding a place in the
Hindu pantheon—names which have acquired importance
in later times. We have already seen that Arjuna was
another name of Indra, even in the Satapatha Brahmana,
In Chapter XVI of the White Yajur Veda, we find Rudra
already assuming his more modern Puranic names, and
acquiring a more distinct individuality. In the Rig Veda,
as we have already seen, Rudra is the father of the
storms, he is the thunder. In the White Yajur Veda he
188 RPIC PERROY). [BOOK IT.
is also described as the thunder-cloud, but is specially
represented as a fearful god, and often the god of thieves
and criminals, and altogether a destructive power. He
is called Girisha (because clouds rest on mountains); he
is called Zamra or Aruna or Babhru (from the colour
of the clouds); he is named Nilakantha or blue-necked
(also from the same reason); Kapardin or the long-
haired ; Pasupati or the nourisher of animals ; Sankara
or the benefactor ; and Siva or the beneficent. Thus
in the Epic Period we find Rudra in a transition stage,
and we already see the origin of some of the Puranic
legends about him. But nowhere in the Brahmana
literature do we find those legends fully developed,
or Rudra represented as the Puranic Siva, the consort
of Durga or Kali, In the Kaushitaki Brahmana, we
find great importance attached in one passage to Isana
or Mahadeva. In Satapatha Brahmana, we find the
following remarkable passage :-‘‘This is thy share, O
Rudra ! Graciously accept it together with thy sister
Ambika " (II, 6, 2, 9). And in a celebrated passage in
the Mundaka Upanishad, an Upanishad of the Atharva
Veda, we find Kali, Karali, Manojava, Sulohita, Sudhu-
marvarna Sphulingini, and Bisvarupi as the names of
the seven tongues of fire. In Satapatha Brahmana (II,
4, 4, 6), we are told of a sacrifice being performed by
Daksha Parvati ; and in the Kena Upanishad we find
mention of a female called Uma Haimavati, who ap-
peared before Indra and explained to Indra the nature of
Brahman. These are a few specimens of the scattered
materials in the Brahmana literature, out of which the
gorgeous Puranic legend of Siva and his consort was
reared,
In Aitareya Brahmana (VI, 15), and in Satapatha
Brahmana (I, 2, 5), we are told the story of the gods
obtaining from the Asuras the part of the world which
Vishnu could stride over or cover, and thus they managed
to get the whole world. It is in the last book of the
CHAP. VIII.] SACRIFICIAL RITES. 189
Satapatha Brahmana (XIV, 1, 1), that Vishnu obtains
a sort of supremacy among gods, and his head is then
struck off by Indra. Krishna, the son of Devaki, is not
yet a deity; he is a pupil of Ghora Angirasa in the
Chhandogya Upanishad (III, 17, 6).
While in these scattered allusions we detect materials
for the construction of the gorgeous Puranic mythology
of a later day, we also find in the Epic Period traces
of that disbelief in Brahmanical rites and creed which
broke out also at a later day in the Buddhist revolution.
The Tandya Brahmana of the Sama Veda contains the
Vratya-stomas, by which the Vratyas or Aryans not
living according to the Brahmanical system could get
admission into that community. Some of them are thus
described :-‘‘They drive in open chariots of war, carry
bows and lances, wear turbans, robes bordered with red
and having fluttering ends, shoes, and sheep skins folded
double ; their leaders are distinguished by brown robes
and silver neck ornaments ; they pursue neither agri-
culture nor commerce ; their laws are in a state of
confusion ; they speak the same language as those who
have received Brahmanical consecration, but nevertheless
call what is easily spoken hard to pronounce.” For the
rest, a Vratya was not yet looked upon with contempt,
and the Supreme Being is addressed in Prasna Upanisbad
as a Vratya.
CHAPTER IX.
THE RELIGIOUS DOCTRZAVES OF THE UPAN/SHADS.
IT is a relief to pass from the rituals and legends of the
Brahmanas to the more vigorous speculations of the
Upanishads. Some impatience appears to have been
felt with the elaborate but unmeaning rites, the dogmatic
but childish explanations, and the mystic but grotesque
reasoning which fill the voluminous Brahmanas ; and
thinking men asked themselves if this was all that
religion could teach. Earnest men, while still conform-
ing to the rites laid down in the Brahmanas, began to
speculate on the destination of the Soul and on the
nature of the Supreme Being. Learned Kshatriyas
must have given a start to these healthier speculations,
or at least carried them on with vigour and success, until
Brahmans came to them to learn Something of the wisdom
of the new school. And even after the lapse of nearly
three thousand years, it is impossible not to be struck
with the vigour, the earnestness, and the philosophy
which characterise the doctrines of the Upanishads.
The most important among • them are (1) the Doctrine
of a Universal Soul, (2) the Doctrine of Creation, (3)
the Doctrine of Transmigration of Souls, and (4) the
Doctrine of Final Beatitude. -
We begin with the Doctrine of a Universal Soul, an ill-
pervading Breath which is the keystone of the philosophy
and thought of the Upanishads. This idea is somewhat '.
different from monotheism as it has been generally
understood in later days. For monotheism generally
190
CHAP. IX.] RELIGIOUS DOCTR INES. I 91
recognises a God and Creator as distinct from the created
beings; but the monotheism of the Upanishads, which has
been the monotheism of the Hindu religion ever since,
recognises God as the Universal Being ;-all things else
have emanated from him, are a part of him, and will mingle
in him, and have no separate existence. This is the lesson
which Satyakama Jabala learnt from nature, and this
is the lesson which Yajnavalkya imparted to his beloved
and esteemed wife Maitreyi. This too is the great idea
which is taught in the Upanishads in a hundred similes and
stories and beautiful legends, which impart to the Upani-
shads their unique value in the literature of the world.
“All this is Brahman (the Universal Being). Let a
man meditate on the visible world as beginning, ending,
and breathing in the Brahman. ' e :
“The Intelligent, whose body is spirit, whose form
is light, whose thoughts are true, whose nature is like
either (omnipresent and invisible), from whom all works,
all desires, all sweet odours and tastes proceed ; he who
embraces all this, who never speaks and is never sur-
prised. w
“He is my self within the heart, smaller than a corn
of rice, smaller than a corn of barley, smaller than a
mustard seed, smaller than a canary seed or the kernel
of a canary seed. He also is my self within the heart,
greater than the earth, greater than the sky, greater than
heaven, greater than all these worlds.
“He from whom all works, all desires, all sweet odours
and tastes proceed, who embraces all this, who never
speaks and is never surprised, he—my self within the
heart—is that Brahman. When I shall have departed
from hence, I shall obtain him” (Chhandogya, III, 14).
Such is the sublime language in which the ancient
Hindus expressed their sublime conception of the minute
but all-pervading and Universal Being whom they called
Brahman or God. -
We proceed with other extracts from the Chhandogya.
*
H 92 EPIC PERIOD. [BOOK II.
Svetaketu, as we have seen before, stayed with his teacher
from his twelfth year to his twenty-fourth, and then
returned home, “having then studied all the Vedas, con-
ceited, considering himself well read, and stern.” But he
had yet things to learn which were not ordinarily taught
in the schools of the age, and his father Uddalaka Aruneya
taught him the true nature of the Universal Being in
beautiful similes : —
“As the bees, my son, make honey by collecting the
juices of distant trees, and reduce the juice into one form.
And as these juices have no discrimination, so that they
might say, I am the juice of this tree or that, in the same
manner, my son, all these creatures, when they have be-
come merged in the True, know not that they are merged
in the True. © - - r
“These rivers, my son, run, the eastern (like the
Ganges) towards the east, the western (like the Indus)
towards the west. They go from sea to sea (i.e., the
clouds lift up the water from the sea to the sky and send
it back as rain to the sea). They become indeed sea. And
as those rivers, when they are in the sea, do not know, I
am this or that river, in the same manner, my Son, all
these creatures, proceeding from the True, know not that
they have proceeded from the True. . . .
“‘Place this salt in water, and then wait on me in the
morning.’ - -
“The son did as he was commanded. The father said
to him : ‘Bring me the salt which you placed in the water
last night.” The son having looked for it found it not,
for, of course, it was melted.
“The father said: “Taste it from the surface of the
water. How is it P’ The son replied : ‘It is salt.” “Taste
it from the middle, How is it?’ The son replied: ‘It is
salt.” “Taste it from the bottom. How is it P’ The Son
replied : ‘It is salt.” The father said: Throw it away,
and then wait on me.’” -
“The son waited on the father, and the father ex-
ch Ar. IX.] RELIGIOUS DOCTR IN ES. I 93
plained to his son that the Universal Being, though
invisible, dwells in us, as the salt is in the water"
(Chhandogya, VI). - -
These extracts from the Chhandogya bring home to
us the Hindu idea of a Universal Being. We will now
quote one or two passages from the Kena and the Isa :—
“At whose wish does the mind, sent forth, proceed
on its errand P’’ asks the pupil. “At whose command
does the first breath go forth P. At whose wish do we
utter this speech P What god directs the eye or the ear P”
The teacher replies : “It is the ear of the ear, the
mind of the mind, the speech of the speech, the breath of
the breath, and the eye of the eye. . . . -
“That which is not expressed by speech, and by which
speech is expressed. . . . That which does not think by
mind, and by which mind is thought. . . . That which
does not see by the eye, and by which one sees. . . . That
which does not hear by the ear, and by which the ear is
heard. . . . That which does not breathe by breath, and
by which breath is drawn, that alone know as Brahman,
—not that which people here adore ” (A ena Upanishad, I).
The italics are, of course, ours. But who does not
see in the above passage an effort of the human mind to
shake itself from the trammels of meaningless ceremonials
which priests taught and the “people here * practised, to
soar into a higher reign of thought and to comprehend the
incomprehensible, the breath of the breath and the soul
of the soul ? Who is not struck by this manly and
fervent effort made by the Hindu nation, three thousand.
years ago, to know the unknown Maker, to comprehend
the incomprehensible God.
And the joy of him who has comprehended, how-
ever feebly, the incomprehensible God, has been well
described :— - -
“He who beholds all beings in the Self, and Self in
all beings, he never turns away from it. - ‘.
“When to a man who understands, the Self has
VOL. I. 25
I 04 F. PIC PFR I () D. [Book 11.
become all things, what sorrow, what trouble can there
be to him who once beheld that unity ? - :
“He, the Self, encircled all, bright, incorporeal, scathe-
less, without muscles, pure, untouched by evil, a seer,
wise, omnipresent, self-existent, he disposed all things
rightly for eternal years ” (Zsa Chamishad).
Lastly, in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad we are told
that all gods are the manifestation of Self or Purusha,
“for he is all gods" (I, 4, 6). And likewise that he
exists in all men, in the Brahman, the Kshatriya, the
Vaisya, and the Sudra (I, 4, 15).
Our extracts on this subject have been somewhat
lengthy, but the reader will not regret it. For the Doc-
trine of a Universal Soul is the very keystone of the Hindu
religion, and it is necessary to know how this idea was
first developed in India in the Upanishads. We will now
pass on to another important doctrine, wiz., the Doctrine.
of Creation. .*
The Creation of the world was still a mystery to those
early thinkers, and the attempts to solve it were neces-
sarily fanciful. A few passages may be quoted :-
“In the beginning this was non-existent. It became
existent as it grew. It turned into an egg. The egg-lay
for the time of a year. The egg broke open. The two
halves were one of silver, the other of gold. &
“The silver one became this earth, the golden one
the sky, the thick membrane (of the white) the mountains,
the thin membrane (of the yolk) the mist with the clouds,
the small veins the rivers, the fluid the sea. . . -
“And what was born from it was Aditya, the Sun. When
he was born shouts of hurrah arose, and all beings arose,
and all things which they desired" (Chhandogya, III, 19).
A different account is given in VI, 2, of the same Upa-
nishad, where we are told that—“In the beginning there
was that only, which is, -One only, without a second.”
And that sent forth fire, and fire sent forth water, and
the water sent forth the earth. -
CHAP. IX.] RELIGIOUS D CCTR IN ES. I 95
The Aitareya Aranyaka describes how Prana, the
Universal Breath, created the world, and then discusses
the question of the material cause out of which the world
was created. As in the Rig Veda (X, 129), and as in the
Jewish account of creation, water is said to be the first
material cause. .
“Was it water really P Was it water P Yes, all this
was water indeed. The water was the root, the world
was the shoot. He (the person) is the father, they (earth,
fire, &c.), are the sons.” Mahidasa Aitareya knew this.
‘(II, I, 8, 1).
Elsewhere in the same Upanishad the following
account of Creation is given :—
“Verily in the beginning all this was Self-one only.
There was nothing else blinking whatsoever.” And that
Self sent forth the water (above the heaven), the lights
which are the sky, the mortal which is the earth, and the
waters under the earth. He then formed the Purusha,
and the universe was produced from the Purusha.
Some of these extracts clearly recognise an original
Creator, −the Breath or the Soul or the Self—and also a
material cause, water or fire. We shall see hereafter
how this doctrine of a Primal Soul and Primal Matter is
developed in later Hindu Philosopº. We must now turn
to the most important Doctrine of º. of Souls.
It is to the Hindus what the doctrine of Resurrection is
to Christians. And while the Christians believe that our
souls will live in another sphere after death, the Hindus
believe that our souls have lived in other spheres before,
and will live again in other spheres after death.
The central idea is that which has been adopted as
the cardinal principle of the Hindu religion, that good
acts lead to their rewards in future existences, but it is
true knowledge only which leads to union with the
Universal Spirit. “As here on earth, whatever has been
acquired by exertion perishes, so perishes whatever is
acquired for the next world by sacrifices and other good
196 EPIC PRRIOI). [BOOK 11.
actions performed on earth. Those who depart from
hence without having discovered the Self and those true
desires, for them there is no freedom in all the worlds”
(Chhandogya, VIII, I, 6).
The doctrine of transmigration of souls is fully and
beautifully explained in the Brihadaranyaka (IV, 4), and
we will make an extract from that Upanishad :-
“As a caterpillar, after having reached the end of a
blade of grass, and after having made another approach
to another blade, draws itself together towards it, thus
does the Self, after having thrown off this body, and dis-
pelled all ignorance, and after making another approach
to another body, draw itself together towards it.
“And as a goldsmith, taking a piece of gold, turns it
into another newer and more beautiful shape, so does the
Self, after having thrown off this body, and dispelled
. . all ignorance, make unto himself another newer and more
beautiful shape, whether it be like the Fathers, or like the
Gandharvas, or like the Devas, or like Prajapati, or like
Brahman, or like other beings. . .
“So much for the man who desires. But as to the
man who does not desire ; who, not desiring, free from
desires, is satisfied in his desires, or desires the Self only,
his vital spirits do not depart elsewhere ; being Brahman,
he goes to Brahman.
“And as the slough of a snake lies on an anthill, dead
and cast away, thus lies the body ; but that disembodied
immortal spirit is Brahman only, is only light.”
And this brings us to the Doctrine of Final Beatitude
and Salvation. There is nothing sublimer in the liter-
ature of the ancient Hindus than the passages in which
they fervently recorded their hope and faith that the
disembodied Soul, purified from all stains and all sins,
will at last be received in the Universal Soul even as
light mingles with light. We quote another passage from
the Brihadaranyaka :—
“He, therefore, that knows it, after having become
CHAP. IX.] - RELIGIOUS DOCTR IN ES. I 97
quiet, subdued, satisfied, patient, and collected, sees self
in Self, sees all in Self. Evil does not overcome him, he
overcomes all evil. Evil does not burn him, he burns all
evil. Free from evil, free from spots, free from doubt, he
becomes a true Brahman ;-enters the Brahma world.”
It was this Doctrine. Of Final Beatitude which Death
explained to Nachiketas in that beautiful idyll of an
Upanishad called Āatha. We will close the present
chapter with an extract from that beautiful creation of
fancy and of piety.
Nachiketas was given by his father unto Death and
entered the abode of Yama Vaivasvata, and asked him
for three boons, the last of which was this :—
“There is that doubt, when a man is dead ;-some
saying, he is ; others, he is not. This I should like to
know taught by thee; this is the third of my boons.”
But Death was unwilling to reveal his secrets, and
told Nachiketas to ask for other boons.
“Choose sons and grandsons who shall live a hundred
years, herds of cattle, elephants, gold, horses. Choose
the wide abode of the earth, and live thyself as many
harvests as thou desirest.
“If you can think of any boon equal to that, choose
wealth and long life. Be king, Nachiketas, on the whole
earth. I make thee the enjoyer of all desires.
“Whatever desires are difficult to attain among mortals,
ask for them, anything to thy wish ;-these fair maidens
with their chariots and musical instruments, such are
indeed not to be obtained by men ; be waited on by them
whom I give thee, but do not ask me about dying.”
Nachiketas said: “These things last till to-morrow, O
Death, for they wear out this vigour of all the senses.
Even the whole of life is short. Keep thou thy horses,
keep dance and song for thyself.”
Pressed by the pious inquirer, Death at last revealed
the great secret, which is the principle of the Upani.
shads and the principle of the Hindu religion :-
198 EPIC PERIOD. [BOOK II.
“The wise who, by means of meditation on his self,
recognises the Ancient, who is difficult to be seen, who
has entered into the dark, who has hidden in the cave,
who dwells in the abyss, as God, he indeed leaves joy
and sorrow far behind.
“A mortal who has heard this and embraced it, who
has separated from it all qualities and has thus reached
the subtle Being, rejoices because he has obtained what
is a cause for rejoicing. The house of Brahman is open,
I believe, O Nachiketas ſ” •
Who can, even in the present day, peruse these pious
inquiries and fervent thoughts of a long buried past,
without feeling a new emotion in his heart, without see-
ing a new light before his eyes | The mysteries of the un-
known future will never be solved by human intellect or
by human science; but the first recorded attempts to
solve them in a pious, fervent, philosophical spirit will
ever have an abiding interest for every patriotic Hindu
and for every thoughtful man.
In the words of the eminent German writer and
philosopher Schopenhauer: “From every sentence deep,
original and sublime thoughts arise, and the whole is
pervaded by a high and holy and earnest spirit. Indian air
surrounds us, and original thoughts of kindred spirits. . . .
In the whole world there is no study except that of the
originals, so beneficial and so elevating as that of the
Oupnekhat.” It has been the solace of my life; it will
be the solace of my death.”
* Latin translation of the Upanishads.
B O O K I I I .
RATIONALISTIC PERIOD, B.C. 1 ooo to 32 o.
CHAPTER I.
L/7′ERA TURAE OF 7'HAE PE/º/OAD.
A CHANGE came over the spirit of the Hindu world in
the third period, and the change is reflected in the Sutra
literature of India. The Vindhya range was the extreme
southern limit of the Hindu world in the Epic Period;
but now the Hindus crossed that chain of mountains,
and penetrated beyond the wastes and jungles of Central
India, and founded powerful Hindu kingdoms on the
banks of the Godavari and the Krishna, extending to the
blue waters of the ocean. In the east the kingdom of
Magadha rose to power and greatness and threw out
colonies into Bengal and Orissa, and in the west the
kingdom of Saurashtra extended its limits to the Arabian
Sea. This expansion of the Hindu world had its effects
on the Hindu mind; the Hindus became more venture-
some, and their ideas became more expanded. Whatever
literature was handed down from ancient times was put
in a condensed, practical shape, and new discoveries in
every department of science were made with the boldness
of new explorers and conquerors.
The practical spirit of the age showed itself in the
form which literature assumed. All learning, all sciences,
all religious teachings, were reduced to concise practical
manuals. Brevity is the characteristic of the Sutra litera-
199
2 OO RATION A I, ISTIC PERIOD. [BOOK III.
ture, as verbosity is of the Brahmana literature. Indeed,
the writers went from one extreme to another 5–verbose
prose was replaced by aphorisms, and the proverbial
saying which applies to the Sutra literature is often
quoted, that “an author rejoiceth in the economising of
half a short vowel as much as in the birth of a son P’
One main reason which led to this extreme concise-
ness was that yon ng Hindu students were expected in
their early years to learn these Sutras by rote. Aryan
boys were expected to place themselves under some
teacher at the early age of eight or ten or twelve, and for
twelve years or more they remained in their teacher's
house, doing menial service under him, begging alms for
him, and learning day by day the ancestral religion by
rote, The diffuse details of the Brahmanas were therefore
compressed into short treatises in order that they might
be imparted and learnt with ease, and a separate body
of Sutras was thus composed for each Sutra Charana or
school. The names of the authors of many of these com-
positions have been handed down to us, and while the
Vedas and the Brahmanas are declared to be revealed, no
such claim is put forward for the Sutras, which are ad-
mitted to be human compositions. The so-called revealed
literature of India closes therefore with the Upanishads,
which form the last portions of the Brahmanas.
When once the Sutras began to be composed, the
system spread rapidly all over India, and Sutra schools
multiplied. The Charanyavyuha names five Charanas of
the Rig Veda, twenty-seven of the Black Yajur Veda,
fifteen of the White Yajur Veda, twelve of the Sama
Veda, and nine of the Atharva Veda. Each Sutra
Charana must have had a separate body of Sutras for
itself, and the adherents of any particular Charana, – in
whatever part of India they might live, learnt and im-
parted to students the Sutras of that particular school.
A vast mass of Sutra literature thus gradually sprung
up in India, but of the numerous bodies of Sutras.
CHAP. I.] LITERATURE. 2 O I
which must have been composed and taught in these
numerous Sutra Charanas a lamentably small number has
been left to us ! As with the Brahmanas, so with the
Sutras, a limited number of works only have been saved
from the shipwreck of ancient Sanscrit literature.
We will now rapidly survey the different branches of
learning which gradually assumed the Sutra form, and we
will begin with religion. Details of ceremonials relating
to Vedic sacrifices were compressed into concise manuals,
and these manuals are called Srauta Sutras. Two
collections of these Srauta Sutras belonging to the Rig
Veda, called Asvalayana and Sankhayana ; three belong-
ing to the Sama Veda, and called Masaka, Latyayana
and Drahyayana ; four belonging to the Black Yajur
Veda, and called Baudhayana, Bharadvaja, Apastamba,
and Hiranyakesin ; and one belonging to the White Yajur
Veda, and called Katyayana, have been left entire. An
account of these Srauta Sutras will not be interesting to
our readers, but nevertheless, some fact about them
deserve mention. -
Asvalayana is said to have been the pupil of the cele
brated Saunaka, and the teacher and pupil are said to
have been the joint authors of the last two books of the
Aitareya Aranyaka. The fact clearly points to the inter-
esting fact that the earliest works of the Sutra literature
connect themselves with the last works of the Brahmana
or Epic Period.
Saunaka is indeed an interesting character of the Epic
Period. In an anterior state of existence he is said to
have been Gritsamada, the “seer” of the second book
of the Rig Veda, and by this legend we may probably
understand that he belonged to the line of teachers or
families by whom that book of the Rig Veda was handed
down from century to century. Saunaka was again the
priest of Janamejaya Parikshita in the famous horse-
sacrifice which he celebrated. We may infer therefore
that a line of Saunakas were celebrated priests and men
VOI., I, 26
2O2 RATIONALISTIC PFRIOD, [BOOK III:
of learning in the Epic Period. No wonder that the
earliest compilers of Sutras seek to connect themselves
with this honoured name.
The Sankhayana Srauta Sutra, it has been conjec-
tured, belongs to the Western part of Hindustan, as the
Asvalayana belongs to the Eastern.
Of the Sama Veda the Masaka Srauta Sutra is only a
tabular enumeration of prayers belonging to different cere-
monies, the Latyayana embodies the opinions of various
teachers, and both these Sutras connect themselves with the
great Tandya or Panchavinsa Brahmana of the Sama Veda.
The Drahyayana differs but little from the Latyayana.
The Sutras of the Black Yajur Yeda have been chrono-
logically arranged as those of Baudhayana, Bharadvaja,
Apastamba, and Hiranyakesin, and Dr. Bühler, who has
recovered the lost Bharadvaja Sutra, justly remarks that
the distance in years between Baudhayana and Apas-
tamba must be measured not by decades but by centuries.
In a most valuable introduction to his translation of the
Dharma Sutra of Apastamba, Dr. Bühler states that a
powerful Hindu kingdom, i.e., of the Andhras, had been
ſounded in Southern India before the Christian era, that
the capital of the empire was probably situated near
modern Amaravati on the river Krishna, that Apastamba
was probably born or naturalised in this country and
founded his Sutra school there, and that the date of his
work cannot be put down later than the third century
before Christ. And as Apastamba speaks not only of
the six Vedangas, but also of the Purva Mimansa and
the Vedanta schools of philosophy, we can conclude that
the philosophical schools of India had begun their work
previous to that date.
The Srauta Sutra of the White Yajur Veda is by
Katyayana, who also claims to be a pupil of the renowned
Saunaka. Katyayana was a critic of Panini the gram-
marian, and lived, according to Max Müller, in the fourth
century before Christ. An interesting “battle of books”
CHAP: I.] LITDRATURE. 2O3
has been waged by scholars about the date of Panini, but
we must avoid entering into the arena reserved for doughty
scholars, and only express our assent to the prevailing
opinion that the grammarian must have lived some cen-
turies before his critic. The Katyayana Sutra strictly
follows the Satapatha Brahmana, and the first eighteen
chapters of the Sutra correspond with the first nine books
of the Brahmana, 2.As in Latyayana, so in Katyayana we
find allusion to Magadhadesiya Brahmabandhu, who are
supposed to be the first Buddhists.
r We turn with pleasure from the Srauta Sutras to the
ZJharma Sutras, , which present to us the customs and
manners and laws of the times, and are, therefore, far
more valuable for our historical purpose. In the Srauta
Sutras we see the Hindus as sacrificers ; in the Dharma
Sutras we see them as citizens,'.. -
But the Dharma Sutras of this ancient period have a
still further claim to our attention, because they are the
originals which have been modified and put into verse
at a later age, and transformed into those law-books with
which modern Hindus are familiar, such as Manu and
Yajnavalkya. This was pointed out by Professor Max
Müller thirty years ago, and the researches which have
been made since have fully confirmed the fact. A world of
conjectures and fancies about the Code of Manu, previously
supposed to be the work of legislators and rulers, has been
exploded by this discovery, and we now know what the
so-called codes are, and how and why they were framed,
In their original Sutra form (often in prose, sometimes in
prose and verse, but never in continuous verse like the
later codes), they were composed, just as the Srauta Sutras
were composed, by the founders of the Sutra Charanas,
and were learnt by rote by young Hindus, so that, they
might, in later life, never forget their duties as citizens and
as members of society. No nation has taken greater pre-
cautions than the Hindus to implant in the mind of every
member of society his religious, social, and legal duties.
2O4 RATIONAL13TIC PERIOD. [BOOK 111.
Among the Dharma Sutras which are lost, and have
not yet been recovered, was the Manava Sutra or Sutra
of Manu, from which the later metrical Code of Manu
has been compiled. It seems that the Dharma Sutra
of Manu was held in high honour in the Sutra Period,
as the metrical Code of Manu is held in honour in the
present day. The references to Manu are frequent in
the Sutra literature, and Dr. Bühler has pointed out two
quotations from Manu in Vasishtha's and Gautama's
Dharma Sutras. •
Among the Dharma Sutras still extant, Vasishtha
belonging to the Rig Veda, Gautama belonging to the
Sama Veda, and Baudhayana and Apastamba belonging
to the Black Yajur Veda, have been translated by Dr.
Bühler. -
In point of time Gautama is the oldest, and we find
Baudhayana transferring a whole chapter of Gautama's
into his Sutra, and Vasishtha again has borrowed the
same chapter from Baudhayana. And we have seen before
that Apastamba also comes after Baudhayana.
We have spoken of the Srauta Sutras which treat of
the duties of a worshipper, and of the Dharma Sutras
which treat of the duties of a citizen. But man has other
duties and responsibilities beyond those of a worshipper
and a citizen. As a son, a husband, and a father, he has
duties to perform towards the members of his family. He
has little rites to perform in connection with domestic
occurrences, which are quite different from the more
elaborate ceremonials taught in the Srauta Sutras. A
distinct class of rules was necessary to fix the details of
these Grihya or domestic rites, and these rules are given
in the Grihya Sutras.
A great deal of interest attaches to these simple
domestic rites performed at the domestic fireside, and
not at the hearths which had to be specially lighted at
great sacrifices. The domestic fire was lighted by each
householder on his marriage, and the simple rites, the
CHAP. I. J . LITERATURE. . 205
Pakayajnas, were easily performed. “A log of wood,”
says Professor Max Müller, “placed on the fire of the
hearth, an oblation poured out to the gods, or alms given
to Brahmans, this is what constitutes a Pakayajna.”
Gautama enumerates seven Paka sacrifices, viz —(1)
Astaka, performed in the four winter months ; (2) Par-
vana, at full and new moon ; (3) Sraddha, or monthly
funeral oblations ; (4 to 7) Sravani, Agrahayani, Chaitri,
and Asvajuji, performed on the days of full moon in the
months from which the rites have been named. The
account of these rites contained in the Grihya Sutras is
deeply interesting to Hindus, because after a lapse of
over two thousand years we are still practising, as will
be seen further on, the same interesting rites, sometimes
under the same name, and often under a different name
and in a somewhat different way. The Grihya Sutras
also contain accounts of social ceremonies performed at
marriage, at the birth of a child, at his first feeding, at
his assuming the life of a student, &c. And thus we get
a complete idea of domestic life among the ancient
Hindus from these invaluable Grihya Sutras.
The Sankhayana and Asvalayana Grihya Sutras be-
longing to the Rig Veda, and the Paraskara Grihya
Sutra belonging to the White Yajur Veda, have been
translated by Herman Oldenberg. A second volume,
which promises to contain a translation of Gobhila, &c.,
has been announced but has not yet been published.*
The Srauta Sutra, the Dharma Sutra, and the Grihya
Sutra go collectively under the name of Kalpa Sutra.
Indeed, each Sutra Charana is supposed to have had
a complete body of Kalpa Sutra including the divisions
mentioned above, but much of what existed has been
lost, and we have only fragments of the Sutra literature
left. The entire Kalpa Sutra of Apastamba still exists,
and is divided into thirty prasnas or sections. The first
twenty-four of these treat of Srauta sacrifices; the 5th
• It has been published since the above was written.
2 o'6 RATION A LISTIC PERIOD, [Book iii.
contains the rules of interpretation; the 26th and 27th
treat of the Grihya rites; the 28th and 29th contain the
Dharma Sutra, and the 3oth section, the Sulya Sutra,
teaches the geometrical principles according to which the
altars for the Srauta sacrifices had to be constructed.
These interesting Sulva Sutras have been made known
to the western world by Dr. Thibaut. The publication
of his work confirms the conclusions of Von Schrader,
that Pythagoras learnt not only his theory of transmigra-
tion but his mathematics also from India in the sixth
century before Christ. -
We have so long spoken of the Kalpa Sutra, as the
Kalpa Sutra forms the most important and, historically,
the most valuable portion of the literature of the period.
Our ancient writers enumerate five other Vedangas or
departments of Vedic study, and we will briefly allude to
them here.
Siksha or Phonetics is the science of pronunciation,
and there is reason to believe that rules on the subject
were formerly embodied in the Aranyakas and even in
the Brahmanas of the Epic Period, but that they have
disappeared in consequence of the appearance of more
scientific works on the same subject in the Rationalistic
Period. These works are called Pratisakhyas, which were
collections of phonetic rules applicable to each Sakha or
recension of each Veda. -
Many of the Pratisakhyas, however, have been lost,
and only one Pratisakhya for each Veda (except the Sama
Veda) has been preserved to us. The Pratisakhya of the
Rig Veda is ascribed to the renowned Saunaka. Simi-
larly, a Pratisakhya of the White Yajur Veda is also extant
and is ascribed to Katyayana. A Pratisakhya of the
Black Yajur Veda and one of the Atharva Veda are also
extant, but the names of the authors are forgotten. It will
interest our readers to learn that among the teachers
named in the Pratisakhya of the Black Yajur Veda we
have the name of a Valmiki ! - -
CHAP. I.] LITERATURE. º 207
Chhandas or Metre is spoken of in the Vedas, and
whole chapters in the Aranyakas and Upanishads are
devoted to it. But as in the case of Siksha, so in the case
of Chhandas, we have a clear scientific treatinent of the
subject for the first time in the Sutra literature. There
are some chapters on the metre of the Rig Veda at the
end of the Pratisakhya of that Veda. For the Sama
Veda we have the well-known Nidana Sutra.
The deservedly great fame of Panini in the department
of Vyakarana or Grammar has eclipsed that of all other
grammarians of the period. Panini belonged to the ex-
treme north-west corner of India, where the Brahmanas
and Aranyakas and Upanishads, composed mostly on the
banks of the Ganges and the Jumna, were little known or
respected ; and Panini therefore knew little of them. Dr.
Goldstücker is right in holding Panini to be anterior to
Buddha.
Similarly, the great fame of Yaska (anterior to Panini
according to Dr. Goldstücker and other scholars) in the
department of Mirukta has eclipsed the fame of his pre-
decessors, of whom we know little except from the men-
tion made of them in Yaska's work. A common mistake
is made in calling Yaska’s work the Nirukta. Nirukta
is a work, as Sayana says, where only a number of words
is given. Yaska takes up such an old existing Nirukta,
and on this text he writes a commentary, which is his
work. r
Colebrooke speaks of different treatises on /yotisha or
Astronomy for each Veda, and he calls one which has a
commentary, the Jyotisha of the Rig Veda. Professor
Max Müller, however, has found the works to be different
manuscripts of the same work, and he believes the work
to have been composed after the Sutra Period, although
the doctrines and rules propounded in it belong to the
earliest stage of Hindu astronomy. Its practical object
is to convey a knowledge of the heavenly bodies neces-
sary for fixing the time for sacrifices, and to establish
208 RATIONALISTIC PERIOD, [BOOK III.
a sacred calendar. However recent the date of the exist-
ing work may be, it contains observations made in India
during the Epic Period, i. e., when the Vedas were collec-
ted and arranged, and it furnishes evidence therefore of
the date of that period, which should not be lightly
rejected or ignored.
Besides the six Vedangas detailed above, there is
another class of works called the Anukramani or Index
to the Vedas, which also belongs to Sutra literature. The
Anukramani of the Rig Veda is ascribed to Katyayana,
and gives the first words of each hymn, the number of
verses, the name of the poet, the metre, and the deity.
There were some older Anukramanis of the Rig Veda,
which have all been replaced by Katyayana’s fuller work.
The Yajur Veda has three Anukramanis, ziz., one for
the Atreya recension of the Black Yajur Veda, one for
the recension of the Charakas, and the third for the
Madhyandina recension of the White Yajur Veda.
Of the Sama Veda we have an ancient index in the
Arsheya Brahmana, and some more among the Pari-
sishtas or supplementary works. An Anukramani of
the Atharva Veda has been discovered in the British
Museum.
We have still to refer to the most important product
of the Hindu mind in the Rationalistic Period. The doc-
trines and philosophical inquiries started at the close of the
Epic Period in the Upanishads led to those deeper investi-
gations and profound researches which are known as the
six schools of Hindu Philosophy. Professor Weber justly
remarks that it was in Philosophy as well as in Grammar
that the speculative Hindu mind attained the highest
pitch of its marvellous fertility. The abstrusest questions
of matter and spirit, of creation and future existence,
were dealt with in Sankhya Philosophy, not as in the
Upanishads in guesses and speculations, but with the
strictest method and relentless logic. Other schools of
Philosophy followed the lead of Sankhya Philosophy, and
CHAP. H. J. I, ITERATURE. 2O 9
inquired boldly into the mysteries of soul and mind, of
creation and of the Creator.
Orthodox Hindus became alarmed at the spread of
sceptical ideas, and a reaction set in. The result is the
Vedanta system of Philosophy, which reasserts the great
doctrines of the Upanishads, and which forms to this day
the basis of Hindu beliefs and religious convictions. In
the meantime, however, a far mightier movement than that
caused by philosophical opinions had been set on foot.
Gautama Buddha was born in the sixth century before
Christ, and proclaimed to the poor and the lowly that
Vedic rites were useless, that a holy, and tranquil and
benevolent life is the essence of religion, that caste-distinc-
tions do not exist among those who strive after holiness
and purity. Thousands responded to his appeal, and thus
a catholic religion began to spread in India, which has
since become the religion of Asia.
From the brief account of the literature of the age
given above, the reader will have some idea of the intel-
lectual activity of this most brilliant period of Hindu
civilisation. Religious rights and duties were laid down
lucidly and concisely for householders; civil and criminal
laws were compiled ; phonetics, metre, and grammar were
dealt with with scientific accuracy; geometry and mathe-
matics were cultivated ; mental philosophy and logic were
Studied and developed with marvellous success; and a
noble religion was proclaimed which is now the religion
of a third of the human race,
\ OL. I. 27
CHAPTER II.
F.XA2AAVS/OAV OA' 7'AA' HAVO U.S. .
THE History of India receives a new light in the Ration-
alistic Period, as it was in this period that the Greeks
visited India and also compiled accounts of it from report.
Greek civilisation and national life had not commenced
during the long centuries of the Vedic Age in India.
Again, the rude heroes of the Trojan War knew little of
their civilised but distant contemporaries, the Hindus of the
Epic Age. The first two epochs of Hindu history receive
no light therefore from Greek literature. The first Greek
who is supposed to have borrowed his learning from the
Hindus is the philosopher Pythagoras. He lived in the
sixth century before Christ, i.e., in the Rationalistic Period
of Hindu history, and his theories and ideas throw some
light on the prevailing ideas of the Hindus of that age.
He learnt the Doctrine of Transmigration of Souls and
the Doctrine of Final Beatitude from the Upanishads and
the current faith of the Hindus, and his ascetic observances
and prohibition to eat flesh and beans were also borrowed
from India. He learnt his elementary geometry from the
Sulva Sutras; his notion of the virtues of numbers was
borrowed from Sankhya Philosophy ; and lastly, his idea
of the five elements was essentially an Indian idea.
Herodotus, the father of Greek history, lived in the fifth
century before Christ ; and although he never visited
India, he gives accounts of the Hindus from report which
are valuable, although he mixes them up with legends and
stories, and often confounds the customs of the Hindus
2 I O
CHAP. II.] HINDU EXPANSION. 2 I I
with those of the uncivilised aborigines who still inhabited
large tracts in India. Herodotus tells us that the Indians
were the greatest nation of the age, that they were divided
into various tribes and spoke different tongues, that they
procured great quantities of gold in their country, that
India abounded in quadrupeds and birds larger than any
other country, and produced wild trees which bore wool
(cotton) from which the Indians made their clothing (III,
94–106). Elsewhere he says, speaking of the Thracians,
that they were the greatest of nations among men ex-
cepting only the Indians (V, 3). Herodotus also mentions
the fact, which is probably historically true, that Darius,
king of Persia, subjugated a part of India, and his ships
sailed down the Indus to the Sea (IV, 44).
And lastly, Megasthenes came to India in the fourth
century before Christ, and lived in the court of Chandra-
gupta in Pataliputra or ancient Patna. And although his
original account is lost, still extracts from his writings are
found scattered in many subsequent works. These have
been carefully collected by Dr. Schwanbeck of Bonn and
translated into English by Mr. MacCrindle, and are in-
valuable for the purposes of Indian History, and we shall
frequently have occasion to quote them. Pythagoras,
Herodotus, and Megasthenes are unimpeachable witnesses
to the high civilisation of India during three successive
centuries which fall within the Rationalistic Period, viz.,
the sixth, fifth, and fourth centuries before Christ.
We have seen that by the end of the Epic Period the
whole of the valley of the Ganges and Jumna from Delhi to
North Behar had been conquered, peopled, and Hinduised.
We have seen that towards that very close of the period,
i.e., about I ooo B.C., Hindu settlers and adventurers,
colonists, and “pilgrim fathers ” had left the valley of the
Ganges and had penetrated into remote unknown lands,
into Southern Behar, Malwa, the Deccan, and Gujrat.
And we have seen that these non-Aryan provinces were
becoming gradually known to the Hindus, and were slowly
32 2 RATION A LISTIC PERIOD, [BOOK III.
coming under Hindu influence and power when the Epic
Period closed and the Rationalistic Period began.
The waves of Hindu conquests rolled onwards, and
the aborigines submitted themselves to a higher civilisa-
tion and a nobler religion. Rivers were crossed, forests
were cleared, lands were reclaimed, wide wastes were
peopled, and new countries hitherto aboriginal witnessed
the rise of Hindu power and of Hindu religion. Where
a few scanty settlers had penetrated at first, powerful
colonies arose, where religious teachers had retired in
seclusion, quiet villages and towns arose. Where a hand-
ful of merchants had made their way by some unknown
river, boats navigated up and down with valuable cargoes
for a civilised population. Where hardy warriors or
scions of royal houses had dwelt in exile or by the chase,
powerful monarchs reigned over a conquered, civilised,
Hinduised aboriginal population. And where foresters
bad felled trees and cleared small tracts of land, smiling
fields covered with waving corn spread for miles and
miles around, betokening the spread of civilisation and
of the civilised arts of life. .
! Such was the history of Aryan conquests from genera-
tion to generation and from century to century in the
JRationalistic Period, and each succeeding Sutra work that
we take up shows that the circle of civilisation has spread
wider, and that the zone of unreclaimed barbarism has
receded further and further. And long before we come
to the close of the Rationalistic Period, i.e., the fourth
century B.C., we find that the entire peninsula has been
reclaimed, civilised, and Hinduised, and that primitive
barbarians dwelt only in rocks, forests, and deserts which
the Aryans disdained to conquer. It is not a story of
conquests only, which would have little interest for the
philosophical reader. It is a story of the spread of Hindu
civilisation among hitherto unknown countries and abori-
ginal nations. It was the acceptance, by the Andhras of
the Deccan and the Saurashtras of Gujrat, by the Cholas,
CHAP. II.] HINT) U EXPANSION. 2 I 3
Cheras, and Pandyas of Southern India, by the Magadhas,
the Angas, the Vangas, and the Kalingas of Eastern India
—of that superior religion and language and civilisation
which the Hindu Aryans offered to them. The gift was
accepted and cherished, and henceforth the Dravidian
and other tribes of Southern and Eastern India bore the
livery of Aryan religion, Aryan language, and Aryan
civilisation. This was the great work and result of the
Rationalistic Period.
Baudhayana lived probably in the sixth century before
Christ, and was, as we have seen before, one of the
earliest of the Sutrakaras. In his time the zone of
Hindu kingdoms and civilisation extended as far south as
Kalinga or the eastern seaboard, stretching from modern
Orissa southward to the mouth of the Krishna. The
passage we refer to is interesting, because it shows that
the ancient Aryan region along the Ganges and the Jumna
was still regarded as the suitable home of the Aryans,
while tracts of country in which the non-Aryan tribes
had been recently Hinduised were looked upon with
some degree of contempt.
“9. The country of the Aryas (Aryavarta) lies to the
east of the region where the River (Sarasvati) disappears,
to the west of the Black Forest (Kalakavana), to the north
of the Paripatra (Vindhya mountains), and to the south of
the Himalaya. The rule of conduct which prevails there
is authoritative. - -
“Io. Some declare the country between the Yamuna
and Ganga (to be the Aryavarta).
“I I. Now the Bhallavins quote also the following verse.
“I 2. In the west the boundary river, in the east the
region where the sun rises, as far as the black antelopes
wander, so far spiritual pre-eminence is found. -
“13. The inhabitants of Avanti (Malwa), of Anga
(East Behar), of Magadha (South Behar), of Saurashtra
(Gujrat), of the Deccan, of Upavrit, of Sindh, and the
Sauviras (South Punjab) are of mixed origin.
2 I 4 RATION A LISTIC PERIOD. [BOOK III.
“14. He who has visited the Arattas (in the Punjab),
Karaskaras (in South India), Pundras (in North Bengal),
Sauviras (in the Punjab), Vangas (in the Eastern Bengal),
Kalingas (in Orissa), or Pran unas shall offer a Punastoma
or a Sarvaprishtha sacrifice ’’ (Baudhayana, I, 1, 2).
The passage is interesting, because it shows us the
extent of the Hindu world in the early part of the Ration-
alistic Period, and also because it divides the Hindu world
into three circles as it were, which were regarded with
different degrees of esteem. Aryavarta, stretching from
the Sarasvati to the confines of Behar, and from the Hima-
layas to the Vindhyas, forms the first circle ; and it is
remarkable that the Punjab, which was the earliest home
of the Aryans in the Vedic Age, is not included in this
sacred circle. That realm had since then been backward
in the later developments of Hindu religion and culture,
and was rarely alluded to even in the literature of the
Epic Period. The second circle, the people of which are
said to be of mixed origin, includes Southern Punjab,
Sindh, Gujrat, Malwa, the Deccan, and South and East
Behar. If the reader refers to the fourth chapter of our
last Book, he will find that these were the very regions
which were becoming dimly known to the Hindus at the
very close of the Epic Period. Early in the Rationalistic
Age they had already become recognised as Hindu
kingdoms, and Hindu influence and civilisation had
travelled beyond these kingdoms to other regions which
are included in the third circle. That third or last circle
embraces the country of the Arattas in the Punjab,
some parts of Southern India, Eastern and Northern
Bengal, and Orissa. A person travelling in these places
had to expiate the sin by a sacrifice, This was the
extreme limit of the Hindu world,—say in the sixth
century before Christ.
That portions of Southern India had not only been
colonised by this date, but had become the seats of
Hindu kingdoms and of distinct schools of laws and
CHAP. II, J H IN DU EXPANSION. 2 15
learning, is proved by the writings of Baudhayana.
Baudhayana himself may have been a southerner, at
any rate he takes care to mention the peculiar laws and
customs of Southern India. We will cite one pas-
Sage :– -
“I. There is a dispute regarding five practices, in
the south and in the north.
“2. We will explain those peculiar to the south.
“3. They are to eat in the company of an uninitiated
person, to eat in the company of one's wife, to eat stale
food, to marry the daughter of a maternal uncle or of a
paternal aunt.*
“4. Now the customs peculiar to the north are, to
deal in wool, to drink rum, to sell animals that have teeth
in the upper and in the lower jaws, to follow the trade of
arms, and to go to sea.f
“5. He who follows these practices in any other
country than where they prevail commits sin.
“6. For each of these customs the rule of the coun-
try should be the authority.
“7. Gautama declares that that is false” (Baudha-
yana, I, 1, 2).
Let us now take leave of Baudhayana and come to
the next Sutrakara of India. If Baudhayana be supposed
to have flourished in the sixth century before Christ,
Apastamba probably flourished in the fifth. . There can
be little doubt that Apastamba lived and taught in the
Andhra country, and the limits of that great monarchy
embraced all the districts between the Godavari and
the Krishna. Dr. Bühler supposes that the capital of
this southern empire was situated near modern Amara-
* Dr. Bühler points out that such marriages still prevail among
the Desastha and Karhada Brahmans of the Deccan.
+ Later degeneracy has fabricated a prohibition against going to
sea for all Hindus.
† Dr. Bühler would on linguistic grounds place Apastamba in
the third century B.C., but on other grounds he would put back that
Sutrakara by another 150 or 200 years, i.e., to the fifth century B. c.
2 I 6 RATIONALISTIC PERIOD, [BOOK III.
vati on the lower Krishna. It was the Andhra text of
the Taittiriya Aranyaka which Apastamba recognised and
followed, and his teachings are to this day held in regard
by the Brahmanas of Nasik; Puna, Ahmadabad, Satara,
Sholapur, and Kolhapur, and other places in the Deccan
who are Apastambiyas.
Thus we find that the conquest of Southern India which
was commenced at the close of the Epic Period went on
through succeeding centuries; that by the sixth century,
Bengal, Orissa, Gujrat, and the Deccan had been con-
quered and Aryanised ; and that by the fifth century the
Deccan as far south as the Krishna river was the seat of
a powerful Hindu Empire. By the fourth century B.C.,
the whole of Southern India south of the Krishna river
had been Hinduised, and three great Hindu kingdoms,
those of the Cholas, and Cheras, and the Pandyas had
been founded, stretching as far South as Cape Comorin ;
and Ceylon too had been discovered. And when we come
towards the close of this (fourth) century, we issue now
from the obscurity of isolated passages in the Sutra works
to the sunligiit of Greek accounts of India | For it was
in this century that Megasthenes, the ambassador of
Seleucus, came to India and resided in the royal court of
Chandragupta in Pataliputra (or ancient Patna) between
317 and 312 B.C. -
The account of the races and kingdoms in India given
by Megasthenes is full and intelligible, and gives us a
clear idea of the state of the country at the close of the
Rationalistic Period.
The Prachyas, by which name we are now to under-
stand the Magadhas, had become the most powerful and
foremost nation in India in the fourth century B.C., as
the Kurus, the Panchalas, the Vidchas and the Kosalas
had been in the Epic Period. They had their capital
at Pataliputra, a flourishing town described at 8o stadia
or 9 miles long (a stadium = 202 yards) and 15 stadia
or nearly 2 miles wide. It was of the shape of a parallelo-
CHAP. II.] HINDU EXPANSION, 2 17
gram, girded with a wooden wall* pierced with loopholes for
the discharge of arrows, and defended by a ditch in front.
It would seem that the whole of Northern India was
now included in the powerful and extensive empire of
Chandragupta, for the Jumna flowing through Mathura
and Caresbora, was said to run through the kingdom of
Pataliputra. The nation surpassed in power and glory
every other people in India, and their king Chandragupta
had a standing army of 6oo, ooo foot soldiers, 30, ooo
cavalry, and 9ooo elephants, “whence may be formed
some conjecture as to the vastness of his resources.”
Speaking of South Bengal, Megasthenes mentions the
Calingoe living nearest the sea, the Mandu and the Malli
living higher up, the Gangerides, near the mouths of the
Ganges, and the Modo-Galingoe in an island in the
Ganges. It is impossible not to recognise in the first and
last of these names the ancient name of Kalinga, which
included Orissa and the sea-coast of Bengal.
* The wooden wall was still standing in the fifth century after
Christ, when the Chinese traveller Fa Hian saw it. Fa Hian writes:
“The palaces of the king which are in the city have walls of which
the stones have been collected by the genii. The carvings and the
sculptures which ornament the windows are such as this age could not
make ; they still actually exist.” The fall of Pataliputra was accom-
plished shortly after Fa Hian's time, for when Houen Tsang visited
the place in the seventh century after Christ, he found nothing but
ruins, and a village with two or three hundred houses. In an exca-
vation made in 1876 for the construction of a public tank, Some re-
mains were discovered of what is supposed to have been the wooden
wall spoken of by Megasthenes. In a part of Patna, half way between
the railway station and the chatek or market-place, the excavators
discovered, some twelve or fifteen feet below the surface, a long
brick wall running from north-west to south-east. Parallel to this
wall was found a line of palisades, the strong timber of which it was
composed, being inclined slightly towards the wall. In one place
there appeared to be an outlet or gate, two wooden pillars rising to
a height of eight or nine feet, with no palisades between them. A
number of wells were also found covered with fraguaents of broken
mud vessels, and one of the wells being cleared yielded capital
drinking water, while among the rubbish taken out were discovered
several iron spear heads—See MacCrindle's Megasthenes and Arrian,
!), 207, 176/6,
\' (') i , ] , - ~ &
2 I 8 RATIONALISTIC PERIOD. [BOOK III.
Megasthenes describes Parthalis as the capital of the
Calingoe. The powerful king of this place had 60,000
foot soldiers, Iooo horse, and 7oo elephants. A large
island in the Ganges is said to have been inhabited by
the Modo-Galingoe (Madhya-Kalinga), and beyond them
Several powerful tribes lived under a king who had 50,000
foot soldiers, 4ooo cavalry, and 4oo elephants. Beyond
them again lived the Andaroe, in whom it is impossible
not to recognise the Andhras of Southern India. The
Andhras were a great and powerful nation who had
settled originally between the Godavari and the Krishna,
but who before the time of Megasthenes had extended
their kingdom as far north as the Narmada. Megas-
thenes writes that they were a powerful race, possessed
numerous villages and thirty walled towns, and supplied
their king with I oo, ooo infantry, 2 ooo cavalry, and Iooo
elephants.
In the extreme North-West, Megasthenes speaks of
the Isari, the Cosyri, and other tribes located probably
in Kashmir or its neighbourhood. The Indus is said to
skirt the frontiers of the Prachyas, by which we under-
stand that the powerful and extensive empire of Magadha
extended as far as the frontiers of the Punjab, and em-
braced all Northern India.
A great portion of modern Rajputana was still the
home of aboriginal tribes in the time of Megasthenes, of
men who lived in woods, among tigers noted for their
ferocity. He speaks of the tribes who lived in the fertile
tracts surrounded by deserts, and of tribes who inhabited
the hills, which ran in an unbroken chain parallel to the
shores of the ocean. He also speaks of the tribes who
lived enclosed by the loftiest mountain, Capitalia, which
has been identified with Abu. He speaks further on of
the Horatoe, who were undoubtedly the Saurashtras. They
had a capital on the coast, which was a noble emporium
of trade, and their king was the master of 16oo elephants,
150,000 foot, and 5ooo horse.
CHAP. II.] HINDU EXPANSION. 2 I 9
“Next come the Pandoe, the only race in India ruled
by women. They say that Hercules having but one
daughter, who was on that account all the more beloved,
endowed her with a noble kingdom. Her descendants
rule over 3oo cities and command an army of 150,000
foot and 5oo elephants.”
Such is the half mythical account which Megasthenes
gives us of the Pandyas, who were the ruling nation in
the extreme south of India. These Pandyas have a
history which is remarkable. .
The Yadavas, who under the leadership of Krishna
left Mathura and settled in Dwarka in Gujrat, did not
flourish there long. They fell fighting among themselves,
and the remainder left Dwarka by sea. It is believed
that they came to Southern India, where they founded
a new kingdom. They called themselves Pandyas pro-
bably because they pretended to be of the same race with
the Pandavas, and they named their new southern capital
Mathura or Madura, as the town is called to the present
day. Megasthenes no doubt refers to Krishna under the
name of Hercules, and he probably heard some legend,
which was then current in India, about the foundation of
the southern kingdom by Krishna for his daughter.
And lastly, the Island of Ceylon too was known in
the time of Megasthenes. It was conquered by Vijaya, a
prince of Magadha who had been exiled by his father for
his misdeeds in the fifth century before Christ. When
Megasthenes came to India, Ceylon was already a Hindu
kingdom. The island was called Taprobane by the Greeks,
the name being slightly altered from the Pali name Tamba-
panni, which corresponds to the Sanscrit Tamraparni or
the copper-leaved. Megasthenes says that the island was
separated from the mainland by a river, and that the
Country was productive of gold and large pearls, and
elephants much larger than the Indian breeds. AElian
who wrote long after Megasthenes, but like most other
Greek and Roman writers got much of his information
22g RATION ALISTIC PERHOD, IBOOK III.
about India from the account of Megasthenes, says that
Taprobane was a large mountainous island full of palm
groves, that the inhabitants dwelt in huts of reeds, and
transported their elephants in boats which they con-
structed for the purpose, and sold them to the king of
Kalingai.
We have surveyed the political results of the seven
centuries included in the Rationalistic Period, as we sur-
veyed the hiterary results in the last chapter. Within
this period Hindu colonists issued in bands from the
Gangetic valley, came to strange lands, conquered strange
nations, and gradually imposed upon them their language,
their religion, and their civilisation. The Magadhas of
South Behar were not only Hinduised, but became the
foremost nation in India. The Saurashtras of Gujrat and
the Angas, the Vangas, and the Kalingas of the east were
Hinduised. The great Andhra tribe not only accepted
Hindu religion and civilisation, but distinguished itself by
schools of Hindu learning rivalling the great schools of
the Gangetic valley. Further down, other nations accepted
the superior civilisation, religion, and language of the
Aryans ; and all India, Aryan and non-Aryan, wore the
mantle of Hindu-Aryan civilisation.
{
CHAPTER III.
ADMINISTRATIow, AGRICULTURE, AND AR7s.
AN account of the system of administration which pre-
vailed in India over two thousand years ago will natur-
ally interest our readers, and fortunately, both Hindu
Sutrakaras and Greek writers furnish us with reliable
information on the subject. We will begin our account
with some extracts from Sutra works. The king is
directed to build a royal town, and a palace for himself,
looking towards the south :— - } *
“3. The palace shall stand in the heart of the town.
“4. In front of that there shall be a hall. That is
called the hall of invitation.
“5. At a little distance from the town to the south
he shall cause to be built an assembly house with doors
on the south and on the north sides, so that one can see
what passes inside and outside.” -
Fires shall burn constantly and oblations shall be
offered in these fires, and— +.
“8. In the hall he shall put up his guests, at least
those who are learnt in the Vedas. i
“9. Rooms, a couch, meat and drink should be given
to them according to their good qualities.”
A table with dice should also be provided, and Brah-
mans, Vaisyas, and Sudras may be allowed to play there.
Assaults of arms, dancing, singing and music are allowed
in the houses of the king's servants; and the king shall
constantly take care of his subjects:—
“I 5. That king only takes care of the welfare of his
22 .
2 22 RATION A LIST1C Pl: RIO D. [BOOK 111.
subjects in whose dominions, be it in villages or forests,
there is no danger from thieves” (Apastamba, II, Io, 25).
Vasishtha thus details the duties of the king :—
“I. The particular duty of a king is to protect all
beings; by fulfilling it he obtains success.
“3. Let him appoint a domestic priest to perform
the rites obligatory on the order of householders.
“8. Let him punish those who stray from the path
of duty.
“I 1. Let him not injure trees that bear fruit and
flowers.
“12. He may injure them in order to extend culti-
vation. -
“13. The measures and weights of objects necessary
for households must be guarded (against falsification).
“14. Let him not take property for his own use
from the inhabitants of his realm.
“15. The measures and price of such property shall
only be liable to deductions in the shape of taxes”
(Vasishtha, XIV).
Vasishtha (I, 42) and Baudhayana (I, Io, 18, 1) declare
that the king is entitled to a sixth portion of the income
of his subjects as taxes, but exempt many classes who
are unable to pay. Gautama details the taxes thus:—
“24. Cultivators pay to the king a tax amounting to
one-tenth, one-eighth, or one-sixth (of the produce).
“25. Some declare that the tax on cattle and gold
amounts to one-fiftieth (of the stock).
“26. In the case of merchandise one-twentieth (must
be paid by the seller) as duty.
“27. Of roots, fruits, flowers, medicinal herbs, honey,
meat, grass, and firewood, one-sixtieth.
“31. Each artisan shall monthly do one day's work
(for the king).
“32. Hereby the taxes payable by those who support
themselves by personal labour have been explained.
“33. And those payable by owners of ships and carts.
CHAP. III.] ADMINISTRATION, ETC. 223
“34. He must feed these persons while they work
for him” (Gautama, X).
Megasthenes gives us a valuable account of the
manner in which the work of administration was actually
carried on, and the following passages will be read with
interest :— -
“Those who have charge of the city are divided into
six bodies of five each. The members of the first look
after everything relating to the industrial arts. Those
of the second attend to the entertainment of foreigners.
To these they assign lodgings, and they keep watch over
their modes of life by means of those persons whom they
give to them for assistants. They escort them on the
way when they leave the country, or in the event of
their dying, forward their property to their relatives.
They take care of them when they are sick, and if they
die bury them. The third body consists of those who
inquire when and how births and deaths occur, with the
view not only of levying a tax, but also in order that
births and deaths among both high and low may not
escape the cognisance of Government. The fourth class
Superintend trade and commerce. Its members have
charge of weights and measures, and see that the products
in their season are sold by public notice. No one is
allowed to deal in more than one kind of commodity
unless he pays a double tax. The fifth class supervises
manufactured articles, which they sell by public notice.
What is new is sold separately from what is old, and
there is a fine for mixing the two together. The sixth
and last class consists of those who collect the tenths
of the prices of the articles sold.”
The military officers “also consist of six divisions
with five members to each. One division is appointed
to Co-operate with the Admiral of the fleet ; another with
the Superintendent of the bullock trains which are used
for transporting engines of war, food for the soldiers,
Provender for the cattle, and other military requisites. . . .
224 RATIONALISTIC PERIOD. [BOOK Iu.
The third division has charge of the foot soldiers, the
fourth of the horses, the fifth of the war chariots, and
the sixth of the elephants.” . . . . . . . . . .
Besides the municipal officers and military officers,
there was yet a third class of officers who superintended
agriculture, irrigation, forests, and generally the work
of administration in rural tracts. “Some superintend
the rivers, measure the land as is done in Egypt, and
inspect the sluices by which water is let out from the
main canals into their branches, so that every one may
have an equal supply of it. The same persons have
charge also of the huntsmen, and are entrusted with
the power of rewarding or punishing them according to
their deserts. They collect the taxes, and superintend
the occupations connected with land as those of the wood-
cutters, the carpenters, the blacksmiths, and the miners.
They construct roads, and at every ten stadia set up a
pillar to show the by-roads and distances” (MacCrindle's
Translation). -
Of the personal habits and occupations of kings,
Megasthenes has given us a picture which agrees in
the main with the picture given in Sanscrit literature.
The care of the king's person was entrusted to female
slaves, who were bought from their parents, and the
guards and the rest of the soldiery were stationed out-
side the gates. The king attended the court every day,
and remained there during the day without allowing
the business to be interrupted. The only other occasions
on which he left the palace were when he performed
sacrifices or went out for the chase. Crowds of women
surrounded him when he went out for the chase, and
outside this circle the spearmen were ranged. Armed
women attended the king in chariots, on horses, or on
elephants, when he hunted in the open grounds from
the back of an elephant. Sometimes he shot arrows from
a platform inside an enclosure, and two or three armed
women stood by him on the platforu), These accounts
CHAP. III.] ADMINISTRATION, ETC, 225
show that the sturdy and warlike manners of the Kurus
and the Panchalas of the Epic Age had already been
replaced by more luxurious and effeminate habits in the
Rationalistic Age. The age of chivalry had gone, and
that of luxury had come !
Arrian gives an account of the mode in which the
Hindus equipped themselves for war :-“The foot soldiers
carry a bow made of equal length with the man who bears
it. This they rest upon the ground, and pressing against
it with their left foot, thus discharge the arrow, having
drawn the string far backwards : for the shaft they use
is little short of being three yards long, and there is
nothing which can resist an Indian archer's shot, —neither
shield nor breastplate, nor any stronger defence, if such
there be. In their left band they carry bucklers made of
undressed ox-hide, which are not so broad as those who
carry them, but are about as long. Some are equipped
with javelins instead of bows, but wear a sword, which
is broad in the blade, but not longer than three cubits ;
and this, when they engage in close fight (which they
do with reluctance), they wield with both hands to fetch
down a lustier blow. The horsemen are equipped with
two lances like the lances called Saunia, and with a
shorter buckler than that carried by the foot soldiers.
For they do not put saddles on their horses ; nor do they
curb them with bits in use among the Greeks or the
Kelts, but they fit on round the extremity of the horse's
mouth a circular piece of stitched raw ox-hide studded
with pricks of iron or brass pointing inwards, but not
very sharp ; if a man is rich he uses pricks made of
ivory” (MacCrindle's Translation). -
The laws of war were more humane among the Hindus
than among other nations in the world. “The Aryans
forbid the slaughter of those who have laid down their
arms, of those who beg for mercy with flying hair or
joined hands, and of fugitives” (Agastamba, II, 5, 10,11).
“Let him not fight with those who are in fear, intoxicated,
VO). I. - 29
226 RATIONALISTIC PERIOD. [BOOK III.
insane, or out of their minds, nor with those who have
lost their armour, nor with women, infants, aged men, and
Brahmans” (Baudhayana, I, Io, 18, 11). “The wives (of
slain soldiers) shall be provided for” (Vasishtha, XIX,
20). And Megasthenes too vouches for the humane laws
of war among the Hindus. “For whereas among other
nations it is usual in the contests of war to ravage the
soil, and thus to reduce it to an uncultivated waste,
among the Indians, on the contrary, by whom husband-
men are regarded as a class that is sacred and inviolable,
the tillers of the soil, even when battle is raging in their
neighbourhood, are undistributed by any sense of danger;
for the combatants on either side, in waging the conflict,
make carnage of each other, but allow those engaged in
husbandry to remain quite unmolested. Besides, they
neither ravage an enemy's land with fire, nor cut down
its trees.” -
Megasthenes tells us that the Indian tribes numbered
1 18 in all. On the north of India, and beyond the
Himalaya, the country “is inhabited by those Scythians
who are called the Sakai.” Such is the brief mention
made of that powerful tribe which hung like an ominous
cloud on the northern slopes of the Himalaya in the
fourth century before Christ, but which in course of
a few centuries burst like a hurricane on the plains
of Western India, and convulsed and shattered Hindu
kingdoms.
Of the peaceful and law-abiding people in India,
Megasthenes gives an account which every Hindu will
read with legitimate pride :-"They live happily enough,
being simple in their manners and frugal. They never
drink wine, except at Sacrifices. Their beverage is a
liquor composed from rice instead of barley, and their
food is principally a rice pottage. The simplicity of their
laws and their contracts is proved by the fact that they
seldom go to law. They have no suits about pledges and
deposits, nor do they require either seals or witnesses,
cHAP. III.] ADMINISTRATION, ETC. 227
but make their deposits and confide in each other, Their
houses and property they generally leave unguarded.
These things indicate that they possess sober sense. . . .
Truth and virtue they hold alike in esteem. Hence they
accord no special privileges to the old unless they possess
superior wisdom.”
Megasthenes further states that the Indians did “not
even use aliens as slaves, and much less a countryman
of their own,” that thefts were very rare among them,
that their laws were administered from memory, and even
that they were ignorant of the art of writing. We have
the evidence of Nearchos that writing zwas known in India
in the Rationalistic Period, and the statement of Megas-
thenes only shows that writing was in very little use,
either in schools where boys received their learning and
their religious lessons by rote, or even in Courts of Justice
where laws, i.e., the Dharma Sutras, were administered
by learned Judges entirely from memory.
Arrian quotes a passage from Nearchos, and says that
the Indians “wear an under-garment of cotton which
reaches below the knee half way down to the ankles, and
also an upper garment which they throw partly over their
shoulders and partly twist in folds round their head. . . .
They wear shoes made of white leather, and these are
elaborately trimmed, while the soles are variegated, and
made of great thickness.” And the great mass of the
“people of India live upon grain and are tillers of the
soil, but we must except the hillmen, who eat the flesh
of beasts of chase.” .
Our faithful guide Megasthenes also gives us an
account of cultivation in Ancient India which, on the
whole, corresponds with the system of cultivation prevalent
at the present time. Megasthenes speaks of a double
rainfall in the year, considering the winter showers as
a regular rainfall. He speaks of “many vast plains of
great fertility, more or less beautiful, but all alike inter-
sected by a multitude of rivers. The greater part of the
2 28 RATIONALISTIC PERIOD. [BOOK 111,
soil moreover is under irrigation, and consequently bears
two crops in the course of the year. It teems at the
same time with animals of all sorts, beasts of the field and
fowls of the air, of all different degrees of strength and
size. It is prolific, besides, in elephants which are of
monstrous bulk. . . . In addition to cereals, there grows
throughout India much millet, which is kept well watered
by the profusion of river streams, and much pulse of
different sorts, and rice also, and what is called bosſ.orum,
as well as many other plants useful for food, of which
most grow spontaneously. The soil yields, moreover, not
a few other edible products fit for the subsistence of
animals about which it would be tedious to write. It is
accordingly affirmed that famine has never visited India,
and that there has never been a general scarcity in the
supply of nourishing food. For since there is a double
rainfall in the course of each year, –one in the winter
season, when the sowing of wheat takes place as in other
countries, and the second at the time of the summer
solstice, which is the proper season for sowing rice and
Öosporum, as well as sesamum and millet, the inha-
bitants of India almost always gather in two harvests
annually; and even should one of the sowings prove
more or less abortive, they are always sure of the other
crop. The fruits moreover of spontaneous growth, and
the esculent roots which grow in marshy places and
are of varied sweetness, afford abundant sustenance for
man.” |
It is impossible for a Hindu in the modern day to
read without a feeling of pride this impartial testimony
of an intelligent and observant foreigner regarding the
prosperous condition of India as administered by Hindus
over two thousand years ago. An industrious and peace-
ful peasantry peopled the fair villages, and cultivated and
irrigated, carefully and laboriously, the endless expanse
of fertile fields, while the artisans in towns carried the
various manufactures and arts of peace to a high state of
CHAP. Il I.] ADMINISTRATION, ETC. 229.
excellence. It is impossible to suppose that these results
were achieved without a careful and watchful system of
administration, without a fair degree of security of life
and property, and without the help of laws which were
on the whole just and fair. And even when kings fell out
among themselves, and riotous Kshatriya chiefs were
engaged in their frequent wars, a humane custom, un-
known elsewhere in the ancient world, mitigated the
horrors of war, and saved the peaceful villagers and in-
dustrious cultivators from disturbance and danger.
The excellent manufactures of India were known to
the traders of Phoenicia and in the markets of Western
Asia and Egypt long before the Christian era. Megasthenes
naïvely says that the Indians were “well skilled in the arts,
as might be expected of men who inhale a pure air and
drink the very finest water.” The soil, too, has “under
ground numerous veins of all sorts of metals, for it con-
tains much gold and silver, and copper and iron in no
Small quantity, and even tin and other metals, which are
employed in making articles of use and ornament, as well
as the implements and accoutrements of war.”
With regard to finery and ornament, Megasthenes says
that “in contrast to the general simplicity of their style,
they love finery and ornament. Their robes are worked
in gold and ornamented with precious stones, and they
wear also flowered garments made of the finest muslin.
Attendants walking behind hold up unbrellas over them :
for they have a high regard for beauty, and avail them-
selves of every device to improve their looks.”
More striking, however, is a passage in which Strabo
describes a gorgeous procession, such as Megasthenes
must have seen paraded in the streets of Pataliputra :-
“In processions at their festivals, many elephants are
in the train, adorned with gold and silver; numerous
carriages drawn by four horses and several pairs of oxen;
then follows a body of attendants in full dress (bearing)
vessels of gold, large basins and goblets an orguia in
23O RATIONALISTIC PERIOD, [BOOK III.
breadth, tables, chairs of state, drinking cups and lavers
of Indian copper, most of which are set with precious
stones, as emeralds, beryls, and Indian carbuncles; gar-
ments embroidered and interwoven with gold ; wild
beasts, as buffaloes, panthers, tame lions, and a multitude
of birds of variegated plumage and of fine song” (Bohn's
Zºranslation of Strabo, III, p. 117). -
CHAPTER IV.
A WS.
THE equality of laws between the conquerors and the
conquered, between priests and laymen, has not been
known in the world's past history. There was not the
same law in the past ages for the Greek and the Helot,
the Patrician and the Plebeian, the baron and the serf, the
monk and the layman, the white man and the negro, or
the white man and the red man. And as in other parts of
the world, so in India too, we find inequality in laws
among the different classes of the people. There was one
law for the Brahman, another for the Sudra ; the former
was treated with undue leniency, the latter with excessive
and cruel severity. If a Brahman committed one of the
four or five heinous crimes enumerated in the law-books,
i.e., if he slew a Brahman, violated his guru's bed, stole
the gold of a Brahman, or drank spirituous liquor, the
king branded him on the forehead with a heated iron and
banished him from his realm. If a man of a lower caste
slew a Brahman, he was punished with death and the
confiscation of his property. If such a man slew a man
of equal or lower caste, other suitable punishments were
meted out to him (Baudhayana, I, Io, 18 and 19).
Adultery has always been looked upon in India not
only as a criminal offence, but as an offence of a heinous
nature; but the punishment for this offence also was
regulated by the caste of the offender. A man of the
first three castes who committed adultery with a Sudra
woman was banished ; but a Sudra who committed
231
232 RATION A LISTIC PERIOD. [BOOK III,
adultery with a woman of the first three castes suffered
capital punishment (Apastamba, II, Io, 27).
Indeed Brahman legislators have painted themselves
worse than they really were. In order to point out the
vast distinction between themselves and the Sudras, they
prescribed monstrous punishments for insolent Sudras,
which, it is safe to assert, always remained an empty
threat, and were meant as a threat only. The tongue of
a Sudra who spoke evil of a virtuous person belonging
to one of the first three castes was to be cut out, and a
Sudra who assumed an equal position with those castes
was to be flogged (Apastamóa, II, 10, 27). Similarly we
are told that a Sudra who reviled a twice-born man or
assaulted him with blows should lose the limb with which
he offended ; that if he listened to a recitation of the
Veda, his ears should be stopped with molten lac or
tin ; that if he recited the Veda, his tongue should be
cut out ; and if he remembered Vedic texts, his body
should be split in twain l (Gautama, XII.) The reader
will easily perceive, that the Brahman composers of
the Sutras were anxious to emphasise the distinction
between themselves and the other castes and specially
Sudras, and have therefore represented the laws as ten
times more iniquitous than they were as actually ad-
ministered by sensible kings and Kshatriya officers, or
even by Brahman judges.
A Kshatriya abusing a Brahman pays lookarshapanas,
and beating a Brahman pays 200 karshapanas. A Vaisya
abusing a Brahman pays I 5o karshapanas, and we sup-
pose pays 3oo for beating him. But a Brahman pays
only 50 karshapanas for abusing a Kshatriya, 25 for
abusing a Vaisya, and for abusing a Sudra, -nothing !
(Gautama, XII, 8–13). -
Death or corporal punishment seems to have been the
punishment for theft at least in some cases ; and the thief
is directed to appear before the king with flying hair,
3 *
holding a club in his hand, and proclaiming his deed. If
CHAP. IV.] - LAWS, 233
the king pardons him and does not slay him or strike
him, the guilt falls on the king (Gautama, XII, 45). The
prerogative of mercy was the king's alone, but a guru, a
priest, a learned householder or a prince could intercede
for an offender, except in the case of a capital offence
(Apastamba, II, Io, 27, 20).
Vasishtha reserves the right of self-defence in the case
of a person attacked by an Atatayin, and that term in-
cludes an incendiary, a poisoner, one ready to kill with
a weapon in his hand, a robber, a man who takes away
another's lands, or abducts another’s wife. A man may
slay an Atatayin who comes to slay, even if the latter
“knows the whole of the Veda, together with the Upani-
shads” (Vasishtha, III, 15-18).
Agriculture and trade were the means of the people's
subsistence, and crimes relating to a cultivator's land
or to an artisan's trade were punished with the utmost
severity. We have seen that defence of land was one of
the cases in which the right of self-defence was allowed,
and false evidence given about land was looked upon
with the utmost detestation. By giving false evidence
concerning small cattle, a witness commits the , sin of
killing ten men ; by false evidence concerning cows,
horses, and men, he commits the sin of killing a hundred,
a thousand, and ten thousand men respectively ; but by
false evidence concerning land, he commits the sin of
killing the whole human race. “Hell is the punishment
for a theft of land” (Gautama, XIII, 14-17). Similarly,
with regard to artisans, Megasthenes informs us that he
who caused an artisan to lose his eye or his hand was
punished with death.
A severe penance is ordained for the man who attempts
suicide, and the relations of a suicide are prohibited
from performing funeral rites for him (Vasishtha, XXIII,
14, &c.).
Such was the Criminal Law of the Hindus over two
thousand years ago. We now turn to the more cem-
VOL. I, 3O
234 RATION ALISTIC PERIOD, [BOOK III.
plicated subject of Civil Law, which may be conveniently
treated under five heads, viz., (1) Law of Agriculture and
Pasture, (2) Law of Property, (3) Usury Laws, (4) the
all-important Law of Inheritance, and (5) the Law of
Partition. We begin with the Law of Agriculture and
Pasture :-
“I. If a person who has taken a lease of land does
not exert himself, and hence the land bears no crop, he
shall, if he be rich, be made to pay the value of the crop
that ought to have been grown. *
“2. A servant in tillage who abandons his work
shall be flogged. t
“3. The same punishment shall be awarded to a
herdsman who leaves his work.
“4. And the flock entrusted to him shall be taken away.
“5. If cattle, leaving their stable, eat crops, the owner
of the crops may make them lean (by impounding them);
but shall not exceed.
“6. If a herdsman who has taken cattle under his
care, allows them to perish or loses them, he shall replace
them to the owners.
“7. If (the king's forester) sees cattle that have been
sent into the forest through negligence, he shall lead
them back to the village and make them over to the
owners” (Apastamba, II, II, 28).
Again, Gautama Says :—
“19. If damage is done by cattle, the responsibility
falls on the owner. -
“20. But if the cattle were attended by a herdsman,
it falls on the latter.
“21. If the damage was done in an unenclosed field
near the road, the responsibility falls on the herdsman
and on the owner of the field” (Gautama, XII).
As in the present day, unenclosed fields were used as
common property for grazing cattle and for obtaining
firewood. -
“He may take, as his own, grass for a cow, and fuel
CHAP. IV.] LAWS., 235
for his fire, as well as the flowers of creepers and trees,
and their fruit if they be unenclosed" (Gautama, XII, 28).
Some equitable provisions are laid down by Vasishtha
about the right of way, and about the evidence necessary
in disputes about immovable property.
“Io. It is declared in the Smriti that there are three
kinds of proof which give a title to property, viz., docu-
ments, witnesses, and possession ; thereby an owner may
recover property which formerly belonged to him.
“II. From fields through which there is a right of
way, a space sufficient for the road must be set apart,
likewise a space for turning a cart.
“I 2. Near new-built houses and other things of the
same description, there shall be a passage three feet
broad.
“I 3. In a dispute about a house or a field, reliance
must be placed on the depositions of neighbours.
“14. If the statements of the neighbours disagree,
documents may be taken as proof.
“15. If conflicting documents are produced, reliance
must be placed on the statements of aged inhabitants of
the village or town, and on those of guilds and corpora-
tions of artisans or traders” (Vasishtha, XVI).
And this brings us to the Law of Property. Property
is divided into eight classes, thus : —
“16. Now they quote also the following verse: ‘Pro-
perty inherited from a father, a thing bought, a pledge,
property given to a wife after marriage by her husband’s
family, a gift, property obtained for performing a sacrifice,
the property of re-united co-partners, and wages as the
eighth.’
“17. Whatever belonging to these eight kinds of
property has been enjoyed by another person for ten
years continuously is lost to the owner.
“I8. They quote also a verse on the other side : “A
pledge, a boundary, and the property of minors, an (open)
deposit, a sealed deposit, women, the property of a king,
236 RATIONALESTIC PERIOD. [BOOK III,
and the wealth of a Srotriya, are not lost by being enjoyed
by others’
“I 9. Property entirely given up by its owner goes to
the king ” (Vasishtha, XVI).
Gautama has similar rules:— *
“37. The property of a person who is neithér an
idiot nor a minor, having been used by strangers before
his eyes for ten years, belongs to him who uses it. .
“38. But not if it is used by Srotriyas, ascetics, or
royal officials. - • ,
“39. Animals, land, and females are not lost to the
owner by another's possession ” (Gautama, XII).
Women and females in the above extracts mean
female slaves. With regard to minors, widows, &c.,
there are provisions to the effect that the king shall
administer their property and shall restore it in the
case of a minor when he comes of age (Vasishtha, XVI,
8 and 9).
We next turn to the important Usury Laws of Ancient
India, and many of our readers will admit that they
compare not unfavourably with usury laws which pre-
vailed in Europe only a few centuries ago.
“Hear the interest for a money-lender declared by
the words of Vasishtha : Five Mashas for twenty (Kar-
shapanas) may be taken every month ; thus the law is
not violated * (Vasishtha, II, 51), -]
Similarly Gautama declares (XII, 29):-
“The legal interest for money lent is at the rate of
five Mashas a month for twenty (Karshaftanas).” .
The commentator Hara Datta reckons 20 mashas to
the karshapana, so that the rate of interest comes to 1%
per cent. per month, or 15 per cent, per annum. Krishna
Pandita correctly states that this rate of interest applies
to loans for which security is given. Manu specially
mentions (VIII, 140) that this rate is prescribed by
Vasishtha. Gautama says that after the principal has
been doubled, interest ceases, and when the object pledged
CHAP. IV.] LAWS. 237
is an object used by the creditor, the money lent bears
no interest at all (XII, 31 and 32).
Other articles might be lent at a much higher percen-
tage of interest, apparently when no security was given.
“44. Gold may be lent, taking double its value on
repayment, and grain trebling the original price.
“45. The case of flavouring substances has been
explained by the rule regarding grain.
“46. As well as the case of flowers, roots, and fruit.
“47. He may lend what is sold by weight, taking
eight times the original value on repayment.”
Similarly Gautama says:—
“The interest on products of animals, on wool, on the
produce of a field, and on beasts of burden, shall not
increase more than five-fold the value of the object lent”
(Gautama, XII, 36). - - -
Thus apart from the loan of money on security, articles
and products were lent, apparently without security, at
an enormous rate of interest. In the former case the
interest was only 15 per cent, and the principal could
only be doubled ; in the latter case it could increase
six or eight-fold. - .
Gautama names no less than six different forms of
interest, viz., compound interest, periodical interest, stipu-
lated interest, corporal interest, daily interest, and the
use of a pledge (XII, 34 and 35). He lays down that the
heirs shall pay the debts of a deceased person, but pro-
vides that money due by a surety, a commercial debt, a
fee due to the parents of the bride, immoral debts, and
fines shall not devolve on the sons of the debtor (XII,
4G and 41). . * . •
And this brings us to the most important portion of
the Civil Law, ziz., the Law of Inheritance. , '
To leave male issue was considered a religious duty
by the ancient Hindus, and in the absence of a legitimate
son, therefore, other kinds of sons seem to have been
recognised in ancient times, - - t
238 RATIONALISTIC PERIOD. [BOOK III.
In the following passage Gautama indicates the dif.
ferent kinds of sons who were considered by him to be
heirs, and those who were not heirs, but only members
of the family:— • , . . .
“32. A legitimate son (Aurasa), a son begotten on
the wife (Kshetraja), an adopted son (Datta), a son made
(Kritrima), a son born secretly (Gudhaja), and a son
abandoned (Apaviddha), inherit the estate.
“33. The son of an unmarried damsel (Kamina), the
son of a pregnant bride (Sahodha), the son of twice-
married woman (Paunarbhava), the son of an appointed
daughter (Putrikaputra), a son self-given (Svayam-
datta), and a son bought (Krita), belong to the family”
(XXVIII). - &
Baudhayana and Vasishtha lived long after Gautama,
and their opinions varied from that of Gautama as well
as from each other in some respects.
“14. One must know a son begotten by the husband
himself on a wedded wife of equal caste to be a legitimate
son of the body (Aurasa). . . . *.
“15. The male child born of a daughter after an
agreement has been made is the son of an appointed
daughter (Pułrikaputra). . . . g
“ 17. He who is begotten by another man on the
wife of a deceased man, of a eunuch, or of one diseased,
after permission, is called the son begotten on a wife
(Kshetraja). #
“20. He is called an adopted son (Datta) who,
being given by his father and his mother, or by either of
the two, is received in the place of a child.
“21. He is called a son made (Kritrima) whom a
man himself makes his son with the (adoptee's) consent
only, and who belongs to the same caste.
“22. He is called a son born secretly (Gudhaja) who
is secretly born in the house, and whose origin is after-
wards recognised. t
“23. He is called a son cast off (Apaviddha) who,
cHAP. IV.] LAWS. 239
being cast off by his father and his mother, or by either,
is received in the place of a child.
“24. If anybody aproaches an unmarried girl without
the permission (of her father or guardian), the son born
by such a woman is called the son of an unmarried
damsel (Æanina). |
“25. If one marries either knowingly or unknowingly
a pregnant bride, the child which is born of her is called
a son taken with the bride (Sahodha).
“26. He is called a son bought (Krita) who, being
purchased from his father and his mother, or from either
of them, is received in the place of a child.
“27. He is called the son of a twice-married woman
(Paunarbhava) who is born of a remarried female, i.e., of
one who, having left an impotent man, has taken a second
husband.
“28. He is called a self-given son (Soayamdatta)
who, abandoned by his father and his mother, gives
himself to a stranger.
“29. He who is begotten by a man of the first twice-
born caste, on a female of the Sudra caste, is called
a /Vishada.
“30. He who is begotten by the same parents through
lust is called a Parasava. . . .” (Baudhayana, II, 2, 3).
Baudhayana then quotes verses which declare that of
the fourteen kinds of sons enumerated above, the first-
named seven, i.e., the Aurasa, the Putrikaputra, the
Kshetraja, the Datta, the Kritrima, the Gudhaja, and the
Apaviddha, were entitled to share the inheritance. The
next six, i.e., the Kanina, the Sahodha, the Krita, the
Paunarbhava, the Svayamdatta, and the Nishada, were
considered members of the family. The Parasava was
not even considered a member of the family.
Vasishtha enumerates twelve kinds of sons like Gau-
tama. -
“12. Twelve kinds of sons only are noticed by the
an Clent.S.
240 RATIONALISTIC PERIOD, [BOOK III.
“I 3. The first is begotten by the husband himself
on his legally married wife (Aurasa).
“14. The second is the son begotten on a wife (or
widow–Kshetraja), duly authorised thereto on the failure
of the first kind of sons.
“I5. The third is an appointed daughter (Putriža.
putra). -
“I6. It is declared in the Veda, “a maiden who has
no brothers comes back to the male ancestors (of her own
family); returning she becomes their son.”. w
“I 7. With reference to this, a verse (to be spoken
by the father when appointing his daughter), ‘I shall give
thee a brotherless damsel, decked with ornaments, the
son whom she may bear, shall be my son.’
“I 8. The fourth is the son of a remarried widow.
(Paunarbhava). - -
“I9. She is called remarried (Punarbhu) who, leav-
ing the husband of her youth, and having lived with
others, re-enters his family. -
“20. And she is called remarried who, leaving on
impotent, outcast, or mad husband, or after the death of
her husband, takes another lord, f :
“2 I. The fifth is the son of an unmarried damsel
(Kanina). * - . -
“24. A male child secretly born in the house is the
sixth (Gudhaja). : }
“25. They declare that these six are heirs and kins-
men, preservers from a great danger.
* “The curious fact that Vasishtha here calls the appointed
daughter a son may perhaps be explained by a custom which, though
rarely practised, still occurs in Kashmir, and by which a brotherless
maiden is given a male name. A historical instance of this kind is
mentioned in the Rajatarangini, where it is stated that Kalyanadevi,
princess of Gauda and wife of king Jayapida, was called by her father
Kalyanamalla.”—Dr. Bühler. º
† The circumstances which allowed the second marriage of a
woman have been enumerated in this verse. They are insanity,
impotency, loss of caste, or death of her husband. The son of a
woman thus remarried a second time is allowed by Vasishtha to
inherit.
(CHAP. IV.] "I, AWS. 24T
“26. Now among those sons who are not heirs but
kinsmen, the first is he who is received with a pregnant
bride (Sahodha).
“28. The second is the adopted son (Datta).
“30. The son bought (Krita) is the third.
“33. The fourth is the son self-given (Swayamdaſta).
“36. The son cast off is the fifth (Apazºiddha).
“38. They declare that the son of a woman of the
Sudra caste (AWishada) is the sixth.
XVII.)
The last-named six kinds of sons cannot inherit
according to Vasishtha, but he quotes a verse that they
shall be allowed “to take the heritage of him who has
no heir belonging to the first-mentioned six classes.”
The rules of Gautama, Vasishtha, and Baudhayana
may be thus shown in parallel columns:—
.” (Vasishtha,
GAUTAMA. VASISHTHA. BAU DHAYANA.
ſ I. Aurasa. I. Aurasa. T. Aurasa. t
Kinsmen | * Kshetraja. 2. Kshetraja. 2. Patrikaputra. :
and 3. Patta. 3. Putrikaputra. 3. Kshetraja.
heirs 4. Kritrima. 4. Paunarbhava. 4. Datta.
º 5. Gudhaja. 5. Kanina. 5. Kritrima.
6. Apaviddha. 6. Gudhaja. 6. Gudhaja.
U 7. Apaviddha.
ſ 7. Kanina. 7. Sahodha. 8. Kanina.
WKinsmen 8. Sahodha. 8. Datta. 9. Sahodha.
no | 9. Paunarbhava. 9. Krita. Io. ISrita. -
heirs | Io. Putrikaputra. Io. Svayamdatta. II. Paunarbhava.
tº I 1. Svayamdatta. II. Apaviddha. I2. Svayamdatta.
\ I2. Krita. I2. Nishada. 13. Nishada. d
Neither
ºmen y 5 9 3 9 y 5 9 14. Parasava.
theirs.
But a reaction appears to have set in early against
the recognition of sons legitimate and illegitimate,_even
to escape the torments of hell after death ! Apastamba,
who lived a century or more after Baudhayana, pro-
tests against the recognition of heirs and sons of various
&inds, and explains away ancient customs by stating that
VOL. I. 3 I

. 242 RATION A R, ſ STIC PERIOD, IBook iii.
what had been allowed in ancient times could not be per-
mitted among the sinful men of the present time.
“I. Sons begotten by a man who approaches in the
proper season a woman of equal caste, who has not
belonged to another man, and who has been married
legally, have a right to follow the occupations (of their
Castes).
“2. And to inherit the estate.
“8. Transgression of the law and violence are found
among the ancients. •
“9. They committed no sin on account of the great-
ness of their lustre.
“Io. A man of later times who, seeing their deeds,
follows them, falls. -
“I 1. The gift (or acceptance of a child) and the right
to sell (or buy) a child are not recognised” (Affastamba,
II, 6, 13).
Elsewhere Apastamba says:—
“2. (A husband) shall not make over his (wife), who
occupies the position of a ‘gentilis,’ to others than to
his ‘gentiles' in order to cause children to be begot for
himself. -
“3. For they declare that a bride is given to the family.
“4. That is (at present) forbidden on account of the
weakness of men's Senses.
“5. The hand of a ‘gentilis’ is considered in law to
be that of a stranger, as well as that of any other person
except the husband.
“6. If the marriage vow is transgressed, both husband
and wife certainly go to hell” (Apastamóa, II, Io, 27).
Thus Apastamba makes a clear Sweep not only of
Niyoga or appointment of a wife to raise issue, but also
of the adoption or the buying of a son. Modern Hindus
recognise no kinds of sons except legitimate sons, and
sons adopted in the absence of legitimate issue.
Lastly, we come to the subject of the Law of Partition.
There is the same dissimilarity of opinion in respect of
CHAP. IV.] LAWS, 243
the partition of property among brothers. The Jaw of
primogeniture never obtained in India, but so long as
the joint family system remained in vogue, the property
of the father was inherited by the eldest son, who sup-
ported the rest as a father. It would seem, however,
that to live in a joint family under the eldest brother was
never the universal custom in India, and even Gautama,
the earliest of the Sutrakaras whose works are extant,
considers a partition among brothers preferable, for
“in partition there is an increase of spiritual merit”
(XXVIII, 4). -
According to Gautama, the eldest son gets as an
additional share a twentieth part of the estate, some
animals, and a carriage ; the middlemost son gets some
poor animals, and the youngest gets sheep, grain, utensils,
a house, a cart, and Some animals; and then the remain-
ing property is equally divided. Or he would allow the
eldest two shares, and the remaining sons one share
each ; or he would allow them each to take one kind of
property by choice according to seniority ; or the special
shares may be adjusted according to their mothers
(XXVIII, 5-17).
Vasishtha allows the eldest brother to take a double
share and a little of the kine and horses; he allows the
youngest to take the goats, sheep, and house ; while the
middlemost gets utensils and furniture. And if a Brahman
has sons by Brahman, Kshatriya, and Vaisya wives, the
first gets three shares, the second two shares, and the
third, i.e., the son by the Vaisya wife, gets one share
(XVII, 42-50). - - 4.
Baudhayana allows all the children to take equal
shares, or the eldest son to take one tenth in excess.
Where there are sons born of wives of different castes,
the sons will take four, three, two and one shares, accord-
ing to the order of the castes (II, 2, 3, 2-10).
Apastamba differs in this respect also from his pre-
decessors, and protests against the unequal division of
244. RATIONALISTIC PERIOD. [BOOK III.
property. He quotes the opinion about giving a preference
to the eldest son, examines the texts on which the opinion.
is based, argues that the texts make a statement of facts
and is not a rule, and therefore declares the preference
of the eldest son to be forbidden. All sons who are
virtuous inherit, but he who spends money unrighteously
shall be disinherited, though he be the eldest son (II,
6, I4, I-T5). -
The separate property of a wife, i.e., her nuptial
presents and ornaments, were inherited by her daughters
(Gautama, XXVIII, 24; Wasishtha, XVII, 46; Baud-
hayana, II, 2, 3, 43).
Such were the laws of the Rationalistic Age. They
show unmistakably the vast distance of time between this
and the Epic Age, and show also the culture, the train-
ing, and the practical method of dealing with intricate
subjects which were the peculiar features of the Ration-
alistic Period. Everything that was confused during the
Epic Period was brought to order and subjected to a
severe classification ; everything that was discursive was
condensed ; everything that was vague and uncertain was
dealt with in a practical manner. Criminal offences and
civil cases were no longer dealt with according to the
vague and varying opinions and feelings of learned men
and priests; those opinions were arranged, condensed,
and codified into bodies of laws which learned men were
called upon to administer. The caste-rules, which were
still pliable in the Epic Period, were made more rigid,
more in accordance with the inviolable codified rules of
the Rationalistic Period ; and the whole social system of
the Hindus underwent a similar rigid treatment. We will
dwell on these two subjects in the next two chapters, and
will then proceed to show how Science and Philosophy
also underwent the same logical treatment,
CHAPTER V.
CASTE.
IN trying to reduce the caste-system into a code of
rigid rules, the Sutrakaras of the period met with an
initial difficulty. They firmly believed that there were
originally but four castes among men, Ziz., Brahmans,
Kshatriyas, Vaisyas, and Sudras;–but they actually found
around them various other castes, formed by tribes of
non-Aryans, who had gradually entered into the Hindu
fold, and formed low Hindu castes. Whence these new
castes ? What was their origin P Believing that all
mankind was originally divided only into four castes, the
Sutrakaras tried to evolve the new castes from the four
parent castes. The strange fiction was then conceived
that the new castes were formed by inter-marriages
among the parent castes . We may imagine a dogmatic
Greek priest of the fifth century declaring that the Huns
were descended from a Roman patrician who married
a Parthian maiden ; or we may conceive a monk of
the thirteenth century declaring that the Moguls were
descended from a German baron who married a Chinese
maiden. Such wild theories would be accepted in an
ignorant age, but would be forgotten with the progress of
knowledge. But in India, where popular knowledge has
become gradually restricted, such theories have been
scrupulously adhered to by all later writers, and obtain
credence in India to the present day !
Vasishtha says:—
“I. They declare that the offspring of a Sudra
245
246 RATION ALISTIC PERIOD. [BOOK III,
and of a female of the Brahman caste, becomes a
Chandala.
“2. That of a Sudra and of a female of the Kshatriya
Caste, a Vaina.
“3. That of a Sudra and of a female of the Vaisya
Caste, an Antyavasayin.
“4. They declare that the son begotten by a Vaisya
on a female of the Brahman caste becomes a Ramaka.
“5. The son begotten by the same on a female of
the Kshatriya caste, a Paulkasa. *
“6. They declare that the son begotten by a Ksha-
triya on a female of the Brahman caste becomes a Suta.
“8. Children begotten by Brahmans, Kshatriyas, and
Vaisyas on females of the next lower, second lower,
and third lower castes become respectively Ambashthas,
Ugras, and Nishadas. -
“9. The son of a Brahman and of a Sudra woman is
a Parasava” (Vasishtha, XVIII).
Baudhayana is somewhat different.
“3. A Brahman begets on a female of the Kshatriya
caste a Brahman, on a female of the Vaisya caste an
Ambashtha, on a female of the Sudra caste a Nishada.
“4. According to some, a Parasava.
“5. A Kshatriya begets on a female of the Vaisya
caste a Kshatriya, on a female of the Sudra caste an
Ugra.
“6. A Vaisya begets on a female of the Sudra caste
a Rathakara. \
“7. A Sudra begets on a female of the Vaisya caste
a Magadha, on a female of the Kshatriya caste a Kshattri,
but on a female of the Brahman caste a Chandala.
“8. A Vaisya begets on a female of the Kshatriya
caste an Ayogava, on a female of the Brahman caste
a Suta.” .
And so a Swapaka has an Ugra father and a Kshattri
mother ; a Vaina has a Vaidehaka father and an Am-
bashtha mother ; a Paulkasa has a Nishada father and a
CHAP, V.] CASTE. 247
Sudra mother; a Kukkutaka has a Sudra father and
a Nishada mother ; and “the wise declare those sprung
by an intermixture of the castes to be Vratyas” (Baud-
hayana, I, 9, 17). -
Gautama’s enumeration is comprehensive as well as
brief, and we will give it below :-
“16. Children born in the regular order of the wives
of the next, second, or third lower castes become Sav-
arnas, i.e., of equal caste, Ambashthas, Ugras, Nishadas,
Daushyantas, and Parasavas.
“ 17. Children born in the inverted order (of wives
of higher castes) become Sutas, Magadhas, Ayogavas,
Kshattris, Vaidehakas, or Chandalas.
“ 18. Some declare that a woman of the Brahman
caste has borne successively to husbands of the four
castes sons who are Brahmans, Sutas, Magadhas, or
Chandalas ;
“19. And that a woman of the Kshatriya caste has
borne to the same Murdhavasiktas, Kshatriyas, Dhivaras,
Paulkasas. - - -
“20. Further, a woman of the Vaisya caste has
borne to the same Bhrigyakanthas, Mahishyas, Vaisyas,
and Vaidehas ;
“21. And a woman of the Sudra caste to the same
Parasavas, Yavanas, Karanas, and Sudra's” (Gautama, IV).
Here we have an authoritative statement which may
well stagger the most faithful believer ! Magadhas and
Vaidehas who were different races, Chandalas and Paul-
kasas who were undoubtedly non-Aryan tribes, and even
Yavanas who were Bactrian Greeks and foreigners, were
all treated by the same general and rigid law which
recognised no exception, and were all declared to be
descended from the four parent castes | And as the
Hindus came to know other foreign nations later on, the
elastic theory was stretched, and Manu derived those
nations too from the same Hindu parent castes -
It is remarkable, however, that the castes or races
3.48 Q ATHON ALISTIC PERIOD, [BOOK III,
inamed above, of whom such a strange origin has been
expounded, were nearly all aboriginal tribes or foreigners,
or Aryans who had incurred odium by their partiality for
scepticism and Buddhism. We do not find names of pro-
fession-castes, answering to the Kayasthas, the Vaidyas,
the goldsmiths, the blacksmiths, the potters, the weavers,
and other artisans of Modern India. How were these
professions classed in Ancient India, if they were not
classed as separate castes ? The reply is plain, that the
great and yet undivided Vaisya caste of the Rationalistic
Period still embraced all those different professions which
in modern times have been divided and disunited into
castes. * The Aryan Vaisyas followed different trades
and professions in Ancient India without forming separate
castes ; they were scribes and physicians, goldsmiths and
blacksmiths, potters and weavers, while still belonging
to the same common Vaisya caste. Thus the great body
of the Aryan population was still united, and was still
entitled to religious knowledge and learning.
The study of the Veda, the performance of sacrifices,
and the gift of alms are prescribed for all twice-born
men, i.e., for Brahmans, Kshatriyas, and Vaisyas. The
special and additional occupations of the Brahman were
the performance of sacrifice for others, and the receiving
of alms, and agriculture and trade were also allowed to
him provided he did not woré himself (Gautama, X, 5).
* One instance will suffice. The Vaidyas or physician caste of
Bengal were unknown in the Rationalistic Period, but later tradition
has applied to them the same fiction that was developed in the Ra-
tionalistic Period, and the Vaidyas are said to have descended from
the union of men and women of different castes. And yet common
sense would suggest that they are the descendants of a section of the
Aryan people, the Vaisyas, -who specially applied themselves to
one particular science as soon as the science was sufficiently de-
veloped to call for special application, and thus in course of time
formed a hereditary caste. This view receives a curious confirmation
from the name which the Bengal Vaidyas still bear. All Vaidyas
are Guptas (Sena Guptas, Dasa Guptas, &c.). Now there are pas-
sages in the Sutra literature which clearly lay down that all
Brahmans are Sarmans, all Kshatriyas are Barmans, and all Vaisyas
are Guptas. We will quote such a passage in the next chapter,
CHAP. V. J CAST E. 249
The abuses begotten of the privileges of caste had already
commenced as early as the Rationalistic Period, and
Brahmans, relieved of manual labour, had already Com-
menced to feed on the resources of the industrious classes,
without acquiring that learning which would alone justify
their exemption from labour. Vasishtha felt the abuse and
the injustice keenly, and protested against idlers being
supported and fed, in language which could only be indit-
ed when Hinduism was still a living nation's religion.
“I. (Brahmans ) who neither study nor teach the Veda
nor keep sacred fires &ecome equal to Sudras.
“4. The king shall punish that village where Brah-
mans, unobservant of their sacred duties and ignorant of
the Veda, subsist by begging, for it feeds rođêers.
“6. The sin that dunces, perplexed by ignorazºe, and
unacquainted with the sacred law, declare to be duty,
shall fall, increased a hundred-fold, on those who pro-
pound it.
“I 1. An elephant maade of wood, an antelope made
of leather, and a Brahman ignorant of the Veda, those
three have nothing but the ſºame of their kind.
“12. Those kingdoms where ignorant men eat the
food of the learned will be visited by drought; or some
other great evil will &efall them” (Vasishtha, III).
The additional occupations of the Kshatriya were
to govern and fight and make conquests, to learn the
management of chariots and the use of the bow, and to
Stand firm in battle and not to turn back (Gautama, X,
15 and 16). The special occupations of the Vaisya were
trade, agriculture, tending cattle, lending money, and
labour for gain (Gautama, X, 49). Sudras were to serve
the other three castes, but were also allowed to labour for
gain (Gautama, X, 42); and there can be no doubt they
traded and earned money by independent work to a large
extent in the Rationalistic Period as in all succeeding
periods. Religious knowledge was, however, forbidden to
Sudras.
WOL, J, 32
250 RATION ALIST HC PERIOD, [BOOK III.
“To see ourselves as others see us” is always, a gain,
and we will therefore now examine how the caste-system
was regarded by foreigners. It is quite evident that the
Seven castes spoken of by Megasthenes are virtually the
four castes spoken of above. His philosophers and coun-
cillors were the Brahmans, those who engaged themselves
in religious study, and those who took employment under
the State respectively. His husbandmen, shepherds, and
artisans were the Vaisyas and Sudras, who engaged them-
selves in cultivation, in pasture, and in manufacture.
And his soldiers were the Kshatriyas ; while his overseers
were only special servants, spies of the king.
Megasthenes further subdivides the philosophers into
Brahmans or householders, and Sramans or ascetics,
Of the former he says that “the children are under the
care of one person after another, and as they advance in
age, each succeeding master is more accomplished than
his predecessor. The philosophers have their abode in a
grove in front of the city within a moderate-sized enclosure.
They live in a simple style, and lie on beds of rushes or
(deer) skins. They abstain from animal food and sensual
pleasures, and spend their time listening to religious dis-
course and in imparting their knowledge to such as will
listen to them. . . . After living in this manner for seven
and thirty years each individual retires to his own property,
where he lives for the rest of his days in ease and security.
They then array themselves in fine muslin, and wear a few
trinkets of gold on their fingers and in their ears. They
eat flesh, but not that of animals employed in labour.
They abstain from hot and highly seasoned food. They
marry as many wives as they please, with a view to having
numerous children, for by having many wives, greater
advantages are enjoyed, and since they have no slaves,
they have more need to have children around them to
attend to their wants.” -
Of the Sramans or ascetics, Megasthenes tells us that
“they live in the wood, where they subsist on leaves of
CJIAP. V. C,\STE, 25 ſ
trees and wild fruits, and wear garments made from the
bark of trees. . . . They communicate with the kings, who
consult them by messengers, regarding the causes of
things, and who through them worship and supplicate the
deity.” Some of them practised medicines, and Megasthenes
writes : “By their knowledge of pharmacy they can make
marriages fruitful, and determine the sex of the offspring.
They effect cures rather by regulating diet than by the use
of medicines. The remedies most esteemed are ointments
and plasters.” We learn from this account, as we learn
from other sources, that sects of ascetics subsisting on
roots and wild fruits, lived in Ancient India, and bore the
name of Sramanas, before and after the time of Gautama
Buddha. And when that great reformer preached a holy
life and retirement from the world, as the essence of his
religion, his followers, who retired from the world, were
called Sakyaputriya Sramans,—orascetics who followed the
Sakya, -to distinguish them from other sects of ascetics.
Elsewhere Megasthenes says of the Philosopher-caste
that they, “being exempted from all public duties, are
neither the masters nor the servants of others. They are
however engaged by private persons to offer the sacrifices
due in lifetime, and to celebrate the obsequies of the
dead. . . . . They forewarn assembled multitudes about
droughts and wet weather, and also about propitious winds
and diseases.” We have thus a brief but intelligent sketch,
from the hand of an impartial foreigner, of the life which
the Brahmans lived in the Rationalistic Period. They
gave religious instruction to the young, they presided at
sacrifices and funeral ceremonies, they advised villagers
and cultivators about weather and harvests, and they also
prescribed medicines for various diseases. Kings looked
up to them for advice in emergencies, and the class of
Brahmans whom Megasthenes considers a separate caste
and calls councillors, also advised the king in state affairs,
were entrusted with the treasury, and were the judges in
civil and criminal cases. The educated classes looked up
252 RATION ALISTIC PERIOD. [BOOK III,
to the Brahmans for priestly advice and assistance at large
sacrifices, while the humble cultivators consulted the wise
men about the prospects of the year. With the gradual
decline of the nation the caste so universally honoured
gradually came to abuse its privileges, and tried to
strengthen by superstition that pre-eminence which was
first acquired by sanctity and knowledge,
Of the military class or the Kshatriya caste Megas-
thenes gives a very brief sketch. The soldiers were
organised and equipped for war, but in times of peace
gave themselves up to idleness and amusements.
“The entire force, men-at-arms, war-horses, war-ele-
phants, and all are maintained at the king's expense.”
It was the duty of the overseers to inquire into all that
went on in the kingdom and report them to the king.
Of the husbandmen, shepherds, and artisans, who
obviously were the Vaisya and Sudra castes, Megasthenes
gives us a more interesting and life-like sketch. Being
exempted from fighting and other public services, the
husbandmen “devote the whole of their time to tillage ;
nor would an enemy, coming upon a husbandman at work
on his land, do him any harm, for men of this class, being
regarded as public benefactors, are protected from all
injury. The land thus remaining unravaged, and pro-
ducing heavy crops, supplies the inhabitants with all that
is requisite to make life very enjoyable. . . . They pay a
land tribute to the king, because all India is the pro-
perty of the crown, and no private person is permitted
to own land. Besides the land tribute, they pay into
the royal treasury a fourth part of the produce of the
soil,”* t
“The shepherds neither settle in towns nor in villages,
but live in tents.f. By hunting and trapping they clear
* The usual land tax in India was one-sixth of the produce in
the Hindu times.
+ This description must refer to some tribes of aborigines who
werc scarcely yet completely Hinduised.
char. v.) CASTE. 253
the country of noxious birds and wild beasts. Of the
artisans some are armourers, while others make the
implements which husbandmen and others find useful in
their different callings. This class is not only exempted
from paying taxes, but even receives maintenance from
the royal exchequer.”
CHAPTER VI.
SOCIAL LIFE.
IT is in the Sutras that we first find mention of the
different forms of marriage with which we are familiar
from the later metrical codes of law. Vasishtha mentions
only six forms, wiz.:--
A rahma marriage ; the father pours out a libation of
water and gives his daughter to a suitor, a student.
APaiva marriage ; the father decks his daughter with
ornaments and gives her to an officiating priest, when
sacrifice is being performed.
Arsha marriage; the father gives his daughter for a
cow or a bull. - -
Gandharva marriage ; the lover takes and weds a
loving damsel.
A shatra (or Rakshasa) marriage ; the bridegroom
forcibly takes a damsel, destroying her relatives by
strength of arms.
Manusha (or Asura) marriage ; the suitor purchases a
damsel from her father. -
Apastamba, too, recognises only these six forms of
marriage, but calls the Kshatra marriage by the name
Rakshasa, and the Manusha marriage by the name
Asura. Apastamba further mentions the first three forms
only, viz., the Brahma, the Daiva, and the Arsha, as
praiseworthy.
The older writers Gautama and Baudhayana, however,
prescribe eight forms of marriage, adding to the above
Six forms one rite, Prajapatya, which was considered
254
ciiAP. VI.] SOCIAL LIFE, 255
praiseworthy, and another form, Paisacha, which was
sinful. In the Prajapatya form the father simply gave
away his daughter to the suitor, saying, “Fulfil ye the
law conjointly.” The Paisacha form was simply a form
of rape, when a man embraced a woman deprived of
consciousness.
Marriages among kinsfolk were rigorously prohibited
in the Rationalistic Period. Vasishtha prohibits marriage
between a man and a woman of the same Gotra or
Pravara, or who are related within four degrees on the
mother's side, or within six degrees on the father's side
(VIII, I and 2). Apastamba prohibits marriage between
men and women of the same Gotra, or who are related
(within six degrees) on the mother's (or father's) side
(II, 5, 11, 15 and 16). But Baudhayana allows a man
to marry the daughter of a maternal uncle or a paternal
aunt (I, 1, 2, 4).
The marriage of girls at a tender age was not yet pre-
valent in the Rationalistic Period. Vasishtha says:—
“67. A maiden who has attained puberty shall wait
for three years.
“68. After three years, she may take a husband of
equal caste” (XVII).
In contradiction, however, to the above, there is a
passage, immediately after, recommending the marriage
of girls while they are yet children. The passage appears
to be an interpolation,
The marriage of widows, which was a prevalent custom
in the Vedic and Epic Periods, continued to prevail in
the Rationalistic Period, but except in the case of child-
widows, was not looked upon with favour. The son of a
widow married again was, as will appear from passages
quoted in the previous chapter, often classed with adopted
Sons, or sons by an appointed wife or daughter.
Such are the rules laid down in the Dharma Sutras
for marriage. Marriage marks the entrance to a new
Stage of life, viz., that of a Householder, before marriage,
256 RATIONALISTIC PERIOD. [BOOK III.
a young man is only a Student. It would be interesting
to briefly review the rules laid down in the Sutras re-
garding the conduct of a student and that of a house-
holder, respectively. -
The first great event in a boy's life seems to have
been his initiation as a student. A Brahman boy was
initiated between 8 and 16, a Kshatriya between I I and
22, and a Vaisya between 12 and 24. The initiated boy
then lived as a religious student in the house of his
teacher for 12, 24, 36, or 48 years, according as he wished
to master one, two, three, or the four Vedas. During this
period of his life he avoided all spiced food, perfumes, and
articles of luxury ; he tied his hair in a knot, he bore a
staff and a girdle, and a cloth of flax or hemp, or even only
a skin. Avoiding all places of amusement and of pleasure,
restraining his senses, modest and humble, the young
student went out every morning with his staff to beg for
food from charitable householders in the neighbouring
villages, and all that he obtained in the course of the day
he placed before his teacher, and he only tasted food after
his teacher had done with his meals. He went to the
forest to fetch fuel, and evening and morning he fetched
water for household use. Every morning he swept and
cleaned the altar, kindled the fire, and placed the sacred
fuel on it ; and every evening he washed his teacher's
feet and rubbed him and put him to bed, before he retired
to rest. Such was the humble and simple life which
ancient Hindu students led, when they devoted all the
energies of their mind to the acquisition of the sacred
learning of their forefathers.
Instruction, it is needless to repeat, was imparted by
rote. The student respectfully held the hand of his
teacher, and fixed his mind on the teacher and said, “Ven-
erable sir, recite,” and the Savitri (the well-known Gayatri
verse of the Rig Veda) was recited, and learnt as the
introduction to the learning of the Vedas (Gautama, I,
55, 56). And from day to day new lessons were recited
CHAP. VI.] SOCIAL LIFE. 25?
and learnt, the student dividing his day’s work between
minding his lessons and minding the household work of
his teacher,
When after years of study, often under different
teachers, the student at last returned to his home, he made
a handsome gift to his instructors, married, and settled
down as a householder or ształaża, i.e., a man who has
bathed after his studentship is over. The Sutrakaras are
never tired with impressing on householders the para-
mount duty of courtesy and hospitality towards guests,
for the reception of guests is an everlasting sacrifice
offered by the householder to God (Aftastazúa, II,
3, 7, I).
Besides the order of the student and that of the house-
holder, there were two other orders of life, ziz., those of
the Ascetic (Bhikshu), and that of the Hermit (Vaik-
hanasa). We learn from later Sanscrit literature that a
typical or perfect life was the life of a man who belonged
to these four orders in the Successive periods of his life.
Apastamba, too, who is one of the latest of the Sutra-
karas, says that “if he lives in all these four (orders of
life). . . he will obtain Salvation” (II, 9, 21, 2). But
this was not the original idea, and in early times a man
might have chosen to spend the whole of his life in one of
these four orders. Thus Vasishtha says that a man after
completing his education may, according to his choice,
embrace one of the four orders for the rest of his life
(VII, 3), and Baudhayana too quotes a rule that a man
on finishing his education may be an ascetic at once (II,
Ic, 17, 2). It is needless for our purpose to dwell on
rules laid down for an ascetic and a hermit respectively.
It will suffice to state that an ascetic shaved his head, had
no property or home, practised austerities, fasted or lived
on almas, wore a single garment or a skin, slept on the
bare ground, wandered about from place to place, dis-
continued the performance of all religious ceremonies,
but never discontinued the study of the Veda or the
VOL. I. 33
258 RATIONALISTIC PERIOD. [BOOK Ili.
contemplation of the Universal Soul (Vasishtha, X). A
hermit, on the other hand, though dwelling in woods, living
on roots and fruits, and leading a chaste life, kindled the
sacred fire and offered the morning and evening libations
(Vasishtha, IX). -
We now return to the householders, who form the
best of the four orders. For the householders, and not
hermits and ascetics, formed the nation, and “as rivers,
both great and small, find a resting place in the ocean,
even so men of all orders find protection with house-
holders” (Vasishtha, VIII, 15).
No less than forty sacraments have been prescribed
for the householder (Gautama, VIII, 14-20), and an
account of these sacraments will give us a glimpse into
the religious and domestic life of the ancient Hindu.
AJomestic ceremonies.—(1) Garbhadhana (ceremony to
cause conception); (2) Pumsavana (ceremony to cause the
birth of a male child); (3) Simantonnayana (arranging
the hair of the pregnant wife); (4) Jatakarman (ceremony
on birth of a child); (5) naming the child ; (6) the first
feeding ; (7) the tonsure of the head ; (8) the initiation ;
(9 to 12) the four vows for the study of the Veda ;
(13) the bath or completion of studentship ; (14) mar-
riage, or, as it is called, the taking a helpmate for the
performance of religious duties; and (15 to 19) the five
sacrifices to gods, manes, men, Spirits, and to Brahman
or God.
Grihya rites, also called Pakayajnas.--(1) Astaka,
or rites performed in winter ; (2) Parvana, or new and
full moon rites ; (3) Sraddha, or sacrifices to departed
ancestors ; (4) Sravani, a rite performed in the Sra-
vana month ; (5) Agrahayani, performed in the Agra-
hayana month ; (6) Chaitri, performed in the month of
Chaitra ; and (7) Asvayugi, performed in the month of
Asvina. -
Sraufa riſes.—These are again divided into two classes,
wiz., Haviryajna, performed with offerings of rice, milk,
CHAP. VI.] SOCIAL LIFE. 259
butter, meat, &c.; and the Somayajna, performed with
libations of the Soma-juice.
The Haviryajnas are—(1) Agnyadhana, (2) Agnihotra,
(3) Darsapurnamasa, (4) Agrayana, (5) Chaturmasya,
(6) Nirudhapasubandha, and (7) Sautramani.
The Somayajnas are (1) Agnishtoma, (2) Atyagnish-
toma, (3) Ukthya, (4) Shodasin, (5) Vajapeya, (6) Atiratra,
and (7) Aptoryama.
Such were the forty sacraments prescribed for house-
holders ;-but far above the performance of these sacrifices
was esteemed the possession of virtue and goodness,
which alone led to heaven. Gautama says:—
“He who is sanctified by these forty sacraments, but
whose soul is destitute of the eight good qualities, will
not be united with Brahman, nor does he reach His
heaven. .
“But he, forsooth, who is sanctified by a few only
of these forty Sacraments, and whose soul is endowed
with the excellent qualities, will be united with Brahman
and will dwell in His heaven” (VIII, 24 and 25).
Similarly Vasishtha says :-
“The Vedas do not purify him who is deficient in
good conduct, though he may have learnt them all, to-
gether with the six Angas ; the sacred texts depart from .
such a man, even as birds when full fledged leave their
neStS.
“As the beauty of a wife causes no joy to a blind man,
even so all the four Vedas, together with the six Angas
and sacrifices, bring no blessing to him who is deficient
in good conduct.
“The several texts do not save from sin the deceit-
ful man who behaves deceitfully. But that Veda, two
syllables of which are studied with due observances of
rules of conduct, purifies, just as the clouds in the month
of Asvina” (VI, 3-5).
We will now say a few words about the forty sacra-
ments, or rather with regard to those of them which
26cy RATIONALISTIC PERIOD, [BOOK IT.
illustrate Hindu life. They include, as stated above,
Domestic ceremonies, Grihya rites, and Srauta rites. The
Srauta rites are described in detail in the Yajur Veda
and the Brahmanas, and also in a condensed form in the
Srauta Sutras, as we have stated before. These rites
have been briefly described in our account of the Epic
Age, and throw little light on the manners and life of the
people, and are therefore not of very much importance
for our historical purpose. The Domestic ceremonies
and Grihya rites, on the other hand, give us glimpses
which are of inestimable value into the manners of the
ancient Hindus, and indeed give us a perfect picture of
the life that they lived and the habits and customs they
followed.
We will first treat of the Domestie ceremonies, and
afterwards speak of the Grihya religious rites. The
most important of the Domestic ceremonies are Marriage,
Ceremonies performed during pregnancy of wife, Birth
of child, Annaprasana or the first feeding of a child,
Tonsure, Initiation, and Return from School on the com-
pletion of education. As we read accounts of these
domestic ceremonies, we think we survey the whole
life of our ancient ancestors ;-and the ceremonies are
all the more interesting to us, because we continue to
practise many of them to the present day, after a lapse
of over two thousand years.
Marriage.—The bridegroom sends messengers to the
house of the girl's father, reciting verse X, 85, 23, of
the Rig Veda, which we have translated before. If the
proposal pleases both parties, the promise of marriage
is ratified, and both parties touch a full vessel into
which flowers, fried grain, barley, and gold have been
put, and recite a formula. The bridegroom then performs
a sacrifice. On the appointed day, the bride's relations
wash her with water fragrant with the choicest fruits
and scents, make her put on a newly dyed garment,
and cause her to sit down by a fire while the family
cHAP. VI. 1 SOCIAL LIFE. 26
Acharya performs a sacrifice. The bridegroom, who has
also bathed and gone through auspicious ceremonies,
“is escorted by happy young women who are not widows
to the girl's house” (Sankhayana.) -
The actual marriage ceremony varied in detail i
different localities, but agreed in the essential points.
“Various indeed are the customs of the different coun-
tries, and the customs of the different villages. ... What
however is commonly accepted, that we shall state”
(Aszalayana). The bridegroom holds the bride by the
hand, and leads her three times round a fire, reciting
some verses, as, “Come, let us marry. Let us beget
offspring. Loving, bright, with genial mind, may we
live a hundred autumns.” Each time he makes her
tread a millstone, saying, “Like a stone be firm.” The
bride's brother or guardian fills her hands with Ajya
or fried grain, and she sacrifices it to the fire. The
bridegroom then causes the bride to step forward seven
steps, reciting suitable words. The going round the fire,
treading the stone, sacrificing the fried grain, and stepping
forward seven steps, constituted the principal forms of
the marriage ceremony. “And she should dwell that
night in the house of an old Brahman woman whose
husband is alive, and whose children are alive. When
she sees the Polar star, the star of Arundhati, and the
Seven Rishis (Ursa Major), let her break the silence,
and say, May my husband live, and I get offspring”
(4.svalayana). Sankhayana says, “Let them sit silent,
when the Sun has set, until the Polar star appears. He
shows her the star with the words, ‘Firm be thou,
thriving with me.’ Let her say, ‘I see the Polar star ;
may I obtain offspring.” Through a period of three nights
let them refrain from conjugal intercourse.”
A’regnancy.—Various were the rites performed during
the pregnancy of a wife. In the first place, there was the
Garbhadhana rite, which was supposed to secure concep-
tion. The Pumsavana rite was supposed to determine
262 RATION A LISTIC PERIOD, [BOOK III.
the male sex of the child, and the Garbharakshana
Secured the child in the womb from dangers. The
Simtaztſon?mayana, performed according to Asvalayana
in the fourth month, and according to Sankhayana in
the seventh month of pregnancy, is a more interesting
ceremony. Gobhila says it may be performed in the
fourth, sixth, or eighth month, and it consisted in the
husband affectionately parting his wife's hair, with certain
rites. •
Airth of child,—The rites performed on this occasion
and called /atakarman or birth ceremony, Medhajananam
or the production of intelligence, and Ayushya or rite for
prolonging life. On this occasion the father gives the
child a secret name, -of an even number of syllables if
the child is male, and an uneven number if it is female,
and only the father and mother know that name. On the
tenth day, when the mother gets up from childbed, a name
for common use is given to the child. “The name of a
Brahman should end in Sarman (e.g., Vishnu Sarman),
that of a Kshatriya in Varman (e.g., Lakshmi Varman),
that of a Vaisya in Gupta (e.g., Chandra Gupta)”
(Paraskara, I, 17, 4).
Airst feeding of the child with solid food—This is the
well-known Annaprasana ceremony. The child seems
to have been allowed a greater variety of food in the
olden days than in the present time. “Goat's flesh, if
he is desirous of nourishment ; flesh of partridge, if
desirous of holy lustre ; boiled rice with ghee, if desirous
of splendour” (Asvalayana and Samkhayana). “Flesh
of that bird called Bharadvaji, if he wishes fluency
of speech ; fish, if swiftness was desired, &c., &c.”
(Paraskara).
Zonsure of the child's head, called Chuda Karana.-
This was performed when the child was one year old
according to Sankhayana and Paraskara, or when the
child was in his third year according to ASvalayana and
Gobhila. The child's head was shavcd with a razor with
CHAP, VI.] SOCIAL I, I FE. 263
certain mantras (without mantras in the case of a girl),
and some hair was left and arranged according to the
custom of the family. - - -
Initiation or Upanayana. – This was an important
ceremony, and was performed when a boy was made
over by his father or guardian to the teacher for educa-
tion. The age of initiation, as we have seen before,
varied in the case of Brahmans, Kshatriyas, and Vaisyas,
and the sacred thread was worn on this occasion by all
the three castes. - -
A garment, a girdle, and a staff of appropriate mate-
rials were then assumed by the student, and he approached
the teacher. * -
“He (the teacher) fills the two hollows of his own and
the student’s joined hands with water, and then says to
him (i.e., to the student), ‘What is thy name P’
“‘I am N. N., sir,’ says the other.
“‘Descending from the same Rishis,’ says the teacher.
“‘Descending from the same Rishis, sir,’ says the
other.
“‘Declare that thou art a student, sir.’
“‘ I am a student, sir,’ says the other.
“With the words ‘Bhur Bhuvah Svah,’ the teacher
sprinkles thrice with his joined hands water on the joined
hands of the student. - $
“And seizing the student's hands with his own hands,
holding the right uppermost, he murmurs :—
“By the impulse of the god Savitri, with the arms of the
two Asvins, with Pushan’s hands, I initiate thee, N. N.” .
Such was the ceremony of the Upanayana in ancient
times, the initiation into the life of a student, the
commencement of the study of the Veda. How has the
Opanayana custom degenerated in modern times It
no longer means the study of the Veda, which is now
forgotten, nor the performance of sacrifices, which have
now fallen into disuse. It now means the habitual
assumption of a meaningless thread, which was neither
264 RATION ALISTIC PERIOD. [BOOK III.
meaningless nor habitually worn in ancient days ; and
modern Brahmans claim a monopoly of the sacrificial
thread, which the ancient Brahmans used to wear along
with Kshatriyas and Vaisyas, who all sacrificed and learnt
the Veda. Thus national degeneracy has converted sig-
nificant rites into meaningless forms, all tending to the
enforced ignorance of the people, and to the exclusive
privileges of priests.
A'eturn from school. —The student, after he had
finished his education, returned to his home, and if he
had no ancestral house to go to, had to build a house.
This, too, was accompanied by a ceremony and by the
utterance of the hymns of the Rig Veda (VII, 54, 55)
to Vastospati, the lord of dwelling-houses, as well as
to other divinities. Then followed marriage, and the
setting up of fires,-the Agnyadhana—which is a Srauta
rite, and which has been described in Chapter VIII. of
the last Book. The student is now changed into a house-
holder, and has other and graver duties to perform.
Such were the most important Domestic ceremonies
in which the ancient Hindus rejoiced. We will now give
a brief account of the Grihya rites.
The most important of the Grihya rites was the Sraddha
or monthly offering to the departed fathers, and the feeding
of Brahmans. “Brahmans who are endowed with learn-
ing, moral character, and correct conduct,” were invited,
and sat down “as representatives of the fathers ” to
whom the oblations were offered. The sacrificer then
offered the Arghya water to the fathers with the words,
“Father, this is thy Arghya ; Grandfather, this is thy
Arghya ; Great-grandfather, this is thy Arghya.” Gifts of
perfumes, garlands, incense, lights, and clothes were then
offered to the Brahmans. With the permission of the
Brahmans, food of the Sthalipaka prepared for the
Pindapitriyajna was smeared with ghee and sacrificed in
the fire, or in the hands of the Brahmans, together with
other food. And when the sacrificer saw that the
CHAP. VI.] SOCIAL LIFE, 205
Brahmans were satiated, he recited the verse (Rig Veda,
I, 82, 2), “They have eaten, they have enjoyed thcm-
selves” (Aswalayana). º
Aarzana.-This was the rite observed on the new and
full moon days, and consisted in fasting as well as in
offering cooked oblations to the deities of those days,
with appropriate mantras. Orthodox Hindus still make
it a point to fast on these days.
Srazyani.-This was a rite observed on the full moon
day of the month of Sravana in the rainy season, and
the idea was to propitiate Serpents, which multiply in
India in the rains. The words uttered were sufficiently
grotesque.
The propitiation of serpents as such has nearly dis-
appeared from the upper classes of the people of India,
and they will have some difficulty in recognising the rite
performed at the Raki Purnima as a survival of the
Sravant rite of the Rationalistic Period. The A’ak;
string bracelet which friends distribute to friends, and
sisters affectionately send to their brothers, is a bracelet
which is intended to save them from any harm or evil
proceeding from serpents.” l t - l
Asvayugi.--This was a rite performed on the full
moon day of Asvayuga or Asvina month.
“I. On the full moon day of Asvayuga a milk-rice
oblation to Indra. * -
“2. Having sacrificed Ajya with the words, “To the
two Asvins, svaha To the two Asvayuga, Svaha To
the full moon of Asvayuga, Svaha To the autumn,
Svaha To Prajapati, Svaha . To the tawny one,
swaha l' - º
“3. He shall sacrifice a mixture of curds and butter
with this hymn, “The cows come hither' (Rig Veda, VI,
28), verse by verse.
" A new and aboriginal goddess, the Mamasa, is now worshipped
in Bengal to save men from snake-bite, and the story of her admis-
sion into the Hindu Panthcon is dimly seen in the popular tale of
A/anzasar Bhasan.
VOL. I. 34
266 RATHON A.H.,ISTIC PERROD, {BOOK III.
“4. That night they let the calves join their mothers.
“5. Then feeding of the Brahmans.”
This is all the account which Sankhayana gives of this
rite, and it is impossible not to suspect from the above
account that the rite is essentially agricultural. This
suspicion is confirmed when Paraskara tells us that the
above rite was to be followed by a sacrifice to Sita, the
goddess of the field ſurrow. -
“In whose substance dwells the prosperity of all Vedic
and worldly works, Andra's zwiſe Sita, I invoke. May
she not abandon me in whatever work I do. Svaha |
“Her, who, rich in horses, rich in cows, rich in delight,
indefatigably supports living beings, Urvara (the fertile),
zwho is zwreathed zwith threshing foors, I invoke at this
sacrifice, the firm one. May she not abandon me.
Svaha " (II, 17, 9). -
The worship of Sita or the furrow goddess, following
the Asvajugi rite, her description as the wife of Indra
the rain-giver, and as Urvara or the fertile, wreathed with
threshing floors, all suggest that the Asvajugi rite was
an agricultural rite of thanksgiving on the reaping of the
crop which was harvested in Asvina. And if this
rite of agricultural thanksgiving was already somewhat
obscure in the Rationalistic Period, how has that rite
been further obscured in the Kojagara Zakshmi Puja of
modern India.
Lakshmi is a young goddess who was unknown in the
Rationalistic Period, but is now the most cherished deity
in the Hindu Pantheon. Sita is now remembered only
as the heroine of the Ramayana, and as a pattern of
female virtue and female Self-abnegation, but Lakshmi
has taken her place as the goddess of crops and of rice.
We have seen that the Kojagara Lakshmi Puja is the
modern form of the ancient Asvajugi rite. Still more
recent than the Lakshmi Puja is the worship of Durga,
which has in Bengal assumed wonderful dimensions
within recent times, owing no doubt to the gladness of
cHAP. VI. 1 SOCIAL LIFE, 267
the harvest season. How has the petty harvest festival,
—the milk-rice oblation to Indra and his consort Sita, -
developed in modern times -
Agrahayani.-This rite was performed on the full moon
day of Agrahayana month. This particular night was
considered to be the consort of the year, or the image of the
year, and adoration was offered to the year, to Samvatsara,
Parivatsara, Idavatsara, Idvatsara, and to Vatsara, which
terms designate the different years of the quinquential
period of Yuga (Paraskara, III, 2, 2).
Ashtaka.--So called because they were rites which
were performed on the eighth day of the three or
four successive dark fortnights after the full moon of
Agrahayana. Oblations were made with vegetables,
flesh, and cakes respectively. Gobhila quotes different
opinions as to the object of these oblations, and says they
may be for the gratification of Agni, or of the Fathers, or
of Prajapati, or of the Season gods, or of all the gods
(Gobhila, III, 2, 3). The intelligent reader will hardly
fail to perceive, however, that the rites were suggested by
the winter season, which is an enjoyable season in India,
when the Aman rice is harvested and wheat and barley
thrive, and when cakes and flesh and vegetables are not
only acceptable to the “season gods,” but are also highly
gratifying to men l And the Hindu reader will, no doubt,
at once perceive that a survival of this ancient rite still
exists in Bengal in the Pausha Parzana, when, after the
Aman has been harvested, our ladies delight in the pre-
paration of delicious cakes of various kinds, to the infinite
joy of the young and old alike
Chaitri, the last rite in the year, was performed on the
full moon day of Chaitra. Indra and Agni and Rudra
and the Nakshatras or constellations were propitiated.
Such were the Domestic ceremonies and Grihya rites
in which Hindu ladies delighted in ancient times. And
if some of these rites have since lost their original signi-
ficance, and have even been replaced by modern forms,
268 RATIONALISTIC PERIOD, [BOOK III,
we can nevertheless trace most of them in the rites
that we practise to this day, after a lapse of two thou-
sand years and more. The conservative spirit of the
Hindus and their loyalty to the past are pre-eminently
conspicuous in their adherence to ancient ceremonies,
which were generally conceived in a pure and healthy
spirit. And the healthy joyousness which attended
ancient Hindu celebrations has certainly lost nothing
in the course of many centurics of foreign subjection
and national decline, - * *
CHAPTER VII.
GAOl/EZ-RP AND GRAMMAK.
WE have seen before that it was in the Rationalistic Age
that all the religious rules and laws of the previous ages
received a philosophical treatment, and were condensed,
arranged, and codified. It was in this period that the
contents of the verbose and somewhat chaotic Brahmanas
were brought into order, that civil and criminal laws and
the law of inheritance were codified, that the caste rules.
and social laws were rigidly fixed, and the duties of men,
both as citizens and as members of a family, defined.
And it can well be imagined, therefore, that science
and philosophy received a high degree of development
in this age, and some departments of inquiry and
thought received their last development in India in this
period. -
We do not know what progress was made in this
period in Astronomy. No Sutra work on Astronomy has
come down to us; and there can be little doubt that the
astronomical works of the Rationalistic Period have long
since been replaced by the later and completer works of
the Puranic Period, by the works of Aryabhatta and
Varahamihira, of Brahmagupta and Bhaskaracharya. But
there is one branch of mathematics which was carried
to a high degree of excellence in the Rationalistic Period.
Dr. Thibaut has deserved the thanks of all Oriental
scholars by publishing the fact that Geometry, as a
science, was first studied in India. The Greeks of a
later age cultivated the science with greater success, but
269
27,o RATIONALISTIC PERIOD. [BOOK III.
it should never be forgotten that the world owes its first
lessons in Geometry not to Greece, but to India.
Geometry, like Astronomy, owes its origin in India to
religion, and Grammar and Philosophy too were similarly
inspired by religion. As Dr. Thibaut remarks: “The want
of some rule by which to fix the right time for the sacri-
fices gave the first impulse to astronomical observations ;
urged by this want, the priest remained watching night
after night the advance of the moon through the circle of
the Nakshatras, and day after day the alternate progress
of the sun towards the north and the south. The laws of
phonetics were investigated, because the wrath of the gods
followed the wrong pronunciation of a single letter of
the sacrificial formulas ; grammar and etymology had the
task of securing the right understanding of the holy texts.
The close connection of philosophy and theology, so
close that it is often impossible to decide where the one
ends and the other begins,—is too well known to require
any comment.” And the learned Doctor then lays down
the principle, which should never be overlooked by
Indian historians, that whatever science “is closely
connected with the Ancient Indian Religion must be
considered as having sprung up among the Indians them-
selves,” and not borrowed from other nations.”
Geometry was developed in India from the rules for
the construction of altars. The Black Yajur Veda (V,
4, 1 1) enumerates the different shapes in which altars
could be constructed, and Baudhayana and Apastamba
furnish us with full particulars about the shape of these
thitis and the bricks which had to be employed for their
construction. (1) The Chaturasra Syena is a falcon-
shaped altar built of square bricks, and is the most
ancient. (2) The Syena Vakrapakshavyastapuchchha
is an altar of the shape of a falcon with curved wings
and outspread tail. (3) The Kankachit is a heron-shaped
altar with two feet, and (4) the Alajachit is very similar
"Journal Asiatic Society, Bengal, 1875, p. 227.
chAp. VII.] GEOMETRY AND GRAMMAR. 27 I
to it. (5) The Praugachit is of the shape of the forepart
of the poles of a chariot, an equilateral triangle, and (6)
the Ubhayatah Praugachit is of the form of two such
triangles joined with their bases. Then follow (7) the
Ratha Chakrachit and (8) the Sararatha Chakrachit of
the shape of wheels, without and with..spokes. (9) the
Chaturasradronachit and (Io) the Parimandaladronachit
are of the shape of a drona or vessel, square or circular.
(11) The Parichayyachit is also of a wheel-shape, and
(12) the Samuhyachit has likewise a circular shape.
(13) The Smasanachit is a sloping quadrilateral altar
wider at one base than at the other, and higher at the
wider end. The last chiti mentioned is the Kurma or
tortoise, which may be either (14) Vakranga, curved, or
(15) angular, or (16) Parimandala, circular.
The area of the earliest Chaturasra Syena was to be
73 Square purushas, which means 7; squares, the side of
each square being equal to a purusha, i.e., the height of a
man with uplifted arms. When any other shape of altar
was required, the size or area did not change, so that a
wheel, an equilateral triangle, or a tortoise had to be
constructed,—all of the area of 7% purushas. Then
again at the second construction of the altar one square
purusha had to be added to the area, and at the third
construction two square purushas had to be added, without
changing the shape or the relative proportions of the figure.
All this could not be done without a considerable know-
ledge of Geometry, and the science of Geometry was thus
invented. As Dr. Thibaut says, “squares had to be found
which would be equal to two or more given squares ; or
equal to the difference of two given squares; oblongs
had to be turned into squares and squares into oblongs ;
triangles had to be constructed equal to given Squares or
oblongs ; and so on. The last task, and not the least,
was that of finding a circle, the area of which might equal
as closely as possible that of a given square.”
The result of these operations was the compilation of
27.2 RATIONALISTIC . PIERIOD. ) ' [BOOK III.
a series of geometrical rules which are contained in the
Sulva Sūtras, which form a portion of the Kalpa Sutras,
as we have stated before. These Sulva Sutras date
from the eighth century before Christ. The geometrical
theorem that the square of the hypotenuse is equal to
the Squares of the other two sides of a rectangular
triangle is ascribed by the Greeks to Pythagoras; but it
was known in India at least two centuries before, and
Pythagoras undoubtedly learnt this rule from India. The
proposition referred to above is contained in two rules,
ºiz., (1) The square of the diagonal of a square is twice
as large as that square, and (2) The square of the diagonal
of an oblong is equal to the square of both its sides.
Our limits forbid us to follow Dr. Thibaut's remarks
contained in his most valuable and instructive paper,
and all we can do is to briefly mention a few of the
most important results achieved in the Sulva Sutras.
One remarkable result was: to find the value of a
diagonal in number in relation to the side of the square.
The rule laid down is, “Increase the measure by
its third part, and this third by its own, fourth, less
the thirty-fourth part of that fourth.” In other
words, if I represents the side, the diagonal, will be
1 + ++---— = 1.4142156. The real value
3 3 X 4 3 X 4 × 34 f f
of the diagonal is, we know, V2 = 1.414213. . . . and we
see, therefore, that the rule given in the Sulva Sutras is
correct up to five places of the decimal. t
Rules were framed for the formation of squares of
three, four, five, or any times the area of a given square :
for combining two squares of different sizes; for deduct-
ing one square from another ; for turning an oblong into
a square or a square into an oblong ; for turning a square
into a circle or a circle into a square. As an example,
we will quote the rule of describing a circle equal to a
given Square.
CHAP. VII.] GEOMETRY AND GRAMMAR. 273
The rule is this: “If you wish to turn a square into
a circle, draw half of the cord stretched in the diagonal
from the centre towards the Prachi line (i.e., the line
due east); describe the circle, together with the third
part of that piece of the cord which will lie outside the
square.”
The rule may be thus illustrated :-
E B is half of the
cord of the square
A B C D stretched
in the diagonal C B.
Keep the point E
fixed, and draw the
cord towards the y US
Prachi or eastern
line E. F. A part
of the cord, i.e., 2
F G, will lie outside cº- ~ D
the square. Take a
third part of it, FH, together with the part inside, E F,
and describe a circle with the radius E. H.
It is needless to add that the result is only approxi-
mately correct.
Similarly : “If you wish to turn a circle into a square,
divide the diameter into eight parts, and again one of
these eight parts into twenty-nine parts ; of these twenty-
nine parts remove twenty-eight, and moreover the sixth
part (of the one left part) less the eighth part (of the
sixth part).” *
The meaning of the rule is this :-
7 T I I º
—- --——-——- + -----------— of ti dia-
# * 5xas 8 x 29 × 6 8 × 2.9 × 6 × 8 Y& Cl 18
meter of a circle is the side of a square, the area of which
is equal to the area of the circle.
Geometry is a lost science in India ; for as soon as it
was found that geometrical truths could be represented
VOI., I, - 35

27.4 RATIONALISTIC PERIOD. [BOOK II
by algebra and arithmetic, Geometry gradually fell out
of use. And the practical necessity for geometrical
studies no longer existed in India when the Hindus began
to worship images in the Puranic Age, and the setting
up of sacred fires in the worshipper's house was discon.
tinued, and the construction of altars was forgotten.
While the Greeks soon left the Hindus far behind in
Geometry, they could never rival their Asiatic brethren
in the science of Numbers. The world owes the Decimal
Notation to the Hindus, and Arithmetic as a practical
science would have been impossible without the Decimal
Notation. The Arabs first learnt that notation from the
Hindus and introduced it into Europe. The ancient
Greeks and Romans were ignorant of it, and consequently
never made much progress in the numercial science.
There is yet another science in which the Hindus
were the first in the field, and achieved results in the
Rationalistic Period which have never since been sur.
passed in the world. Professor Max Müller says that
the Hindus and the Greeks are the only nations who
developed the science of Grammar ; but the achievements
of the Greeks in Grammar are poor indeed compared
with the marvellous work of Panini, the greatest Gram-
marian that the world has ever seen. We will not enter
into the controversy on the age of Panini. Professor
Max Müller calls him the contemporary of Katyayana, and
gives the fourth century before Christ as his probable
date, while Dr. Goldstücker maintains that the Gram-
marian lived in the ninth or tenth century before Christ,
Our own opinion is that he lived long before Katyayana,
and, before the rise of Buddhism, and that the eighth
century before Christ is not an improbable date. He
undoubtedly belongs to the Rationalistic Period, the
period when every department of learning received a
philosophical treatment. But being born in the ex-
treme west of India, he may not have been acquainted
with, or may not have recognised, the Brahmanas and
CHAP. VII.] 3 EOMETRY AND GRAMMAR. 275
Upanishads, which, as we have seen before, were mostly
produced among the nations of the Gangetic valley, who
were widely separated by their learning, their customs,
and even their form of religion from the Punjab Hindus,
It would be foreign to our purpose to attempt even a
brief review of Panini's system of Grammar. The great
discovery has been made in Europe in the present century
that the tens of thousands of words in a language can
be resolved to a small number of roots. This discovery
was made in India three thousand years ago, before the
time of Panini, and the great Grammarian resolves the
Sanscrit language of his time to its simple roots.
It was the knowledge of Sanscrit which enabled
European scholars in the present century to discover
the Science of Language; and Bopp and Grimm, and a
host of other learned scholars, have resolved the Aryan
languages to their original roots, as Panini resolved the
Sanscrit language to its roos in the dawn of Aryan
history, when Athens and Rome were unknown
CHAPTER VIII.
SAMATH YA A/VD YOGA.
BUT the glory of the Rationalistic Period consists in
the philosophy of Kapila and the religion of Buddha.
Kapila and Buddha worked to some extent on the
same lines. They both started with the great object of
affording humanity a relief from the suffering which
is the lot of all living beings. They both rejected
with evident scorn the remedies which the Vedic rites
pretended to offer, and called those rites impure, because
connected with the slaughter of living beings. They both
declared knowledge and meditation to be the means of
salvation (see Sankhya Karika, I and 2). They both
adopted the doctrine of transmigration from the Upani-
shads (Sankhya Karika 45), and declared that pious acts
lead to higher states of life. And lastly, they both aimed
at Nirvana (Sankhya Karika, 67), and the creed of the
philosopher as well as of the reformer is agnostic.
But here the parallel ends. Kapila, who probably
lived a century before Buddha, started the system of
philosophy, but meant it only as philosophy. He ad-
dressed himself to high thinkers and to speculative
scholars. His philosophy knows nothing of sympathy
with mankind in general, he did not go to the masses,
he founded no society or class. Buddha came after him,
and was probably born in the very town sanctified by
the memory of the great philosopher.” Certain it is that
* Buddha was born in Kapilavastu, which, according to the Pali
Datha Vansa, was built by the sons of Ikshvaku, by the permission
of the sage Kapila.
276
CHAP, VIII, J SANKHYA AND YOGA. 277
he was well versed in the philosophy of Kapila, and
obtained his principal tenets from that source. But he
possessed, what his predecessor did not possess, a living,
all-embracing sympathy, a feeling for the poor, a tear for
the bereaved and the sufferer. This was the secret of
Buddha's great success. For philosophy is barren if it
is not true to its name, if it does not seek earnestly, and
in a loving spirit, the good of fellow-creatures, if it does
not look with equal eye on the rich and the poor, on the
Brahman and the Sudra. And the Sudra and the poor
came to Buddha one by one for his loving sympathy and
meek beneficence. Good men admired his high-souled
piety, just men yielded to his theory of the equality of
men, and all the world admired his pure system of
morality. The tide of the new religion rolled onwards,
and swept away in its course the inequality of laws and
the inequality of castes. Three centuries after his death,
the Emperor of Pataliputra, who ruled over the whole
of Northern India, accepted the poor man's religion, and
proclaimed it as the religion of all India. And a living
nation accepted the faith of the equality of men, such as
the Hindus have never done again since they have ceased
to be a living nation.
These matters, however, will be treated in future
chapters, and we return therefore to the philosophy of
Kapila, “the first recorded system of philosophy” in
the world, “the earliest attempt on record to give an
answer from reason alone, to the mysterious questions
which arise in every thoughtful mind about the origin of
the world, the nature and relations of man and his future
destiny.”
The Sankhya Pravachana or Sankhya Suára is ascribed
to Kapila himself, but has probably been compiled or recast
at a more recent age. An excellent edition of the work,
with commentaries and translation, has been published
by Dr. Ballantyne. The Sankhya Sara is composed by
* Davies's Hindu Philosophy.
278 RATION ALISTIC PERIOD. [BOOK III,
Vijnana Bhikshu, the commentator of Sankhya Prava-
chana. And lastly, the Samkhya Karika is an ancient
and concise treatise on the subject in only seventy-two
distichs, composed by Isvara Krishna, and commented on
by Guadapada and Vachaspati. This small but excellent
treatise has been translated into Latin by Lassen, into
German by Windischmann and Lorinser, into French by
Pantier and St. Hilaire, and into English by Colebrooke
and Wilson, and recently by Davies. This small treatise
will be our guide, specially as we have Mr. Davies's valu-
able notes to help us. We have only to add that it is im-
possible to give our readers the barest skeleton of Sankhya
Philosophy in a few pages, and that all we can do here
is to notice a few essential principles of the system.
To relieve mankind from the three kinds of pain, viz.,
(1) bodily and mental, (2) natural and extrinsic, (3) divine
or supernatural, is the object of Kapila's philosophy.
Vedic rites are inefficacious, because they are impure, and
are tainted with the slaughter of living beings ; the com-
plete and final emancipation of the soul is secured by
knowledge alone.
Nature and Soul are eternal and self-existent. From
nature (Prakriti) is produced the intellect, the conscious-
mess, the five subtle elements, the five grosser elements,
the five senses of perception, the five organs of action, and
the mind. Soul (Purusha) produces nothing, but is only
linked with Nature, with the corporeal body, until its
final emancipation. Kapila does not accept the orthodox
opinion of the Upanishads that all Souls are portions
of the Universal Soul. He asserts that each Soul is
separate, and has a separate existence after its emancipa-
tion from the bonds of Nature.
It will be seen that according to Kapila everything
except A'urusha, or soul, is derived from Prakriti, or
primordial matter, and is therefore material. Not only
the elements and the senses and the organs of action, but
the mind, the consciousness, and the intellect are results
CHAP. VIII.] SANKHYA AND YOGA, 279
of matter, of “mind stuff,” as European philosophers call
it. Kapila only differs from modern materialistic philo-
sophers in asserting that there is a soul, independent of
matter and eternal, though for a time linked with matter.
It is necessary to clearly understand the distinctions
between the senses, the organs, the mind, the conscious-
ness, the intellect, the elements, and thc soul, in order to
grasp the mental philosophy of Kapila.
The five senses simply observe, i.e., receive impres-
sions; the five organs of action, the voice, hands, feet,
&c., act according to their functions (S. K. 28). The
mind (manas) is not what is implied by the English word,
but is only a sense organ (S. K. 27); it is the sensorium
commune, it simply arranges the impressions and presents
them to consciousness. Consciousness (S. K. 24) indi-
vidualises those impressions as “mine.” And the intellect
distinguishes and discriminates (S. K. 23), and forms
them into ideas. It will thus be seen that the distinctions
made between the senses, the manas, the consciousness,
and the intellect are real distinctions in the functions of
the mind. In the language of European philosophy, manas
receives the sensations and makes them actual perceptions;
consciousness individualises them as “mine,” and intellect
turns individualised perceptions into “concepts or judg-
ments,” in the language of Sir W. Hamilton.
Hindu commentators love to describe this mental opera-
tion in a poetic garb. “As the headmen of the village,”
says Vachaspati, “collect the taxes from the villagers
and pay them to the governor of the district, as the local
governor pays the amount to the minister, and the minister
receives it for the use of the king, so the manas, having
received ideas from the external organs, transfers them to
consciousness, and consciousness delivers them to the
intellect, the general superintendent, who takes charge
of them for the use of the sovereign, Soul.” Such
metaphorical descriptions should not disguise from us
the strictly scientific nature of the distinctions made,-
f
28o RATION ALMSTIC PERIOD. [Book III.
distinctions which are recognised by European philoso-
phers as well as by Hindu thinkers. “Sensation proper,”
says Morell in his Elements of Psychology, “is not
purely a passive state, but implies a certain amount
of mental activity.” A clock, for instance, may strike
within our hearing, and yet we may be perfectly un-
conscious of the fact if we are absent-minded, i.e., if our
mind is not sufficiently active to catch the sensation ;
and this mental activity, which has no special name in
European philosophy, is the manas of Kapila.
It shows no ordinary philosophic acumen in Kapila
to have declared, at a time when the functions of the
brain were still imperfectly understood, that the manas,
the consciousness or aſhankara, and even the intellect
or buddhi, were material in their origin. More than
this, Kapila declares that the elements proceed from
consciousness. Kapila herein seems to anticipate the
philosophy of Berkeley and Hume, that objects are but
permanent possibilities of sensations; and he agrees with
Kant that we have no knowledge of an external world
except as by the actions of our faculties it is represented
to the soul, and take as granted the objective reality
of our sense perceptions.
It will be observed that Kapila is not content with
enumerating the five gross elements, ether, air, earth,
fire, and water, but adds the five subtler principles, sound,
tangibleness, odour, visibility, and taste. What are we
to understand by the statement that these subtle prin-
ciples have an independent existence P “The doctrine
of Kapila seems to be, that in hearing, the ear has a
relation not only to the ether, but to the subtler principle
which underlies it, a dim apprehension of the truth that
hearing depends not only on some channel of communi-
cation between the ear and the source of Sound, but
on some modification of the material element through
which the sound is conducted.”
* Davies, p. 72.
CHAP. Vn II.] SAN KHYA AND YOGA. 28 I
Kapila recognises only three kinds of evidence, ziz.,
Perception, Inference, and Testimony (S. K. 4). The
Nyaya or Logical school recognises four, -dividing
Kapila's Perception into Anumana or perception, and
{Jøaſmana or analogy. The Vedantic school adds a
fifth, which is called Arthapatti, an informal kind of
presumption : “Devadatta does not eat by day and yet
is fat ; it is presumed, therefore, that he eats by night.”
Kapila will admit nothing which cannot be known
by his three kinds of evidence. He rejects all inner
ideas. And as neither Perception, nor Inference, nor
reliable Testimony, presents to him the idea of an
external Author of all things, the Supreme Deity is not
admitted by him as knowable by his philosophy.
Kapila, however, believes in causation; sat—Karyam—
asat—akaranat , what exists must bave been caused, as
there can be no existence without cause (S. K. 9). He
also appeals to the observation of mankind that cause
and effect imply each other, and ends by stating that
an effect is identical with cause.
The three gunas, or constituent elements of nature,
sattva (goodness), rajas (passion), and tamas (darkness),
form an important part of all Hindu philosophy, and
find a place in Kapila's (S. K. I 1). The gunas are only
a hypothesis which accounts for the manifest differences
in the conditions of all formal existences.
Kapila argues the production of all formal existences
from Prakriti or Nature on five different grounds (S. K.
15). Firstly, specific objects are finite in their nature and
must have cause. Secondly, different things have common
properties and must be different species of the same pri-
mary genus. Thirdly, all things are in a constant state of
progression, and show an active energy of evolution which
must have been derived from a primary source. Fourthly,
the existing world is an effect, and there must be a
primary cause. And fifthly, there is an undividedness, a
real unity in the whole universe, which argues a common
VOL. I. 36
282 RATIONALISTIC PERHOD, [BOOK in.
origin. On these grounds Kapila argues that all formal
existences have been produced from Prakriti or
primordial matter.
All except Purusha or Soul. And his reasons for the
separate existence of soul also deserve mention. The
first is the celebrated argument of design, but Kapila
uses it differently from modern theologians. Matter has
been apparently collected and arranged with a design,
but this proves, according to Kapila, not a Designer, but
the existence of Soul, for which the things must have
been arranged (S. K. 17). As a bed, argues Gauda-
pada, which is an assemblage of bedding, props, cotton,
coverlet, and pillows, is for another's use, not its own,
even so this world, which is an assemblage of the five
elements, is for the use of the soul. Secondly, Matter
furnishes materials for pleasure and pain; hence sentient
nature, which feels pleasure and pain, must be different
from it. Thirdly, there must be a Superintending force.
Fourthly, there must be a nature that enjoys. And the
fifth argument is Plato's argument that the yearning
for a higher life points to the possibility of gaining it.
These are Kapila’s arguments for the existence of soul
independent of matter, but he will not believe in one
soul, but asserts and gives reasons for believing that the
souls of different beings are different, not one (S. K. 18).
Here he goes counter to the Upanishads and to the
Vedantic school, which is based on the Upanishads.
The vital actions of living systems are ascribed to
certain subtle forces, and are generally described in Hindu
philosophy as the five vital “airs.” It was these subtle
forces which were supposed to cause respiration, exertion,
digestion, the circulation of blood, and the sensibility
of the skin.
We have already said that Kapila borrowed the doc-
trine of transmigration of Souls from the Upanishads.
And having borrowed this idea, he had to suit it to
his own system of philosophy. The Soul, according to
CHAP. VIII.] SANKHYA AND YOGA. 283
Kapila, is so passive that the individuality of a man is
scarcely stamped on it. The intellect, the consciousness,
and the manas, all belong to the material part of a man.
Hence Kapila was constrained by his own rigid reasoning
to assume that something more than the soul migrated,
that a subtle body, consisting of the intellect, the con-
#
sciousness, and the manas and the subtle principles,
migrated with the soul (S. K. 39 and 40). And this
idea of a subtle body, the linga sarira, runs through
the whole of Hindu philosophy, and Manu says (XII, 16)
that a subtle body envelops the souls of the wicked,
that they may suffer the torments of hell. The religious
systems of all nations furnish something analogous to
this idea, and the notion of a linga sarira is accepted
by the Hindus as the doctrine of the resurrection of the
body is accepted by all Christian nations. This linga
sarira forms the personality of an individual, and ascends
to a higher reign or descends to a lower with the soul,
according to the virtues or vices committed in this life
(S. K. 44). The different regions are (1) that of Pisachas,
(2) that of Rakshasas, (3) that of Yakshas, (4) that of
Gandharvas, (5) that of Indra (sun), (6) that of Soma
(moon), (7) that of the Prajapatis, the abode of the Fathers
and Rishis, and (8) that of Brahma, the highest heaven.
Besides.these eight Superior orders of beings, there are
five inferior orders : (1) domestic quadrupeds, (2) wild
quadrupeds, (3) birds, (4) reptiles, fishes, and insects,
and (5) vegetables and inorganic bodies. Man stands
alone between the eight superior orders and the five
inferior orders (S. K. 53). The quality of sattva prevails
in the superior orders, of rajas in man, and of tamas
in the lower orders (S. K. 54). A man, according to
his actions, may descend or ascend to a lower or higher
order, or be born again as man of some caste or other.
When the soul is finally rid of the linga sarira, it is
ſinally emancipated. - -
It is the knowledge which the soul acquires through
284 RATION A LISTIC PERIO D. [BOOK IIy.
its union with nature that leads to its final emancipation.
“As a dancer having exhibited herself on the stage
ceases to dance, so does nature cease when she has
made herself manifest to soul” (S. K. 59).
Even after the soul has obtained complete knowledge,
it resides for a time in the body, “as a potter’s wheel
continues to revolve from the force of the previous
impulse.” This is the Wirvana of Buddha, a state of
quietude, when perfect knowledge has been gained, when
all passions have been restrained, all desires have been
checked, and the enlightened soul awaits its final emanci-
pation. That separation of soul and matter comes at
last. Nature ceases to act, as her purpose has been
accomplished, and the soul obtains an abstraction from
matter, and both continue to exist eternally isolated
from each other, and independent (S. K. 68).
Such is the barest outline of Sankhya Philosophy. The
latest German philosophy, the system of Schopenhauer
(1819) and Von Hartmann (1869), is “a reproduction
of the philosophic system of Kapila in its materialistic
part, presented in a more elaborate form, but on the
same fundamental lines. In this respect the human
intellect has gone over the same ground that it occupied
more than two thousand years ago ; but on a more
important question it has taken a step in retreat. Kapila
recognised fully the existence of a soul in man, forming
indeed his proper nature, -the absolute ego of Fichte,
—distinct from matter and immortal ; but our latest
philosophy, both here and in Germany, can see in man
only a highly developed physical organisation. “All ex-
ternal things,’ says Kapila, “were formed that the soul
might know itself and be free.’ ‘The study of psychology
is vain,’ says Schopenhauer, ‘for there is no Psyche.’”
The great want of Kapila's philosophy as a creed for
the people was its agnosticism, -and the Yoga system
of philosophy sought to remove this want. It is ascribed
* Davies, Preface to Hindu Philosophy.
CHAP. VIII. ) ,” SAN KHYA AND YOGA. 285
to Patanjali, who, according to Dr. Goldstücker, lived in
the second century before Christ. All that we know of
the life and history of Patanjali is that his mother was
called Gonika, as he himself tells us, and that he resided
for a certain time in Kashmira, a circumstance which
may have led to his great grammatical commentary having
been preserved by the kings of that country. Patanjali
calls himself Gonardiya, or a native of Gonarda, a place
in the eastern part of India. •
We have seen before that Katyayana attacked Panini's
grammar about the fourth century B.C., and Patanjali's
greatest work was his Mahabhasya or Great Commentary,
in which he defended Panini, and left a monument of
his profound erudition. The Yoga system of philosophy
is also ascribed to him, and it is quite reasonable to
suppose that the great defender of Panini also sought
to popularise Kapila among his countrymen by adding
to his cold and agnostic philosophy the doctrine of faith
in a Supreme Deity, as well as some mystic practices
and meditation by which final emancipation (it was
believed) could be obtained.
The work ascribed to Patanjali—the Yoga Sutra—has
been edited and translated into English by Dr. Rajendra
Lala Mitra, who also gives a brief abstract of its contefits
in his preface. As a system of philosophy the Yoga has
no value by the side of the Sankhya, and our account of
it will therefore be brief. And the learned translator of
the Yoga Sutra will be our guide in our brief account of
the system. -
The Yoga Sutra comprises 194 aphorisms, divided into
four chapters. The first chapter is called Samadhi Pada,
and contains 51 aphorisms treating of the nature of medi-
tation. The second chapter consists of 55 aphorisms,
and is called Sadhana Pada, and treats of the practices
and exercises required in meditation. The third chap-
ter is called Vibhuti Pada, and treats in 55 aphorisms
of the occult powers which may be acquired. The
286 RATIONALISTIC PERIOD. [BOOK III.
fourth chapter is called Kaivalya Pada, and treats in 33
aphorisms of the isolation and detachment of the soul
from all worldly ties, which is the ultimate object of
meditation. . . -
In the first chapter Yoga is derived from Vuj, “to
join” or “to meditate,” and this meditation is possible
only by the suppression of the functions of the mind.
By constant exercise and by dispassion the functions of
the mind may be suppressed, and Yoga, conscious or un-
conscious, may be attained. The latter form of Yoga is
higher than the former, and is devoid even of deliberation
or joy, egoism or the exercise of reason. -
Devotion to God hastens the attainment of this coveted
state of mind. The conception of God or Isvara is that
of a Soul untouched by affliction, works, deserts, and
desires. In Him “the seed of the Omniscient attains
infinity,” and He “is the instructor of even all early ones,
for He is not limited by time” (Yoga Sutra, I, 25 and 26).
The sacred syllable om indicates the Deity.
Disease, doubt, worldly-mindedness, &c., are obstacles
to the attainment of Yoga, but these may be overcome
by concentration of the mind, by benevolence, by indiffer-
ence to happiness or misery, and even by the regulation
of the breath. The chapter ends with a description of
various kinds of Yoga. - - -
The second chapter details the exercises necessary for
the performance of the Yoga. Asceticism, the muttering
of a mantra, and devotion to God, are the earliest exer-
cises. These overcome all afflictions like ignorance,
egoism, desire, and aversion or ardent desire to live.
These are the motives to work, and works must bear
their fruits in subsequent births. We shall see hereafter
that this is the Buddhist theory of Karma, about which
so much has been written. The object of Yoga is to
devise means to abstain from works, and so preclude
future births.
We have then the Sankhya definition of the soul and
CH AP. VIII.] SANKHYA AND YOGA. 287
the intellect; knowledge finally severs the connection
between the two, and thenceforward the soul is free, and
an end is put to future births and suffering. Knowledge
passes through seven stages before it is perfect, and eight
means (which remind one of the eight-fold path of the
Buddhists) are prescribed, by which this perfect know-
ledge can be obtained. The first way is abstaining
from evil actions, slaughter, falsehood, theft, incontinence,
and avarice ; and the second consists of an obligation
to perform certain acts, purification, contentment, pen-
ance, study, and devotion to God. These two means
are prescribed for all, householders and ascetics alike.
Then come the duties special to Yogins. The third is
assuming special postures for meditation ; the fourth is
regulation of the breath ; the fifth is the abstraction of
the organs from their natural functions; and the sixth,
seventh and eighth are steadfastness (Dharana), con-
templation (Dhyana), and meditation (Samadhi), which
three are the essential constituents of Yoga itself. When
these three are united, Samyama follows, and results in
the acquisition of occult powers.
The occult powers, or Siddhis, described in the third
chapter are indeed wonderful One may know the past
and the future, make himself invisible to men, observe
the details of what is passing in distant regions or in the
stars and planets, converse with spirits, travel in the
air or through water, and acquire various superhuman
powers : The noble philosophy of Kapila was trailed
through dirt and mire as soon as it was blended with
popular superstitions !
But these occult powers are not the final objects which
a Yogin seeks. The ultimate isolation of the soul is the
final object of the Yogin, and this is discussed in the
fourth and last chapter. We come back now to the
theory that all works, all sensations and impressions on
the mind, bear their fruit in future births. A discussion
ensues regarding the nature of sensations and perceptions,
288 RATIONALISTIC PERIOD. ... [BOOK III.
of the intellect and the soul, and the distinctions are
much the same as in Sankhya philosophy. Having
explained these distinctions, Patanjali concludes by saying
that perfect knowledge sweeps away all residue of former
works (IV, 28-30), and the moment at last arrives when
the three qualities become defunct, and the soul abides
solely in its own essence. This emancipation of the
soul is the object of Yoga (IV, 33), it is absolute and
eternal, and the soul which has attained it remains free
for evermore. -
It will thus be seen that as a system of philosophy
Yoga is valueless ; all its fundamental maxims about the
soul and intellect and sensations, about the transmigra-
tion of souls and their eternity and final emancipation
by knowledge, are those of Sankhya Philosophy. In
fact, Patanjali tried to blend the idea of a Supreme Deity
with the philosophy of Kapila ; but unfortunately he also
mixed up with it much of the superstition and the mystic
practices of the age Or rather we are inclined to hold
that the great Grammarian founded a pure theistic system
of philosophy, which has since been mixed up with much
of popular superstitions and mystic rites, and the result
is the Yoga Sutra as we find it now. In still later times
the philosophy of the Yoga system has been completely
lost sight of, and the system has degenerated into cruel
and indecent Tantrika rites, or into the impostures and
superstitions of the so-called Yogins of the present day.
CHAPTER IX.
AVVA VA AAV/O VA/SAES/A A.
GAUTAMA* is the Aristotle of India, and his system of
Nyaya is the Hindu Logic. His date is unknown, and
he is said to have married Ahalya. He lived no doubt
in the Rationalistic Period, but probably a century after
Kapila. The AVyaya Sutra, which is ascribed to him, is
divided into five books, each divided into two “ days”
or diurnal lessons, and these are again divided into
articles, and each article consists of a number of Sutras.
Nyaya is still a favourite study in India, and we have
seen students from Kashmir and Rajputana and Northern
India attending the celebrated Nyaya schools in Nava-
dvipa in Bengal, living in the houses of their teachers, and
pursuing their studies for years together, in the very
Same way in which students among the Magadhas and
Angas and Kosalas and Videhas pursued their studies
when Gautama, the logician, lived and taught ! Every-
thing else has changed in India, but ancient traditional
learning is still handed down in to/s from generation to
generation in the same ancient method. The Spirit of
the time, however, has told on these time-honoured
institutions ; the mass of students turn away from these
secluded seats of learning to schools and universities ;
the founders of tols get scarcely enough to live upon,
and travel from place to place to seek the bounty of well-
* One must be careful to distinguish Gautama the earliest Sutra-
kara from Gautama the Logician. And we have a third Gautama
still,—the founder of Buddhism.
289
VOL. I. - 37
*.
290 RATIONALISTIC PERIOD, [BOOK III.
disposed men; and the number of students is getting
fewer year by year. Nevertheless, with their wonderful
loyalty to the past, Hindu pandits and Hindu students
still adhere to this ancient system of teaching, of which
we have given a brief account before from the Dharma
Sutras ; and it is to be hoped this relic of the past will
yet survive modern changes and innovations.
The Nyaya system starts with the subjects to be dis-
cussed. These are (1) Pramana, proof, and (2) Prameya,
or the thing to be proved. These are the principal
subjects, while there are fourteen subsidiary subjects,
viz., (3) Doubt, (4) Motive, (5) Instance or Example,
(6) Determined truth, (7) Argument or Syllogism, (8)
Confutation, (9) Ascertainment, (10) Controversy, (11)
Jangling, (12) Objection, (13) Fallacy, (14) Perversion,
(15) Futility, and (16) Controversy.
Proof, as we have said before, is of four kinds:
Perception, Inference, Analogy, and Verbal Testimony,
Cause (Karana) is that which necessarily precedes an
effect, which could not be without the cause; and effect
(Karya) is that which necessarily ensues and otherwise
could not be. For the relation of cause and effect, the
connections might be twofold,—simple conjunction (San-
foga), and constant relation (Samavaya). Hence cause
may be of three kinds: (1) Immediate and direct, as the
yarn is of cloth ; (2) Mediate or indirect, as the weaving
is of cloth ; and (3) Instrumental, as the loom is of
cloth.
The things to be proved, the objects of knowledge,
are (1) Soul, (2) Body, (3) the Senses, (4) the Objects of
Sense, (5) Intellect, (6) Manas, (7) Production, (8) Fault,
(9) Transmigration, (10) Fruit or Retribution, (11) Pain,
(12) Emancipation.
The soul is different in each person, and is separate
from the body and the senses, and is the seat of know-
ledge. Each individual soul is infinite and eternal, and
transmigrates according to the works performed in life.
cHAP, Ix, ) NYAYA AND WAISESIKA. 29 I
So far we see an agreement with Kapila's philosophy.
But the Nyaya adds that the Supreme Soul is one, the
seat of eternal knowledge, and the maker or former of
all things. The body is earthly, the five external senses
are also material, and the manas is the organ of the
senses. The reader will mark here how far the Nyaya
system, and indeed every system of Hindu Philosophy,
is indebted to Sankhya Philosophy, which may justly be
called the basis of Hindu Philosophy. -
Intellect is two-fold, including memory and concept. A
concept is true if derived from clear proof, and is wrong
if not derived from proof. Similarly, memory may be
right or wrong. The objects of sense are odour, taste,
colour, touch, and sound.
Production or action is the cause of virtue or vice,
of merit or demerit ; and the only motive to action, as
we are told by European philosophers also, is the desire
to attain pleasure or to avoid pain.
Transmigration is the passing of the soul to successive
bodies. Pain is the primary evil, and there are twenty-
one varieties of evil which are causes of pain. The soul
attains its emancipation by knowledge and not by action.
The speciality of Nyaya is its development of inference
by the construction of a true syllogism, and, as Mr.
Davies states, “the right methods of reasoning have
been discussed with as much subtlety as by any of the
Western logicians.” We quote below an instance of
Hindu syllogism :—
1. The hill is fiery.
2. For it smokes.
3. Whatever smokes is fiery, as a kitchen.
4. The hill is smoking.
5. Therefore it is fiery.
The Hindu syllogism therefore consists of five parts,
which are called (1) the proposition (pratijna), (2) the
reason (hetu or apadesa), (3) the instance (udaharana or
nidarsana), (4) the application of the reason (upanaya),
292 RATIONALISTIC PERIOD. [BOOK III.
and (5) the conclusion (nigamana). If the first two or
the last two parts be omitted, it becomes a perfect
syllogism of Aristotle. The question therefore arises,
Is this coincidence purely accidental, or did one nation
get some hint from another ? Comparing dates, we are
disposed to say of this as of many other sciences, The
Hindus invented logic, the Greeks perfected it.
Among the many technical terms in use in Hindu
logic, Vyapti and Upadhi are the most important, Vyapti
means invariable concomitance,—the connection in the
major premiss of Aristotle's syllogism. “Whatever smokes
is fiery,”—this invariable concomitance is Vyapti. As
Sankara Misra argues, “It is not merely a relation of
co-extension. Nor is it the relation of totality. For if
you say that invariable concomitance is the connection of
the middle term with the whole of the major term, such
connection does not exist in the case of smoke (for smoke
does not always exist where there is fire). We proceed
then to state that invariable concomitance is a connection
requiring no qualifying term or limitation. It is an
extensiveness co-extensive with the predicate. In other
words, invariable concomitance is invariable co-inherence
of the predicate.” x
On the other hand, the qualifying term or limitation
is called Upadhi. Fire always underlies smoke, but
smoke does not invariably accompany fire. The pro-
position, therefore, that Smoke accompanies fire requires
a qualifying condition,--a limitation,-an Upadhi, viz.,
that there must be moist fuel.
Logic is a favourite study with learned Hindus, and
neither the Ancient Greeks, nor the Mediaeval Arabs, nor
the European schoolmen of the Middle Ages displayed
more acuteness and subtlety in reasoning, or more rigid
and scientific strictness in their discussions, than is wit-
messed in the numerous works of the Hindus on Logic.
* Gough's Translation. Quoted in Monier Williams’ Indian
Wisdom, p. 73.
CHAP. IX.] NYAYA AND WAISESIKA. 293
Kanada's atomic philosophy is supplementary to Gau-
tama's logic, as the Yoga is supplementary to the Sankhya,
and therefore need not detain us long. The cardinal prin-
ciple of Kanada is that all material substances are aggre-
gates of atoms. The atoms are eternal, the aggregates
only are perishable by disintegration.
The mote which is visible in the sunbeam is the
smallest perceptible object. But being a substance and
an effect, it must be composed of what is less than
itself;-the ultimate atom only is not a compound, but
is simple.
The first compound is of two atoms ; the next con-
sists of three double atoms, and so on. The mote visible
in the sunbeam is thus a compound of six atoms. In
this way two earthly atoms acting under an unseen law,
adrishta, (and not under the will of God, which is un-
known in Kanada’s philosophy), constitute a double atom.
of earth ; three binary atoms constitute a tertiary atom ;
four tertiary atoms make a quarternary atom ; and so
on to gross, grosser, and grossest masses of earth. In
this manner the great earth is produced, the great water
is thus produced from aqueous atoms, great light from
luminous atoms, and great air from aerial atoms.
Kanada recognises seven categories of objects (padar-
tha), viz., (I). Substances, (2) Quality, (3) Action, (4)
Community, (5) Particularity, (6) Coherence, and (7)
Non-existence. -
Under the first of these categories, the nine substances
of Kanada are (1) Earth, (2) Water, (3) Light, and (4)
Air, all eternal in atoms, but transient and perishable in
aggregates. Next is (5) Akasa or Ether, which transmits
Sound, and which has no atoms, but is infinite, one, and
eternal. (6) Time and (7) Space similarly are not material,
and therefore are not compounded of atoms. They are
infinite, one, and eternal. The last two in the category
are (8) Soul, and (9) Manas or the Internal Organ.
Light and heat are considered as only different forms of
2.94 - RATIONALISTIC PERIOD, [BOOK III.
the same essential substance. Akasa or ether conveys
sound ; and Manas or the internal organ is supposed to
be extremely small, like an atom.
The second category, Quality, embraces seventeen
varieties or qualities of the nine substances enumerated
above. The qualities are colour, savour, odour, tangibi-
lity, number, extension, individuality, conjunction, dis-
junction, priority, posteriority, intellections, pleasure,
pain, desire, aversion, and volition. sº
The third category, Action, is divided into five kinds,
upward and downward movement, contraction, dilation,
and general motion.
The fourth category, Community, is the source of our
notion of genus. It denotes qualities common to many
objects, and also denotes species. These genera and
species have a real and objective existence according to
Kanada, but not according to the Bauddhas, who affirm
that individuals only have existence, and that abstrac-
tions are unreal conceptions. “It is the quarrel revived
in the Realist and Nominalist theories of the mediaeval
schoolmen.”
The fifth category, Particularity, denotes simple ob-
jects, devoid of community. They are soul, mind, time,
place, the ethereal element, and atoms.
The sixth category, Coherence (the samavaya of
Gautama’s philosophy), is connection between things
which must be connected so long as they exist, as yarn
and cloth.
The seventh category, Non-existence, is either uni-
versal or mutual.
It will be seen from the above brief account that the
Vaisesika system of Kanada, in so far as it is an
original system, is physics more than philosophy. It
was the first attempt made in India to inquire into
the laws of matter and force, of combination and disinte-
gration. •
* Davies, p. 131.
CHAP. IX.] NYAYA AND WAISESIKA. 295
In every system of Hindu Philosophy (except Vedan-
tism) matter is supposed to be eternal, and distinct from
soul. The Vedantists alone regard matter as the mani-
festation of the One Supreme Soul who comprises and
is himself all. Of this system we will speak in the next
chapter.
CHAPTER X.
PURVA MIMAWSA AND VEDANTA.
WE now come to the last two systems of the philosophy
of the Hindus, the Purva Mimansa of Jaimini and the
Uttara Mimansa of Badarayana Vyasa. To the historian
of India they are of the utmost importance and value.
For the Mimansa schools represent the conservative phase
of the Hindu mind at a time when philosophers and lay-
men were alike drifting towards agnostic and heterodox
opinions. Sankhya philosophy led away hosts of think-
ing men from the teachings of the Upanishads on the
|Universal Soul ; and the Buddhist religion was embraced
by many of the lower classes as a relief from caste
inequalities and elaborate Vedic rites. Against this
general movement of the day the Mimansa schools made
a stand. The Purva Mimansa insisted on those Vedic
rites and practices which modern philosophers had come
to regard as useless or even as unholy ; and the Uttara
Mimansa proclaimed the doctrine of the Universal Soul
which the Upanishads had taught before, and which
continues to be the cardinal doctrine of Hinduism to
this day.
The controversy, or rather the division in opinion, went
on for centuries, but orthodoxy prevailed in India in
the end, The great Kumarila Bhatta, who lived in the
seventh century after Christ, wrote his celebrated Vartika
or commentary on the Purva Mimansa Sutras, and was
the most redoubted champion of Hinduism, and the most
uncompromising opponent of Buddhism. He not only
296
cíIAP. X. 1 MIMANSA AND VEDANTA, 297
vindicated the ancient rites of the Vedas, he not only pro-
claimed against the heterodox, opinions of the Buddhists,
but he denied them any consideration even when they
happened to agree with the Veda. - r
The Uttara Mimansa too had its champion, –and a
greater man than Kumarila rose, two centuries later,
in the celebrated Sankaracharya. Sankara's great Com-
mentary is known as the Sariraka Mimansa Bhasya.
He was born in 788 A.D., and therefore wrote and
preached in the first half of the ninth century.
Thus both Kumarila and Sankaracharya belong to the
Puranic Period, but they finally secured the triumph of that
orthodox philosophy which was based on the Brahmanas
and Upanishads. The history of philosophy in India
is the history of the Hindu mind ; and an account of
the systems of philosophy which took their rise in the
Rationalistic Period would not be intelligible, unless we
indicated, however briefly, the bearings of these systems
on the later history of the nation.
The Sutras of the Purva Mimansa are ascribed to
Jaimini, and are divided into twelve lectures and sub-
divided into sixty chapters. The Sutras have an old
commentary by Sabara Svanni Bhatta. Kumarila Bhatta
Canne later on the stage, and his commentary, as we have
stated before, marks a new epoch in the history of this.
School, and has been respected by a host of succeeding
Commentators. -
Jaimini’s Sutras, as stated before, are divided into
twelve lectures. The first lecture treats of the authority
of enjoined duty. The varieties of duty, supplemental
duties, and the purpose of the performance of duties are
treated, in the second, third, and fourth chapters. The
order of their performance is considered in the fifth, and
the qualification for their performance is treated in the
sixth. These completes the first half of the Sutras.
The subject of indirect precept is treated in chapters
Seven and eight. Inferable changes are discussed, in
VOL. I. 38
298 RATMONAL}STIC PER OD, ſi BOOK III.
the ninth, and exceptions in the tenth chapter. Efficacy
is considered in the eleventh chapter, and the work
closes with a discussion of co-ordinate effect in the twelfth
chapter. -
These are the principal topics of the Purva Mimansa
Sutras, but a great many other matters are introduced,
which are very interesting.
In the very first lecture we are told that the Vedas
are eternal and revealed. They had no human origin,
because no human author is remembered. This eternal
and superhuman Veda consists of two parts, Mantra
and Brahmana, Mantras are distinguished under three
designations, viz., (1) those in metre are Rik, (2) those
chanted are Saman, and (3) the rest are Yajush. Gene-
rally, a Mantra is a prayer or invocation ; a Brahmana
is a precept directing religious observances, and the
Brahmanas include the Upanishads.
After the Veda, which is Sruti, comes the Smriti,
or works composed by holy personages, and possessing
authority is grounded on the Veda. Smriti includes the
1)/harmasastras (the Dharma Sutras of the Rationalistic
Period), comprising the institutes of civil and religious
law.
Besides the Dharma Sutras, we are told of the Aa/ſo
Sutras, also composed by authors conversant with the
Veda. The Kalpa Sutras are not a part of the Veda, and
have no authority except as is derived from the Veda.
The reader will mark the broad line of demarcation
which ancient Hindus have drawn between the Brahmana
literature, which is considered revealed and eternal, and
the Sutra literature, which is ascribed to human authors,
and has no independent authority. The priority of the
Brahmana literature may fairly be inferred from this.
Sacrifice (Yaga) is the act of religion most inculcated
in the Veda, and consequently most discussed in the
Mimansa. Three ceremonies are mentioned as types
of the rest : they are the setting up of the Sacrificial
CIAp. X.] MII MANSA AND VEDANT A. 299
fire, the presenting of an oblation, and the preparation
of the Soma. Various curious questions are raised and
discussed and answered with regard to sacrifices. One
very remarkable example will suffice.
At certain sacrifices the votary is told to bestow all his
property on the officiating priests. The question is raised
whether a king should give up all lands, including pasture
lands, highways, and the sites of lakes and ponds. The
answer is that & king has not property in the land, and
cannot bestow it. His kingly power is for the govern-
ument of the realm, but the right of property is not thereby
vested in him, else he would have property in house and
lands appertaining to his subjects. The lands of a
kingdom cannot be given away by a king, but a house or
field acquired by purchase, &c., may be given away.
Similarly, the question of self-immolation on fire, the
question of performing sacrifices to injure others, and
various similar questions are discussed with considerable
acumen and closeness of reasoning. As Colebrook re-
marks, the logic of the Mimansa is the logic of the law.
“Each case is examined and determined upon general
principles, and from the cases decided the principles may
be collected. A well-ordered arrangement of them would
constitute the philosophy of the law ; and this is in truth
what has been attempted in the Mimansa.”
To return to the subject of sacrifices, which is the
all-pervading subject of the Purva Mimansa, we are told
that the full complement of persons officiating at a great
ceremony is seventeen, viz., the sacrificer and sixteen
priests. On occasions of less solemnity four priests only
are engaged.
The number of victims varies according to the nature
of the sacrifice. At an Aszamehda sacrifice there must
be not fewer than 609 victims of all kinds, tame and
wild, terrestrial and aquatic, walking, flying, swimming,
and creeping things
The cardinal idea of the Miniansa is to teach man his
3oo RATION ALISTIC PERIOD.' ' [BOOK III.
Puty. Jaimini commences his Mimansa with the enun.
ciation of Duty, the only topic he has to propound.
“Now then,” he begins, “the study of Duty is to be
commenced. Duty is a purpose which is inculcated by a
command. Its reason must be inquired.” But his idea
of Duty is extremely limited, it consists in the proper
performance of Vedic rites and practices. Purva Mimansa
ºphilosophy is therefore merely a philosophy of Vedic rites.
In his anxiety to insist on ancient Vedic rites and
practices, Jaimini has forgotten to speak of Vedic faith
and belief As Dr. Banerjea says in his Dialogues on
Hindu Philosophy, Jaimini “urges the consideration of
(Duty without caring for any to whom it may be due.”
While insisting on the eternity of the Veda, as Sabda
or the Word, he has made no mention “of any co-eternal
Intelligence uttering or revealing it.” While enjoining
the performance of the sacrifices inculcated in the Brah-
manas, he has nothing to say of the Universal Soul of
the Upanishads. The philosophy of Jaimini has, there-
fore, although Orthodox, been stigmatised as agnostic,
and even Sankaracharya admits that God is not deducible
from this philosophy. r * *
A supplementary system of philosophy was therefore
called for, and the Uttara Mimansa or Vedanta supplied
this want. It is the Vedanta which tells us of the Supreme
JBeing, the Universal Soul, the Pervading Breath, as the
|Purva Mimansa speaks of rights, and sacrifices. The
Medanta is the direct outcome of the Upanishads, as the
JPurva Mimansa is the outcome of the Brahmanas. The
very first aphorism of the Vedanta substitutes Brahman
or God for Dharma or Duty. The two schools of Mimansa
taken together represent orthodox Vedic Hinduism, -
JHinduism in rites and observances, and Hinduism in its
belief. The two schools taken together are an answer to
Buddhist heretics who ignored Vedic rites and ignored a
Supreme Being. The two schools together are an answer
to the agnostic Sankhya system of philosophy, and to
CIIAP. X. J. MIMANSA AND VEDANTA. 3o I
other systems which proclaim matter eternal. The two
schools together form the basis of true Hinduism.
The Sariraka Mimansa Sutra or Brahma Sutra is attri-
buted to Badarayana Vyasa. It refers to the doctrines
or Kapila, and the Yoga of Patanjali ; and also to the
Atomic theory of Kanada, which is itself a sequel to the
Nyaya of Gautama. There, is reference also to Jaimini,
and to the sects of Jainas, Bauddhas, and Pasupatas; and
altogether the Brahma Sutra is undoubtedly the latest of
the six schools of philosophy, and could not have been
compiled very long before the Christian Era.
The Vedanta adopts the syllogism of Nyaya, with the
obvious improvement of reducing its five members into
three, as in the syllogism of Aristotle. Colebrooke thinks
this improvement was borrowed from the Greeks, which
is very likely. *
Badarayana’s Brahma Sutra is divided into four
lectures, and each lecture is subdivided into four chapters.
Anything like a complete analysis of this work is impos-
sible within our limits, and we must therefore glean a few
leading tenets from Colebrooke's excellent analysis, to
which we refer those of our readers who wish to have an
adequate idea of the subject.
The Uttara Mimansa opens precisely as the Purva
Mimansa, announcing its purport in the very same terms,
only substituting Brahman or God for Dharma or Duty.
The author then confutes the Sankhya doctrine of Nature
being the material cause of the universe, and declares
a Sentient Rational Being to be the first Cause. That
Supreme Being is the material as well as the efficient
cause of the universe. To Him meditation should be
directed, and on Him the thoughts are to be fixed for
obtaining final emancipation.
The second lecture continues the confutation of Kapila's
Sankhya philosophy, as well as of Patanjali's Yoga philo-
sophy and Kanada's Atomic theory. All the universe is
rigidly assigned to Brahman, who is the Cause and the
3O2 RATIONALISTIC PERIOD, [BOOK III.
Effect. The distinction between cause and effect, and
between different effects, does not invalidate the unity of
the whole. “The sea is one and not other than its waters;
yet waves, foam, spray, drops, froth, and other modifica-
tions of it, differ from each other” (II, 1, 5). “As milk
changes into curd, and water to ice, so is Brahman
variously transformed” (II, 1, 8).
Then follows a confutation of the doctrines of the
Sankhyas, the Vaisesikas, the Bauddhas, the Jainas, the
Pasupatas, and the Pancharatras.
The soul is active, not passive as the Sankhyas maintain.
Its activity is, however, adventitious. As the carpenter,
having tools in hand, toils and suffers, and laying them
aside, rests and is easy, so the soul in conjunction with the
senses and organs is active, and quitting them, reposes
(II, 3, 15). The soul is a portion of the Supreme Ruler,
as a spark is of fire (II, 3, 17). As the Sun's image re-
flected on water is tremulous, quaking with the undulations
of the pool, without howeve affecting the images on other
sheets of water, or the solºrb itself, so the sufferings of
one individual affect not ki "other, nor the Supreme Ruler.
The corporeal organs and the vital actions are all modi-
fications of Brahman.
The third lecture treats of transmigration of souls, of
the attainment of knowledge, of final emancipation, and
of the attributes of the Supreme Being. The soul trans-
migrates, invested with a subtle frame, passing from one
state to another. Departing from one body, it experiences
the recompense of its works, and returns to occupy a new
body with the resulting influence of its former deeds.
Evil-doers suffer in seven appointed regions of retribution.
The Supreme Being is impassable, unaffected by
worldly modifications, as the clear crystal, seemingly
coloured by the hibiscus flower, is really pellucid. He
is pure Sense, Intellect, Thought.
“Like the sun and other luminaries, seemingly mul-
tiplied by reflection though really single, and like Space
cHAP. X.] MIMANSA AND VEDANTA. 3O3
apparently subdivided in vessels containing it within limits,
the Supreme Light is without difference or distinction.”
“There is none other but He” (III, 2). The reader will
perceive that the Vedanta philosophy is a direct and
legitimate result of the Upanishads, and the idea of
Unity is carried to its extreme limit in the Vedanta as in
the Upanishads. -
The last half of this lecture relates to devout exercises
And pious meditation, which are necessary for the recep-
tion of divine knowledge.
The fourth and last lecture relates to the fruit of pious
meditations properly conducted, and the attainment of
divine knowledge. So soon as that knowledge is attained,
past sins are annulled and future sins are precluded. In
like manner the effects ef meritand virtue are also annulled.
And “having annulled by fruition other works which had
begun to have effect, having enjoyed the recompense and
suffered the pains of good and bad actions, the possessor
of divine knowledge, on the demise of the body, proceeds
to a reunion with Brahman” (IV, 1, 14). This, as we
know, is the Final Beatitude of the Upanishads.
There are two other less perfect forms of emancipation.
One of them qualifies the soul for reception at Brahman’s
abode, but not for immediate reunion and identity with
his being. The other is still less perfect, and is called
Jivanmukti, which can be acquired in lifetime by Yogins,
and enables them to perform supernatural acts, as evok-
ing the shades of forefathers, assuming different bodies,
going immediately to any place at pleasure, &c. This is
only a repetition of Superstition of the Yoga philosophy,
described in a previous chapter.
The attributes of God, according to the Vedanta philo-
sophy, have thus been recapitulated by Colebrooke :
“God is the omniscient and omnipotent cause of the
existence, continuance, and dissolution of the universe.
Creation is an act of His will. He is both efficient
and material cause of the world, creator and nature,
3O4 RATIONALISTIC 121.R IOID." [BOOK III.
framer and frame, doer and deed. At the consummation
of all things, all are resolved into Him. . . . The Supreme
Being is one, sole existent, secondless, entire, without
parts, sempiternal, infinite, ineffable, invariable, ruler of all,
universal soul, truth, wisdom, intelligence, happiness.”
Such are the six systems of philosophy which were
developed in India in the Rationalistic Period ; such are
the answers which Hindu philosophers have given to
the questions which were started in the Upanishads, to
questions which rise in the mind of every reflective man,
but which it is not given to him to answer completely,
—What is God, and What is man P
For the rest, the Rationalistic Period is rich in results
of which every Hindu may be proud. It was probably
in this period that the great Epics of India received
their epic form. It was in this period that the infant
sciences of Geometry and of Grammar were developed
by the Hindus. It was in this period that the first re-
corded systems of Mental Philosophy and of Logic were
conceived and perfected. It was in this period that Civil
and Criminal Laws were codified and treated on a
scientific basis. . It was at the close of this period that
the whole of Northern India was first brought under one
great and able ruler, and that an excellent and enlightened.
system of administration was finally perfected. And,
lastly, it was in this period that the great Saint and re-
former Gautama Buddha proclaimed that religion of
equality and brotherhood of man which is at the present
day the living faith of one-third of the human race. To
the story of that great revolution we now turn.
s-
* The Philosophy of the Hindus (Vedanta).
CHA]^TIER XI.
£3 U/)/)///S 7° S.1 C/C/E/) / / / / /(','! /"(//ē/7.
IN the sixth century before Christ, India witnessed the
commencement of a great revolution. Her ancient re-
ligion, which the Hindu Aryans had practised and pro-
claimed for fourteen centuries, had degenerated into
forms. The gods of the Rig Veda, whom the ancient
Rishis had invoked and worshipped lovingly and fer-
vently, had come to be regarded as so many names ;
and Indra and Ushas raised no distinct ideas and no
grateful emotions. The simple libations of the Soma-
juice, or offerings of milk, corn, or flesh, which the
Rishis of old had offered with a fervent heart to their
gods, had developed into Cumbrous ceremonials, claborate
rites, unmeaning forms. The descendants or successors
of those Rishis had now stepped forth as a powerful
and hereditary caste, and claimed the right to perform
elaborate religious rites and utter Sacred prayers for
the people. The people were taught to believe that
they earned merit by having these rites performed and
prayers uttered by hired priests. The religious instinct,
the grateful cmotions which had inspired the composers
of the Vedic hymns, were dead ; vast ceremonials, dead
forms, remained.
A reaction had taken place. About the eleventh
century before Christ, i.e., five centuries before the time
of which we are now speaking, carnest and thoughtful
305 r
V () l , ] , R()
306 RATIONALISTIC PERROR), [ BOOK III.
Hindus had ventured to go beyond the wearisome rituals
of the Brahmana literature, and had inquired into the
mysteries of the soul and its Creator. The composers
of the Upanishads had dared to conceive the bold idea
that all animate and inanimate nature proceeded from
One Universal Deity, and were portions of One Pervading
Soul. Inquiries were made into the mysteries of death
and the future world, conjectures were made about the
transmigration of Souls, and doctrines were started con-
taining in a crude form the salient principles of later
Hindu philosophy. -
Dut few could devote their lives to these abstruse
speculations, and the abstruse philosophy which they led
to. The mass of the Aryan householders, Brahmans,
Kshatriyas, and Vaisyas, -contented themselves with
performing the rites, unintelligible to them, which the
Brahmanas had laid down and the Sutras had condensed.
The rules of social and domestic life were similarly con-
densed for the people in the Sutras, and all the learning
and science known to the age were also codified in the
Sutra form.
Such was the State of things in India in the sixth
century before Christ. Religion in its true sense had
been replaced by forms. Excellent social and moral
rules were disfigured by the unhealthy distinctions of
caste, by exclusive privileges for Brahmans, by cruel
laws for Sudras. Such exclusive caste privileges did
not help to improve the Brahmans themselves. As a
community they became grasping and covetous, ignorant.
and pretentious, until Brahman Sutrakaras themselves
had to censure the abuse in the strongest terms. For
the Sudras, who had come under the shelter of the Aryan
religion, there was no religious instruction, no religious
observance, no social respect. Despised and degraded
in the community in which they lived, they sighed for a
CIJAP. XI. RUDD HIST LITERATURE, 307
change. And the invidious distinction became unbearable
as they increased in number, pursued various useful
industries, owned lands and villages, and gained in influ-
ence and power. Thus society was still held in the
cast-iron mould which it had long outgrown ; and the
social, religious, and legal literature of the day still pro-
claimed and upheld the cruel injustice against the Sudra
long after the Sudra had become civilised and industrious,
and a worthy member of society.
To an earnest and inquisitive mind, to a sympathetic
and benevolent soul, there was something anomalous in
all this, Gautama of the Sakya race was versed in the
Hindu learning and religion of the age, but he pondered
and asked if what he had learnt could be efficacious or
true. His righteous soul rebelled against the unrighteous
distinctions between man and man ; and his benevolent
heart hankered for a means to help the humble, the
oppressed, and the lowly.P. The dead ceremonials and
rites which householders practised appeared as vain and
fruitless to him as the penances and mortifications which
hermits voluntarily underwent in forests. The beauty of
a holy life, of a sinless benevolent career, flashed before
his mind's eye as the perfection of human destiny, as the
heaven on earth ; and, with the earnest conviction of a
prophet and a reformer, he proclaimed this as the essence
of religion.” His world-embracing sympathy led him to
proclaim this methed of self-culture and holy living to
suffering humanity, and he invited the poor and the
lowly to end their sufferings by cultivating virtue, by
eschewing passions and evil desires, and by spreading
brotherly love and universal peace. The Brahman and
the Sudra, the high and the low, were the same in his
eyes, all could equally effect their salvation by a holy
life, and he invited all to embrace his catholic religion
of love. Mankind responded to the touching appeal,
308 RATIONALISTIC PERIOD, [BOOK III.
and Buddhism in the course of a few centuries became
the prevailing faith, not of a sect or a country, but of the
continent of Asia.” • . - . . . "
- Nevertheless, it would be historically wrong to suppose
that Gautama Buddha consciously set himself up as the
founder of a new religion. On the contrary, he believed to
the last that he was proclaiming only the ancient and pure
form of religion which had prevailed among the Hindus,
among Brahmans, Sramans, and others, but which had
been corrupted at a later day. As a matter of fact,
Hinduism recognised wandering bodies of ascetics who
renounced the world, performed no Vedic rites, and
passed their days in contemplation (see ante, Chap. VI.),
Such bodies were known as Bhikshus in the Hindu law-
books, and were generally known as Sramans. Gautama
founded only one sect of Sramans among many sects
which then existed, and his sect was known as that
of the Sakyaputriya Sramans, to distinguish them from
others. He taught them relinquishment of the world,
a holy life, and pious meditation, such as all sects of
Sramans recommended and practised. - - -
What then is the distinguishing feature in Buddha's
life-work which has made his tenets a religion,-and the
religion of a third of the human race P -
Gautama's holy and pious life, his world-embracing
* The figures given below will show approximately the proportion
of Buddhists to the world's population —
Jews g º p: 7, OOO,OOO
Christians . , is ſº • e © 328,000,000
Hindus * : * t e' tº $º 160,000,000
Musalmans . . e- t ſº s I55, OOO,OOO
I3uddhists . ſe º o ** . 5OO,OOO,OOO
Not included in the above . • * IOO,OOO,OOO
Population of the world . , I, 25O, OOO,OOO
Between the fifth and tenth centuries aſter Christ more than one-
half of the human race WCrc Buddhists. -
*
CHAP. XI.] BUDDHIST LITERATURE. 3O9.
sympathy, his unsurpassed moral precepts, his gentle
and beautiful character, stamped themselves on his
teachings, which were not altogether new, gathered round
him the meek and the lowly, the gentlest and the best of
the Aryans, struck kings on their thrones and peasants
in their cottages, and united sects and castes together as
in a communion of love And the sacred recollections of
his life and doings remained after he had passed away,
and held together the community which cherished his
teachings, and in course of time gave those teachings the
character of a distinct and noble religion.
Inspired by his love of purity, and a holy, gentle life,
Gautama eschewed the rites of the Vedas and the
penances of ascetics alike ; he insisted only on self-
culture, on benevolence, on pious resignation. He knew
of no caste-distinction among his Bhikshus ; he recog-
nised no meritorious ceremonials and no meritorious
penances except the practice of virtue. This is what
has made Buddhism a living and life-giving religion,
when so many rival forms of asceticism have withered
and died away.
It will be our endeavour to indicate the salient features
of the Buddhist religion, and its far-reaching consequences
on the history of India. Fortunately, we have no reason
to complain of want of materials.
Indeed, so much has been written about Buddhism
in recent years that it is almost difficult to imagine that
Buddhist literature and religion were almost an unknown
subject half a century ago. The distinguished missionary,
Dr. Marshman, who lived and wrote in India for many
years, could give no better account of Buddha in 1824
than that his worship was probably connected with the
Egyptian Apis And theories more wild and more
imaginary were seriously recorded by other scholars.
Happily those days are past. Earnest inquirers and
Scholars have collected Oriental manuscripts and works
in different Buddhist countries, have studied, published,
31 O RATIONALISTIC PERIOD. [BOOK III
and translated many of them, and have thus formed a
generally accurate idea of the religion as it was first
preached by Gautama, and as it was subsequently modi-
fied in different times among different nations. It is not
our purpose to record here a history of the researches
into Buddhism during the last half-century, but a few
facts are so interesting that they cannot be passed over.
Mr. Hodgson was the English resident of Nepal from
1833 to 1843, and he was the first to collect original
manuscripts on which a sober account of the religion
could be based. He sent 85 bundles to the Asiatic
Society of Bengal, 85 to the Royal Asiatic Society of
London, 30 to the India Office Library, 7 to the Bodleian
Library of Oxford, and 174 to the Société Asiatidue in
Paris, or to M. Burnouf personally. Mr. Hodgson also
gave some account of these works and of the Buddhist
religion in his essays. -
The genius of Eugene Burnouf breathed life into these
dead manuscripts, and his “Introduction to the History
of Indian Buddhism,” published in 1844, was the first
rational, scientific, and comprehensive account of the
Buddhist religion. The fame of the eminent scholar and
the great ability and philosophical acumen with which he
treated the subject attracted the attention of learned
Europe to this wonderful religion, and the inquiry which
Burnouf started has continued to the present day, and
has been fruitful of great results.
What Hodgson did in Nepal, Alexander Csoma
Korosi, a Hungarian scholar, did in Thibet. The annals
of literary inquiry and research have few more wonderful
stories to tell than that of the single-minded devotion
of this simple Hungarian. He early made up his mind
to devote himself to the study of Eastern languages, and
he set forth from Bucharest in 1820, without friends
or money, and travelled on foot or by water on a fraſt
till he came to Bagdad. He pushed on to Teheran,
and thence started again with a caravan and came by
CHAP. XI.] BUDDHIST LITERATURE. 3 II
Khorasan to Bokhara. In 1822 he came to Kabul and
thence to Lahore, and from Lahore he travelled through
Kashmir to Ladak, where he finally settled. He sojourned
and travelled long in these parts, and in 1831 he was
at Simla “dressed in a coarse blue cloth loose gown,
extending to his heels, and a small cloth cap of the same
material. He wore a grizzly beard, shunned the society
of Europeans, and passed his whole time in study.”
In 1832 he came to Calcutta, where he was kindly
received by Dr. Wilson and Mr. James Prinsep, and
resided many years. In 1842 he left Calcutta again to
go to Thibet, but died of fever on his way, at Darjeeling.
The Asiatic Society of Bengal. has raised a monument
on his grave in Darjeeling. The present writer had the
mournful satisfaction of paying a visit to this grave, not
many months ago. - -
About his work on Thibetan Buddhist books, we
find all necessary information in Vol. XX. of the
Asiatic Researches. Since Csoma’s time other scholars
have laboured in the same field of Thibetan Buddhist
literature, and have added to our knowledge of the
subject. - -
To the Rev. Samuel Beal is due the credit of procuring
a complete coklection of Chinese works on Buddhism.
A request was made to this effect to the Japanese
ambassador who visited England, and the ambassador
at once acceded to the request, and on his return to
Tokio ordered the entire collection known as “The
Sacred Teaching of the Three Treasures” to be sent to
England. The collection contains over 2000 volumes,
and represents the entire series of sacred books taken
during successive centuries from India to China, as also
Works and commentaries of native Chinese priests.
Buddhism and Buddhist scriptures were carried to
Ceylon in the reign of Asoka the Great, about 242 B.C.,
and the whole of the Buddhist scriptures, the “Three
7. i. Quoted in Beal's Buddhism in China, from Ralston's Thibetan
(l'éS,
3 I 2 RATION ALMSTIC PERIOD. [BOOK III.
Baskets,” exist to this day in Ceylon, as we will see
further on, in the Pali language, and in almost the
identical shape in which they were taken there over two
thousand years ago. A number of eminent scholars,
Turnour, Fausböll, Oldenberg, Childers, Spence Hardy,
Rhys Davids, Max Müller, Weber, and others, have
worked on these materials, and much of the Pali scrip.
tures has been published, and the most important portions
of them have been translated. •
Burma too has contributed to our knowledge of
Buddhism, and a great deal of information on Burmese
Buddhism is embodied in Bigandet’s life of the Gautama,
first published in 1868. All countries near and around
India have furnished us with valuable records and con-
tributions towards a scholarlike knowledge of this gréat
religion. India alone,—the home of that religion,-the
country where it flourished more or less for nearly fifteen
centuries, has kept no memorials worth the name of
that noble faith ! So complete has been the destruction
of Buddhism, Buddhist monasteries, and Buddhist
records in India - -
Thanks to the researches of the scholars whom we
have named above, the English-reading public have
sufficient materials before them now for studying the
developments of Buddhism in the different countries of
the world,—in China, Japan, and Thibet, in Burnha and
Ceylon. Inglish readers can thus study the progress of
the religion in its various phases, at different ages, and
among different conditions of life and civilisation.
The historian of India must, however, forego that
pleasant and most interesting task. The developments
which Buddhism received in China, and Thibet, and
Burma, have no direct bearing on Indian history. It is
his duty, therefore, to select from the materials before
him those works only which illustrate the history of
Farly Buddhism in India. It is necessary for him to
go to the ſountain source of the information which is
CHAP. XI.] 'BTJ DD HIST T, ITERATURE. 31 3
available, and to place his reliance on those works
specially which illustrate the rise of Buddhism in India
in the Rationalistic Period.
The forms of Buddhism prevailing in Nepal and Thibet,
China and Japan, are called Northern Buddhism, while the
forms prevailing in Ceylon and Burma are called Southern
Buddhism. The Northern Buddhists furnish us with
scanty materials directly illustrating the religion in its
earliest form in India. For the Northern nations em-
braced Buddhism some centuries after the Christian Era,
and the works which they then obtained from India do
not represent the earliest form of Indian Buddhism. The
Lalita Vistara, a most important work of the Northern
Buddhists, is only a gorgeous poem ; it is no more a
biography of Gautama than the Paradise Lost is a bio-
graphy of Jesus. It was composed probably in Nepal
in the second or third or fourth century after Christ,
although it contains passages, the Gathas, --which are
of a very much older date. In China, Buddhism was
introduced from the first century after Christ, but did not
become the state religion until the fourth century, and
the works on Buddhism which were then carried by
Chinese pilgrims from India from century to century, and
translated into the Chinese language, do not illustrate the
earliest phase of Buddhism in India. Buddhism spread
in Japan in the fifth century, and in Thibet in the
seventh century after Christ. Thibet has drifted far
away from primitive Buddhism in India, and has adopted
forms and ceremonies which were unknown to Gautama
and his followers. r
On the other hand, the Southern Buddhists furnish
us with the most valuable materials for our purpose. The
Sacred books of the Southern Buddhists are known by the
inclusive name of the Three Pitakas; and there is evi.
dence to show that these Pitakas, now extant in Ceylon,
are substantially identical with the canon as settled in
the Council of Patna about 242 B.C.
VOL. I. 40
3 T 4 RATION ALISTIC PERIOD. [Book III,
The date of Buddhau’s death was for a long time be.
lieved to be 543 B.C.; but many facts ascertained within
the last thirty years lead to the conclusion that the great
reformer was born about 557 B.C., and died in 477 B.C.
A Council of 5oo monks was held in Rajagriha, the capital
of Magadha, immediately after his death, and they chanted
the sacred laws together to fix them on their memory. A
hundred years later, i.e., in 377 B.C., a second Council was
held in Vesali, mainly for the discussion and settlement
of ten questions on which difference of opinion had
arisen. A hundred and thirty-five years after this, the
great Asoka, king of the Magadēas, held a third Council
in Patna about 242 B.C., to finally settle the religious
works or Pitakas.
It is well known that Asoka was a most zealous
Buddhist, and sent missionaries to foreign countries, and
even to Syria, Macedon, and Egypt, to preach the reli-
gion. He sent his own son Mahinda to Tissa, the king of
Ceylon, about 242 B.C., and Mahinda took with him a
number of Buddhist monks, and thus conveyed to Ceylon
the Pitakas as just settled in the Council of Patna.” It is
needless to say that Tissa, the king of Ceylon, was glad
to embrace the religion which Asoka recommended and
his son preached, and thus Ceylon embraced Buddhism
in the third century B.C. About a hundred and fifty years
after this these Pitakas were formally reduced to writing,
and thus we have the most authentic account of the
earliest form of Buddhism in Magadha in the Pali Pitakas
of Ceylon. -
These facts will show that the Three Pitakas of the
Southern Buddhists can claim a date anterior to 242 B.C.
For no work which could not claim a respectable antiquity
was included as canon by the Council of Patna. Indeed,
* Dipavansa, XII. According to this historical epic of Ceylon,
Mahinda, was the son of Asoka (born when Asoka was a sub-king
at Ujjayini under his father, who was king at Magadha), by the
daughter of the Sethi or banker of Vidisa (Z)ipazansa, VI, 15 and #6.)
CHAP. XI. ) BUDDHIST LITERATURE. 3I 5
there is internal evidence in the Vinaya Pitaka to lead to
the supposition that the main portions of that Pitaka were
settled before the Vesali Council, i.e., before 377 B.C.
For in the main portions of the Vinaya Pitaka there is no
mention of the discussion on the ten questions alluded to
above, questions which were “as important for the
history of Buddhism as the Arian controversy for that
of Christianity,” and which agitated the whole of the
Buddhist world to its very centre. The inference is
irresistible that the main portion of the Vinaya Pitaka
is anterior to the date of the Council, i.e., anterior to
377 B.C. -
We have thus found in the Scriptures of the Southern
Buddhists reliable materials for the history of India for
the centuries immediately after the time of Gautama
Buddha. For the contents of the Three Pitakas were
composed, settled, and arranged in India during the
hundred or two hundred years after the death of
Gautama, just as the four Christian Gospels were com-
posed and settled within a century or two after the
death of Jesus. Hence the Three Pitakas illustrate the
manners and life of the Hindus and the history of Hindu
kingdoms in the Gangetic valley. And, lastly, they give
us a more consistent and a less exaggerated account of
the life and work and teachings of Buddha himself than
anything which the Northern Buddhists can supply us
with. Both as an index to the Hindu civilisation of the
period, and as an account of Gautama’s life and work,
the Three Pitakas will be our guide. It is to these Pali
works that “we must go in preference to all other sources
if we desire to know whether any information is obtain-
able regarding Buddha and his life.”
The Three Pitakas are known, as the Sutta Pitaka, the
Vinaya Pitaka, and the Abhidhamma Pitaka. The works
comprised in the Sutta Pitaka profess to record the say-
ings and doings of Gautama Buddha himself. Gautama
* Oldenberg's Auddha (translation), p. 75.
3 I 6 RATIONALISTIC PERIOD, [BOOK III,
himself is the actor and the speaker in the earliest
works of this Pitaka, and his doctrines are conveyed
in his own words. Occasionally one of his disciples is
the instructor, and there are short introductions to in-
dicate where and when Gautama or his disciple spoke.
3ut all through the Sutta Pitaka, Gautama's doctrines
and moral precepts are preserved, professedly in Gau-
tama’s own words. - •
The Vinaya Pitaka contain very minute rules, often
on the most trivial subjects, for the conduct of monks
and nuns,—the Bhikkhus and the Bhikkhunis who had
embraced the holy order, Gautama respected the lay
disciple (Upasaka), but he held that to embrace the Holy
Order was a quicker path to salvation. As the number of
Bhikkhus and Bhikkhunis multiplied, it was necessary
to fix elaborate rules, often on very minute subjects, for
their proper conduct and behaviour in the Vihara or
monastery. As Gautama lived for nearly half a century
after he had proclaimed his religion, there can be no
doubt that he himself settled many of these rules. At
the same time, it is equally certain that many of the
minute rules grew up after his death, but they are all
attributed in the Vinaya Pitaka to the direct order of
the Blessed One himself.
And lastly, the Abhidamma Pitaka contains disquisi-
tions on various subjects, on the conditions of life in
different worlds, on personal qualities, on the elements,
on the causes of existence, &c. We now Subjoin a list
of works contained in the Three Pitakas :—
I. Suffa A'itaka.
1. Digha Nikaya or long treatises, being a collection
of 34 Suttas.
2. Majjhima Nikaya or middling treatises, a collec-
tion of 152 Suttas of moderate size.
3. Samyutta Nikaya, or the connected treatises.
CHAP. XI.] BUDDHIST LITERATURE. 31 7
4. Anguttara Nikaya, treatises in divisions the length
of which increases by one. - -
5. Khuddaka Nikaya or short treatises. It contains
15 works which should be mentioned in detail:*—
(1) Khuddaka Patha or short passages,
(2) Dhammapada, an excellent collection of Moral
Precepts. - -
(3) Udana, 82 short lyrics supposed to have been
uttered by Gautama at different periods under strong
emotion. - . -
(4) Itivuttika, 1 Io sayings of Buddha.
(5) Sutta Nipata, 7o didactic poems.
(6) Vimana Vatthu, stories of celestial mansions.
(7) Peta Vatthu on departed spirits.
(8) Thera Gatha, stanzas of monks.
(9) Theri Gatha, stanzas of nuns.
(Io) Jataka, 55o stories of former births.
(II) Niddesa, explanations on the Sutta Nipata (No.
5) by Sariputta. * ,
(12) Patisambhida, on intuitive insight.
(13) Apadana, legends about Arhats or Saints.
(14) Buddha Vansa. Lives of 24 preceding Buddhas,
and of Gautama, the historical Buddha.
(15) Chariya Pitaka, Gautama's virtuous acts in
former births.
II. Vinaya Pitaka.
I. Vibhanga. Doctors Oldenberg and Rhys Davids
consider it as only an extended reading of the Patimokkha,
i.e., as the Patimokkha with notes and commentary
included. The Patimokkha is a formular of sins and
their punishments recited every new moon and full
moon day, and the members of the order who have
committed any such sin are supposed to confess it and
are disburdened of it.
* The fifteen works composing the fifth Nikaya are by some
classed in the Abhidhamma, and not in the Sutta Pitaka.
3.18. 1&ATIONALISTIC PERIOD. [BOOK III.
2. Khandakas, i.e., the Mahavagga and the Chullavagga.
3. Parivara Patha, admittedly an appendix and a later
résumé of the preceding portions of the Vinaya Pitaka.”
III. Abhidamma Pitaka.
i. Dhamma Sangani. Conditions of life in different
worlds. -
2: Vibhanga, 18 books of disquisitions.
3. Katha Vatthu, Iooo subjects for controversy.
4. Puggala Pannatti. On Personal Qualities.
5. Dhatu Katha. On the elements.
6. Yamaka, i.e., pairs, i.e., on apparent contradictions
Or COntraStS. +
7. Patthana. On the causes of existence.
Such are the contents of the Three Pitakas which have
preserved to us the most reliable materials that are avail-
able for the history of Buddha's life and work, and the
history of Buddhist India. Although writing was known
when the Three Pitakas were settled and compiled, yet for
hundreds of years they were preserved solely by memory,
even as the Vedas in India were preserved by memory,
“The text of the Three Pitakas and the commentary
too thereon. • \ f -
“The wise Bhikkhus of former time had handed
down by word of mouth.”f
And it was in the first century before Christ, about
88 B.C., that the sacred works were at last recorded into
writing, as we have seen before.
It is well known that Gautama, disregarding the pre-
cedent set by all classical writers and thinkers in India,
preached his doctrine and morality to the people of India
* But compiled by the time of Asoka and carried to Ceylon by his
son Mahinda according to the Dipavansa, VII, 42. The works learnt
and carried to Ceylon by Mahinda are thus described :-The five
Nikayas (Sutta Pitaka), the seven sections (Abhidhamma), the two
Vibhangas, the Parivara, and the Khandaka (Vinaya).
† Dipavansa, XX, 20, 2I, . -
CHAP. XI.] BUDDHIST LITERATURE. 3 I 9
in the language of the people, not in Sanscrit. It is said
in the Chullavagga (V, 33, 1), that “There were two
brothers, Bhikkhus, by name Yamelu and Tekula, Brah-
mans by birth, excelling in speech, excelling in pronuncia-
tion.” And they went up to Gautama and said, “At the
present time, Lord, Bhikkhus differing in name, differing
in lineage, differing in birth, differing in family, have gone
forth. These corrupt the word of the Buddhas by their
own dialect. Let us, Lord, put the word of the Buddhas
into Sanscrit verse (Chhandaso aropema).”
But Gautama would have none of this ;-he worked
for the humble and the lowly, his message was for the
people, and he wished it to be conveyed to them in their
own tongue. “You are not, O Bhikkhus, to put the word
of the Buddhas into (Sanscrit) verse. . . . I allow you,
O Bhikkhus, to learn the word of the Buddhas each in
his own dialect.”
Generally we can apply to the Three Pitakas the
remarks which Doctors Rhys Davids and Oldenberg
make in respect of the Vinaya Pitaka. “The text, as it
lies before us, stands so well against all proofs, whether
we compare its different parts, one with another, or with
the little that is yet known of its Northern counterparts,
that we are justified in regarding these Pali books as in
fact the authentic mirror of the old Magadhi text as fixed
in the central schools of the most ancient Buddhist
Church. That text in the dialect of Magadha may have
been lost to us once for all; and we can scarcely hope,
unless some isolaled sentences may hereafter be found,
preserved here and there in inscriptions, that this loss
will ever be even partially made good. But we may well
be thankful that the faithful zeal and industry of these
old monks has preserved for us a translation, in a dialect
So nearly allied to the original, and in so perfect and
trustworthy a state as the Pali version of the Vinaya still
undoubtedly presents.”
* Vinaya Texts (translation), Part I., Introduction, xxxvi.
CHAPTER XII.
I, YFZ OF GA O ZTAMA POV/)DA/A.
IN the sixth century before Christ, the kingdom of
Magadha was rising to power and greatness. The king.
dom, corresponding to modern South Behar, extended to
the south of the Ganges, and on either side of the Son
river. To the north of the Ganges it had a powerful
rival in the haughty confederation of the Lichchavis.
Rajagriha, to the south of the Ganges, was the capital of
Bimbisara, king of the Magadhas ; and Vaisali, to the
north of the Ganges, was the capital of the Lichchavis.
To the east lay the kingdom of Anga or East Behar, which
is spoken of in connection with Magadha, and Champa
was the capital of Anga. Far to the north-west lay the
ancient kingdom of the Kosalas, and its capital had been
removed from Ayodhya or Saketa further northwards to
the flourishing town of Sravasti, where Prasenajit reigned
at the time of which we are speaking. The equally
ancient country of the Kasis, lying to the south, seemed
to be at this time subject to the king of Sravasti, and a
viceroy of Prasenajit ruled at Benares.
* A little to the east of the Kosala kingdom, two kindred
clans, the Sakyas and the Koliyans, lived on the opposite
banks of the small stream Rohini, and enjoyed a sort of
precarious independence, more through the jealousies of
the rival kings of Magadha and Kosala than by their own
power. Kapilvastu was the capital of the Sakyas,
who were then living in peace with the Koliyans, and
32O
CHAP. XII.] (LIFE OF BUDTD'HA, 32 I
Suddhodana, chief of the Sakyas, had married two
daughters of the chief of the Koliyans.
Neither queen bore any child to Suddhodana for
many years, and the hope of leaving an heir to the prin-
cipality of the Sakyas was well-nigh abandoned. At last,
however, the elder queen promised her husband an heir,
and, according to ancient custom, left for her father's
house in order to be confined. But before she reached
the place she was confined, in the pleasant grove of
Lumbini, of a son. The mother and the child were
carried back to Kapilavastu, where the former died seven
days after, leaving the child to be nursed by his step-
mother and aunt, the younger queen. -
The birth of Gautama is naturally the subject of
many legends which have a most remarkable resemblance
with the legends about the birth of Jesus Christ. One
of them may be quoted here. The Rishi Asita saw the
gods delighted, and
“Seeing the gods with pleased minds, delighted, and
showing his respect, he said this on that occasion : ‘Why
is the assembly of the gods so exceedingly pleased, why
do they take their clothes and wave them P' . . .
“The Bodhisatta, the excellent pearl, the incompara-
ble, is born for the good and for a blessing in the world of
men, in the town of the Sakyas in the country of Lumbini.
Therefore, we are glad and exceedingly pleased.”
Having obtained this reply, the Rishi went to Suddho-
dana's palace and asked, “Where is this prince P I wish
to see him.”
“Then the Sakyas showed to Asita the child, the
prince, who was like shining gold, manufactured by a
very skilful Smith in the mouth of a forge, and beaming
in glory and beautiful.” And the Rishi foretold that the
boy would reach the summit of enlightenment, and
would establish righteousness, and that his religion would
be widely spread” (Walaka Sutta).
The boy was named Siddhartha, but Gautama was his
VOL. I. 4 I
322 RATIONALISTIC PERIOD. * [BOOK III.
family name. He belonged to the Sakya tribe, and is
therefore often called Sakya Sinha ; and when he had
proclaimed and preached a reformed religion, he was
called Buddha, or the “awakened” or “enlightened.”
Little is known of the early life of young Gautama,
except that he was married to his cousin Subhadhra or
Yasodhara, daughter of the chief of Koli, about the age
of eighteen. It is said that Gautama neglected the manly
exércises which all Kshatriyas of his age delighted in, and
that his relations complained of this. A day was accord-
ingly fixed for the trial of his skill, and the young prince
of the Sakyas is said to have proved his superiority to
his kinsmen.
Ten years after his marriage, Gautama resolved to
quit his home and his wife for the study of philosophy and
religion. The story which is told of the young prince
abandoning his home and his position is well known.
He must have for a long time pondered deeply and
sorrowfully on the sins and sufferings of humanity, he
must have been struck with the vanity of wealth and
position. In the midst of his prosperity, position, and
wealth, he felt a secret yearning after something higher,
which neither wealth nor position could satisfy ; and a
strong, irresistible desire to seek for a remedy for the
sufferings of men arose in his heart even in the midst
of the luxuries and comforts of his palace-home. It is
said that the sight of a decrepit old man, of a sick man,
of a decaying corpse, and of a dignified hermit led him
to form his resolution to quit his home. The story has
little foundation in truth, and only represents in a con-
crete shape the thoughts that arose in his mind with
regard to the woes of a worldly life, and the holy calm
of a retired life.
At this time a son was born unto him. It is said that
the news was announced to him in a garden on the river-
side, and the pensive young man only exclaimed, “This
is a new and strong tie I shall have to break.” The news
CHAP. XII.] LIFE OF BUDDHA. 323
gladdened the heart of the Sakyas, and Kapilavastu re-
sounded with notes of joy at the birth of an heir to the
throne. A perfect ovation awaited Gautama on his re-
turn to that town, and among the deafening cheers which
arose, Gautama heard a young girl say, “Happy the
father, happy the mother, happy the wife of such a son
and husband.” Gautama understood the word “happy”
in the sense of “emancipated” from sins and new births,
and he took off his necklace of pearls and sent it to the
girl. The girl believed the young prince was enamoured
of her, and little knew the thoughts which were struggling
within him.
That night he repaired to the threshold of his wife's
chamber, and there—by the light of the flickering lamp—
he gazed on a scene of perfect bliss. His young wife lay
surrounded by flowers, and with one hand on the infant’s
head. A yearning arose in his heart to take the babe in
his arms for the last time before relinquishing all earthly
bliss. But this he might not do. The mother might be
awakened, and the importunities of the fond and loving
soul might unnerve his heart and shake his resolution.
Silently he tore himself away from that blissful sight—
that nest of all his joy and love and affection. In that
one eventful moment, in the silent darkness of that
night, he renounced for ever his wealth and position and
power, his proud rank and his princely fame, and more
than all this, the affections of a happy home, the love of a
young wife and of a tender infant now lying unconscious
in sleep. He renounced all this, and rode away to be-
come a poor student and a homeless wanderer. His faith-
ful servant Channa asked to be allowed to stay with him
and become an ascetic, but Gautama sent him back, and
repaired alone to Rajagriha.
Rajagriha, as we have stated before, was the capital of
Bimbisara, king of the Magadhas, and was situated in a
valley surrounded by five hills. Some Brahman ascetics
lived in the caves of these hills, sufficiently far from the
3.24. RATIONALISTIC PERIOD. [BOOK III.
town for studies and contemplation, and yet sufficiently
Fear to obtain supplies. Gautama attached himself first
to one Alara, and then to another Udraka, and learnt
from them all that Hindu philosophers had to teach.
Not satisfied with this hearning, Gautama wished to see
if penances would bring superhuman insight and power
as they were reputed to do. He retired therefore into
the jungles of Uruvela, near the site of the present temple
of Buddha Gaya, and for six years, attended by five
disciples, he gave himself up to the severest penances
and self-mortification. His fame spread ałl round, for
the ignorant and the superstitious always admire self-
inflicted pain ; but Gautama did not obtain what he
sought. At last one day he fell down from sheer weak-
ness, and his disciples thought he was dead. But he
recovered, and despairing of deriving any profit from
penance, he abandoned it. His disciples, who did not
understand his object, lost all respect for him when he
gave up his penances ; they left him alone and went
away to Benares.
Left alone in the world, Gautama wandered towards
the banks of the Niranjara, received his morning meal
from the hands of Sujata, a villager's daughter, and sat
himself down under the famous Bo-tree or the tree of
wisdom. Many are the legends told of Mara, the evil
spirit, who tempted him on this occasion, legends
which have a curious resemblance with the legends of
the temptation of Jesus Christ. For a long time he sat
in contemplation, and the scenes of his past life came
thronging into his mind. The learning he had acquired
}ad produced no results, the penances he had undergone
were vain, his disciples had left him alone in the world.
Would he now return to his happy home, to the arms
of his loving, widowed wife, to his little child now a
sweet boy of six years, to his affectionate father and his
loyal people 2 This was possible ; but where would be
the satisfaction ? What would become of the mission
CHAP. XII.] LIFE OF BUDDHA. 325
*
to which he had devoted himself P Long he sat in con-
templation and in doubt, until the doubts cleared away
like mists in the morning, and the daylight of truth
flashed before his eyes. What was this truth which
learning did not teach and penances did not impart 2
He had made no new discovery, he had acquired no
new knowledge, but his pious nature and his benevolent
heart told him that a holy life and an all-embracing love
were the panacea to all evils. Self-culture and universal
love, this was his discovery, -this is the essence of
Buddhism.
The conflict in Gautama’s mind, which thus subsided
in calm, is described in Buddhist writings by marvellous
incidents. Clouds and darkness prevailed, the earth and
Oceans quaked, rivers flowed back to their sources, and
peaks of lofty mountains rolled down. Dr. Rhys Davids
justly states that these legends have a deep meaning,
and are “the first half-inarticulate efforts the Indian mind
had made to describe the feelings of a strong man torn
by contending passions.”
Gautama’s old teacher Alara was dead, and he went
therefore to Benares to proclaim the truth to his five
former disciples. On the way he met a man of the name
of Upaka, belonging to the Ajivaka sect of ascetics,
who, looking at the composed and happy expression on
Gautama’s face, asked, “Your countenance, friend, is
Serene ; your complexion is pure and bright. In whose
name, friend, have you retired from the world 2 Who is
your teacher ? What doctrine do you profess?” To this
Gautama replied that had no teacher, that he had
obtained Nirvana by the extinction of all passions, and
added, “I go to the city of the Kasis to beat the drum of
the immortal in the darkness of the world.” Upaka did
not understand him, and replied after a little conversation,
* Buddhism.—Dr. Rhys Davids quotes a passage from Milton's
Paradise Regained, describing a similar disturbance of the elements
on the occasion of Christ’s Temptation.
326 RATIONALISTIC PERIOD. [BOOK III.
“It may be So, friend,” shook his head, took another
road, and went away (Mahavagga, I, 6).
At Benares Gautama entered the Deer Park (Miga.
daya) in the cool of the evening and met his former
disciples. And he explained to them his new tenets.
“There are two extremes, O Bhikkhus, which the man
who has given up the world ought not to follow, the
habitual practice, on the one hand, of those things whose
attraction depends upon the passions, and specially of
sensuality, a low and pagan way, unworthy, unprofitable,
and fit only for the worldly minded ; –and the habitual
practice, on the other hand, of asceticism, which is pain-
ful, unworthy, and unprofitable.
“There is a middle path, O Bhikkhus, avoiding these
two extremes, discovered by the Tathagata (Buddha), a
path which opens the eyes and bestows understanding,
which leads to peace of mind, to the higher wisdom, to
full enlightenment, to Nirvana P"
And then he explained to them the four truths con-
cerning suffering, the cause of suffering, the destruction
of suffering, and the way which leads to such destruction
of suffering. And the way was described to be eight-
fold, and consisted in correct beliefs, aims, speech and
actions, in correct living and endeavour, mindfulness and
meditation.” And this doctrine, Gautama rightly said,
“was not, O Bhikkhus, among the doctrines handed
down.” “In Benares, in the hermitage of Migadaya,
the Supreme Wheel of the Empire of Truth has been set
rolling by the Blessed One,—that wheel which not by
any Saman or Brahman, not by any god, not by any
Brahma or Mara, not by any one in the universe, can
ever be turned back” (Z)hamma Chała Pºavattana
Sutta ; Anguttara AVikaya).
—”
* We shall have to dwell hereafter on these four truths and the
eight-fold path which are the cardinal principles of Buddhism. The
above extracts will show that they were also the principles which
Gautama proclaimed to the world at the very outset of his career.
CHAP. XII.] |LIFE OF BUDD HA. 327
It is needless to say that the five former disciples
were soon converted, and were the first members of the
Order.
Yasa, son of the rich Sethi (banker) of Benares, was
his first lay disciple, and the story of the conversion of
this young man, nurtured in the lap of luxury and wealth,
is worth repeating. “He had three palaces, one for
winter, one for summer, one for the rainy season.” One
night he awoke from sleep and found the female musicians
still sleeping in the room with their dress and hair and
musical instruments in disorder. The young man, who
had apparently been satiated with a life of luxury, became
disgusted with what he saw, and in a moment of deep
thoughtfulness said: “Alas! what distress ; alas ! what
danger ſ” And he left the house and went out.
It was dawn, and Gautama was walking up and down
in the open air, and heard the perplexed and sorrowful
young man exclaiming, “Alas! what distress ; alas ! what
danger ſ” The sage replied, “Here is no distress, Yasa,
here is no danger. Come here, Yasa, sit down ; I will
teach you the truth.” And Yasa heard the truth from
the lips of the Saintly instructor.
Yasa’s father and mother and wife missed him, and
they all came to Gautama and listened to the holy truth.
And they soon became lay disciples (Mahavagga, I,
7 and 8).
Within five months after his arrival at Benares
Gautama had sixty followers. And now he called them
together and dismissed them in different directions to
preach the truth for the salvation of mankind. “Go ye
now, O Bhikkhus, and wander, for the gain of the many,
for the welfare of the many, out of compassion for the
world, for the good, for the gain, for the welfare of gods
and men. Zet not two of you go the same zway. Preach,
O Bhikkhus, the doctrine which is glorious in the begin-
ning, glorious in the middle, glorious in the end, in the
spirit, and in the letter; proclaim a consummate, perfect,
328 RATIONALISTIC PERIOD. [BOOK III.
and Aure life of holiness” (Mahavagga, I, II, 1). No
missionaries of later days have evinced a holier zeal to
proclaim the truth to the ends of the earth than the
followers of Gautama, acting on the sacred mandate
Quoted above. Gautama himself went to Uruvela, and
Yasa remained in Benares.
At Uruvela, Gautama achieved distinguished success
by converting three brothers named Kasyapa, who wor-
shipped fire in the Vedic form, and had high reputa-
tion as hermits and philosophers. The eldest brother
Uruvela Kasyapa and his pupils “flung their hair, their
braids, their provisions, and the things for the agnihotra
sacrifice into the river,” and received the Pabbajja and
Upasampada ordination from the Blessed One. His
brothers, who lived by the Nadi (River Niranjara) and
at Gaya, soon followed the example (Mahavagga, I,
15-20).
The conversion of the Kasyapas created a sensation,
and Gautama with his new disciples and a thousand
followers walked towards Rajagriha, the capital of
Magadha. News of the new prophet soon reached the
king, and Seniya Bimbisara, surrounded by members of
Brahmans and Vaisyas, went to visit Gautama. Seeing the
distinguished Uruvela Kasyapa there, the king could not
make out if that great Brahman had converted Gautama,
or if Gautama had converted the Brahman. Gautama
understood the king's perplexity, and in order to enlighten
him, asked Kasyapa, “What knowledge have you gained,
O inhabitant of Uruvela, that has induced you, who were
renowned for your penances, to forsake your sacred fire.”
Kasyapa replied that he had “seen the state of peace,”
and “took no more delight in sacrifices and offerings.”
The king was struck and pleased, and, with his numerous
attendants, declared himself an adherent of Gautama, and
invited him to take his meal with him the next day.
The solitary wanderer accordingly went, an honoured
guest, to the palace of the king, and the entire population
caſAP, XII.] LIFE OF BUDDHA. : 329
of the capital of Magadha turned out to see the great
preacher of the religion of love, who had suddenly ap-
peared in the land. The king then assigned a bamboo
grove (Veluvana) close by for the residence of Gautama
and his followers, and there Gautama rested for some time.
Shortly after Gautama obtained two renowned converts,
Sariputra and Moggallana (Mahavagga, I, 22-24).
The daily life of Gautama has been well described by
Dr. Oldenberg. “He, as well as his disciples, rises early,
when the light of dawn appears in the sky, and spends the
early moments in spiritual exercises or in converse with
his disciples, and then he proceeds with his companions
towards the town. In the days when his reputation stood
at its highest point, and his name was named through-
out India annong the foremost names, one might day by
day see that man before whom kings bowed themselves,
alms-bowl in hand, through streets and alleys, from house
to house, and without uttering any request, with down-
cast look, stand silently waiting until a morsel of food
was thrown into his bowl.” -
Such was the manner in which the greatest man of his
age begged his food, day by day, from house to house,
and preached his religion of love to men and to women,
For women were Gautama's listeners as well as men.
“The seclusion of women from the outer world, which
later custom has enjoined, was quite unheard of in ancient
India; women took their share in the intellectual life of
the people, and the most delicate and tenderest of the
epic poems of the Indians show us how well they could
understand and appreciate true womanhood.”
The fame of Gautama had now travelled to his native
town, and his old father expressed a desire to see him
Once before he died, Gautama accordingly went to
Kapilavastu, but, according to custom, remained in the
grove outside the town. His father and relations came
to see him there ; and the next day Gautama himself
-*.
* Oldenberg's Buddha (translation), pp. 149 and 164,
WOL. I. 42
33O RATIONALISTIC PERIOD. [BOOK III.
went into the town, begging alms from the people who
once adored him as their beloved prince and master
The story goes on to say that the king rebuked Gautama
for this act, but Gautama replied, it was the custom of
his race. “But,” retorted the king, “we are descended
from an illustrious race of warriors, and not one of them
has ever begged his bread.” “You and your family,”
answered Gautama, “may claim descent from kings, my
descent is from the prophets (Buddhas) of old.”
The king took his son into the palace, where all the
members of the family came to greet him except his wife.
The deserted Yasodhara, with a wife's grief and a wiſe's
pride, exclaimed, “If I am of any value in his eyes, he
will himself come ; I can welcome him better here.”
Gautama understood this and went to her, with only two
disciples with him. And when Yasodhara saw her lord
and prince enter, a recluse with shaven head and yellow
robes,—her heart failed her, she ſlung herself to the
ground, held his feet, and burst into tears. Then, re-
membering the impassable gulf between them, she rose
and stood aside. She listened to his new doctrines, and
when, subsequently, Gautama was induced to establish
an order of female mendicants, 13hikkhunis, -Yasodhara
became one of the first 13uddhist nuns. At the time of
which we are now speaking, Yasodhara remained in her
house, but Rahula, Gautama’s Son, was converted.
Gautama’s father was much aggrieved at this, and
asked Gautama to establish a rule that no one should
be admitted to the Order without his parents’ consent.
Gautama consented to this, and made a rule accordingly
(ſataka, 87-90 ; AZahaz"agga, I, 54).
On his way back to Rajagriha, Gautama stopped for
some time at Anupiya, “a town belonging to the Mallas.”
And while he was stopping here, he made many con-
verts both from the Koliyan and from the Sakya tribe,
some of whom deserve Special mention. Anuruddha, the
Sakya, went to his mother and asked to be allowed to
cula P. XII.] LIFE OF BUDDH.A. 33 I
go into the houseless state. His mother did not know how
to stop him, and so told him, “If, beloved Anuruddha,
J3haddiya, the Sakya Raja, will enounce the world, thou
also mayest go forth into the houseless state.” $
Anuruddha accordingly went to l8lladdiya, and it was
decided that they would embrace the Order in seven
days, “So Bhaddiya the Sakya Raja, and Anuruddha
and Ananda and Bhagu and Kimbila and Devadatta,
just as they had so often previously gone out to the
pleasure ground with fourfold array, even so did they now
go out with fourfold array, and Upali the barber went
with them, making seven in all.
“And when they had gone some distance, they sent
their retinue back and crossed over to the neighbouring
district, and took off their fine things, and wrapped them
in their robes and made a bundle of them, and said to
Upali the barber, “Do you now, Upali, turn back. These
things will be sufficient for you to live upon.’” But
Upali was of a diſſerent mind, and so all the seven went
to Gautama and became converts. And when Bhaddiya
had retired into solitude he exclaimed over and over, “O
happiness O happiness " and on being asked the cause
said—
“Formerly, Lord, when I was a king, I had a guard
completely provided both within and without my private
apartments, both within and without the town, and within
the borders of my country. Yet though, Lord, I was
thus guarded and protected I was fearful, anxious, dis-
trustful, and alarmed. But now, Lord, even when in the
forest, at the foot of a tree, in solitude, I am without fear
or anxiety, trustful, and not alarmed ; I dwell at ease,
subdued, secure, with mind, as peaceful as an antelope”
(Chullavagga, VII, 1). -
We have narrated the above story because some of
the converts, spoken of here, rose to distinction. Ananda
became the most intimate friend of Gautauna, and after
his death led a band of 500 monks in chanting the
332 RATIONALISTIC PERIOD, : [BOOK III.
Dharma in the Council of Rajagriha. Upali, though a
barber by birth, became an eminent member of the Holy
Order, and was recognised as an authority in matters
connected with Vinaya. It is a striking proof how com-
pletely the caste-system was ignored in the Holy Order
established by Gautama. Anuruddha lived to become
the greatest master of Abhidamma or metaphysics.
Bevadatta became subsequently the rival and opponent
of Gautama, and is even said to have advised Ajatasatru,
the prince of Magadha, to klll his father Bimbisara, and
then attempted to kill Gautama himself (Chullavagga,
VII, 2-4). All these charges, however, which are heaped
on Devadatta, who was a rival of Gautama, should not
be accepted. . .
After spending his second vassa or rainy season in
‘Rajagriha, Gautama repaired to Sravasti, the capital of
the Kosalas, where, as we have seen before, Prasenajit
reigned as king. A wood called Jetavana was presented to
the Buddhists, and Gautama often repaired and preached
there. Gautama's instructions were always delivered
orally, and preserved in the memory of the people, like
'all the ancient books of India, although writing was
known in his time.* g
The third passa was also passed in Rajagriha, and in
the fourth year from the date of his proclaiming his creed
(Gautama crossed the Ganges, went to Vaisali, and stopped
in the Mahavana grove. Thence he is said to have
made a miraculous journey to settle a dispute between the
Sakyas and the Koliyans about the water of the boundary
river Rohini. In the following year he again repaired to
Kapilavastu, and was present at the death of his father,
then ninety-seven years old. . . .
His widowed step-mother Prajapati Gautami, and his
* “Brief written communications, brief written notifications, ap-
pear to have been common in India even at that time (i.e., Gautama
Buddha’s time) : books were not written, but learnt by fote and
taught from memory.”—Oldenberg's Buddha (translation), p. 177.
CHAP. XII.] ,’ LIFE OF BUDDHA. 333
no less widowed wife Yasodhara, had now no ties to
bind them to the world, and insisted on joining the
Order established by Gautama. The sage had not yet
admitted women to the Order, and was reluctant to do
so. But his mother was inexorable and followed him
to Vaisali, and begged to be admitted.
Ananda pleaded her cause, but Gautama still replied,
“Enough, Ananda | Let it not please thee that women
should be allowed to do so.” But Ananda persisted,
and asked— ++
“Are women, Lord, capable—when they have gone
forth from the household life and entered the homeless
state, under the doctrine and discipline proclaimed by the
Blessed One,—are they capable of realising the fruit of
conversion or of the second path, or of Arhatship P”
There could be only one reply to this. Honour to
women has ever been a part of religion in India, and
salvation and heaven are not barred to the female sex
by the Hindu religion. “They are capable, Ananda,”
replied the sage. And Prajapati and the other ladies
were admitted to the Order as Bhikkhunis under some
rules making them strictly subordinate to the Bhikkhus
(Chullavagga, X, I). After this Gautama retired to
Kosambi near Prayaga.
In the sixth year, after spending the rains at Kosambi,
Gautama returned to Rajagriha, and Kshema, the queen
of Bimbisara, was admitted to the Order. In the same
'year Gautama is said to have performed some miracles at
‘Sravasti, and went to heaven to teach Dharma to his
‘mother, who had died seven days after his birth.
In the eleventh year Gautama converted the Brahman
Bharadvaja by the parable of the sower, which deserves
to be quoted. -
Kasi Bharadvaja's five hundred ploughs were tied in
the sowing season. He went to the place where his men
were distributing food to the poor, and he saw Gautama
Standing there to get alms. On this he said :—
334 RATIONALISTIC PERIOD. [BOOK 111.
“I, O Saman, both plough and sow, and having
ploughed and sown, I eat ; thou also, O Saman, shouldst
plough and Sow, and having ploughed and sown, thou
shouldst eat.” w
“I also, O Brahman, both plough and sow, and having
ploughed and sown, I eat.” So said Bhagavat.
“Yet we do not see the yoke or the plough, or the
ploughshare, or the goad, or the oxen of the venerable
Gautama.”
Bhagavat answered, -—“Faith is the seed, penance
the rain, understanding my yoke and plough, modesty
the pole of the plough, mind the tie, thoughtfulness my
ploughshare and goad. . . .
“Exertion is my beast of burden ; carrying me to
Nibbana, he goes without turning back to the place
where, having gone, one does not grieve.”
The Brahman was abashed, and after further instruc-
tions joined the order (Sutta AVAata ; Aasi Bharadwaja
Sutta).
In the next year he undertook the longest journey he
had ever made, and went to Mantala and returned by
Benares, and then preached the famous Maha Rahula
Sutta to his son Rahula, then eighteen years old. Two
years after, Rahula, being twenty, was formally admitted
in the Order, and the Rahula Sutta was preached.
In the following year, i.e., in the fifteenth year from
the date of his proclaiming his creed, he visited Kapi-
lavastu again, and addressed a discourse to his cousin
Mahanama, who had succeeded Bhadraka, the successor
of Suddhodana, as the king of the Sakyas. Gautama's
father-in-law, Suprabuddha, king of Koli, publicly abused
Gautama for deserting Yasodhara, but is said to have
been swallowed up by the earth shortly after. -
In the seventeenth year he delivered a discourse or
the death of Srimati, a courtesan ; in the next year he
comforted a weaver who had accidentally killed his
daughter; in the following year he released a deer caught
CHAP. XII.] . . [...[Fjæ OF BUDDH.A. - 335
in a snare and converted the angry, hunter who had
wanted to shoot him ; and in the twentieth year he
similarly converted the famous robber Angulimala of the
Chaliya forest. w . .
For twenty-five years more Gautama wandered through
the Gangetic valley, preached benevolence and a holy
life to the poor and the lowly, made converts among
the high and the low, the rich and the poor, and pro-
claimed his law through the length and breadth of the
land. His pure life of benevolence and his pure religion
of love were widely known and universally respected by
his followers and the orthodox Hindus alike ; nations
and their kings honoured the doctrines of the saintly
reformer whose acts were those of kindness and benevo-
lence ; and when Gautama died at the advanced age of
eighty, Buddhism was already a power in the land, which
“not by any Saman or Brahman, not by any god, not by
any Brahma or Mara, not by any one in the universe,
could ever be turned, back.” • , a
Gautama lived forty-five years from the date of his
proclaiming his new religion ; and accepting the year
477 B.C. as the year of his death, the main facts of his
life may be thus arranged :- . . . . . .
Born near Kapilavastu . . . . . . 557 B.C.
His marriage with Yasodhara . º • 538. ,
He left his home, wife, and infant . . . . 528
He became enlightened at Buddha Gaya, and
proclaimed his religion at Benares . . 522
He revisited his home º * . . 521
His father Suddhodana died, and his step-mother
and wife joined the Order . . . 5 17
His son Rahula joined the Order . . . 508
Yasodhara's father died . . . . . 507
Gautama died . w º º e • 477 , , ,
Happily we have a fairly complete account of the
events immediately before his death in the Mahapari-
nibbana Sutta in the Digha Mikaya, and to these facts
We, now turn. * * * * - . . . . . * -
, 3.2
yy
336 RATIONALISTIC PERIOD. [BOOK III.
Gautama was now eighty years of age, and the gene.
ration among whom he had worked in his youth
had passed away. Most of those men whom he had
known in his early days were dead, and the aged saint
preached to sons and grandsons the same holy law which
he had proclaimed to their sires and grandsires before.
Many of his intimate friends were dead, but the faithful
Ananda still accounpanied him like his shadow, and
ministered to his wants. The old king of Rajagriha
was no more ; his warlike and ambitious son Ajatasatru
had ascended the throne of Magadha, -it is said by
murdering his father, —and was now maturing schemes
of conquest. It was no part of Ajatasatru’s policy to
offend so popular and widely respected a person as
Gautama, and, outwardly at least, Ajatasatru honoured
the reformer.
The powerful Vajjian clans who occupied the plains
on the northern shore of the Ganges, opposite to Magadha;
first attracted Ajatasatru’s attention. They were a Tura-
nian tribe who had entered into India through the north-
ern mountains, and had established a republican form of
government in the very centre of Hindu civilisation, and
were threatening the conquest of all Magadha. They
were probably the same Yu-Chi tribe” who conquered
Kashmira and Western India four or five centuries later,
and became, under Kanishka, the most powerful suppor-
ters of Buddhism.
Ajatasatru Videhiputrat said to himself, “I will root
out these Vajjians, mighty and powerful though they be.
I will destroy these Vajjians, I will bring these Vajjians
to utter ruin.”
Gautama was then residing in the Vulture's Peak
* See Beal’s Buddhism in China, p. 43.
+ This appellation shows that the king's mother was a lady of
the ancient Videha tribe. Persons were frequently called in those
days by their mother’s name ; and Upatissa, the distinguished
disciple of Gautama, was always better known as Sariputra.
CHAP. XII.] IIFE OF BU DDTH A, 337
(Gridhrakuta), a cave on the side of the loftiest of the
five hills overlooking the beautiful valley of Rajagriha.
Ajatasatru, who was not without some kind of supersti-
tious faith in prophecies, sent his prime minister Vassakara
to Gautama to inquire how his expedition against the
Vajjians would end. Gautama was no respecter of kings,
and replied that so long as the Vajjians remained united
in their adherence to their ancient customs “we expect
them not to decline, but to prosper.”
From the Vulture's Peak Gautama wandered to neigh-
bouring places, to Ambalathika, to Nalanda, and to
Pataligranaa, the site of the future capital of Magadha,
Pataliputra. At the time of Gautama it was an insigni-
ficant grama or village, but Sunidha and Vassakara, the
chief ministers of Magadha, were building a fortress at
Pataligrama to repel the Vajjians. Such was the origin
of the town which became the capital of Chandragupta
and Asoka, and was the metropolis of India for nearly &
thousand years, and which is still one of the largest cities
in India. Gautama is said to have prophesied the great-
ness of the place and said to Ananda : “And among
famous places of residence and haunts of busy men, this
will become the chief, the city of Pataliputra, a centre
for the interchange of all kinds of wares.”
Vassakara and Sunidha, the ministers of Ajatasatru,
invited Gautama there and fed him with sweet dishes of
boiled rice and cakes, and after this Gautama left the
place, and is said to have crossed the Ganges, which was
then brimful and overflowing, by a miracle, -passing
over the water without a boat or a raft.
He then went to Kotigrama, and then to Nadika,
where he rested in the “brickhall,” which was a resting-
place for travellers, There Gautama taught Ananda the
pregnant lesson that each disciple could ascertain for
himself if he had attained salvation. If he was conscious,
if he felt within himself, that he had faith in the Buddha,
that he had faith in Dharma, that he had faith in the
VOL. I. 43
ſº
338 RATIONALISTIC PERIOD. [BOOK III.
Order; then he was saved. Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha
became the Trinity or the Buddhists. \
From Nadika, Gautama came to Vaisali, the capital of
the powerful confederacy of the Lichchavis to the north of
the Ganges. Ambapali, a courtesan, heard that the saint
was stopping in her mango grove and canoe and invited
him to a meal, and Gautama accepted the invitation.
“Now the Lichchavis of Vaisali heard that the Blessed
One had arrived at Vaisali and was staying at Ambapali's
grove. And ordering a number of magnificent carriages
to be made ready, they mounted one of them and pro-
ceeded with their train to Vaisali. Some of them were
dark, dark in colour, and wearing dark clothes and orna-
ments; some of them were fair, fair in colour and wearing
light clothes and ornaments; some of them were red,
ruddy, in colour, and wearing red clothes and ornaments;
some of them were white, pale in colour, and wearing
white clothes and ornaments. - -
“And Ambapali drove against the young Lichchavis,
axle to axle, wheel to wheel, and yoke to yoke ; and the
Lichchavis said to Atmbapali the courtesan, How is it,
Ambapali, that thou drivest up against us thus?
“My Lords, I have just invited the Blessed One and
his brethren for their morrow’s meal, said she,
“Ambapali, give us this meal for a hundred thousand,
said they.
“My Lords, were you to offer all Vaisali with its
subject territory, I would not give up so honourable a
feast. - - -
“Then the Lichchavis cast up their hands exclaiming,
‘We are outdone by this mango-girl,” we are outreached
by this mango-girl,” and they went on to Ambapalika's
grove.”
There they saw Gautama and invited him to a meal
on the morrow, but Gautama replied, “O Lichchavis,
I have promised to dine to-morrow with Ambapali the
—”
* Ambaſſaſ; Æa means the grower of mangoes,
CIIAP. XII, - LIFE OF BUDDHA. 339
courtesan.” And Ambapali fed Gautama and his brethren
with sweet rice and cakes, and “waited upon them till
they refused any more.” And then she was edified and
instructed, and said, “Lord, I present this mansion to
the Order of mendicants, of which Buddha is the chief,”
and the gift was accepted.*
From Ambapali’s grove, Gautama went to Beluva. He
felt his end approaching, and said to the faithful Ananda,
“I am now grown old and full of years, my journey is
drawing to its close, I have reached the sum of my days,
I am turning eighty years of age. . . . . Therefore, O
Ananda be ye lamps unto yourselves. Be ye a refuge
to yourselves. Betake yourselves to no external refuge.
Hold fast to the truth as a lamp. Hold fast as a refuge
to the truth.” -
In Chapala Chetiya, Gautama delivered a discourse in
which he enumerated four classes of men, wiz., the Nobles,
the Brahmans, the Householders, and the Samans ;-
and four classes of angels, viz., the Angels, the Great
Thirty-three, t Mara, Í and Brahma. Ś
At Kutagara, Gautama once more proclaimed to his
followers the substance and essence of his religion, and
enjoined upon them to practise it, to meditate upon it, and
to spread it abroad, “in order that pure religion may last
long and be perpetuated, in order that it may continue to be
for the good and the happiness of the great multitudes.”
Having paid his last visit to Vaisali, Gautama then
* Bishop Bigandet says: “In recording the conversion of a
courtesan like Apapalika, her liberality and gifts to Buddha and his
disciples, and the preference designedly given to her over princes and
nobles, who, humanly speaking, seemed in every respect better
entitled to attentions,—one is almost reminded of the conversion of
“a woman that was a sinner,’ mentioned in the Gospels.”—Zºſe or
Legend of Gaudama.
t Vedic gods reduced to the position of beneficent spirits.
† The tempter or evil spirit. “Mara est le demon de l’amour,
du péché, et de la mort ; ce la tentateur et l'ennemi de Buddha.”—
Aurnouf.
§ The Universal Being of the Upanishads reduced to the posi-
tion of a beneficent spirit. |
340 RATIONALISTRC PERROD, [BOOK III.
wandered through villages, Bhandagrama, Hastigrama,
Ambagrama, Jambugrama, and Bhoganagara, and then
went to Pava. There, Chunda, a goldsmith and ironsmith,
invited him to a meal, and gave him sweet rice and
cakes and a quantity of dried boar's flesh. Gautama
never refused the poor man’s offering, but the boar's
flesh did not agree with him. “Now when the Blessed
One had eaten the food prepared by Chunda, the worker
in metal, there fell upon him a dire sickness, the disease
of dysentery, and sharp pain came upon him even unto
death. But the Blessed One, mindful and self-possessed,
bore it without complaint.” -
On his way from Pava to Kusinagara, Gautama con-
verted a low-caste man Pukkusa. At Kusinagara, eighty
miles due east from Kapilavastu, Gautama felt that his
death was nigh. With that loving anxiety which had
characterised all his life, he tried on the eve of his death
to impress on his followers that Chunda was not to blame
for the food he had supplied, but that the humble Smith's
act, kindly meant, would redound to length of life, to
good birth, and to good fortune. . -
It is said that just before his death the trees were in
bloom out of season, and sprinkled flowers on him ; that
heavenly flowers and sandalwood powder descended on
him, and that music and heavenly songs were wafted
from the sky. But the great apostle of holy life said,
“It is not thus, Ananda, that the Tathagata (Buddha)
is rightly honoured, reverenced, venerated, held sacred,
or revered. But the brother or the sister, the devout
man or the devout woman, who continually fulfils all
the greater and the lesser duties, who is correct in life,
walking according to precepts, it is he who rightly
honours, reverences, venerates, holds sacred, and reveres
the Tathagata with the worthiest homage.” Who is not
reminded by these noble precepts of the holy precept in
the Bible so happily rendered into verse by a Christian
poet 2—
CHAP, XII, 1 LIFE OF BUDDHA. 34. I
“But Thou hast said, the flesh of goat,
The blood of ram, I would not prize,
A contrite heart, an humble thought,
Are My accepted sacrifice.”
On the night of Gautama's death, Subhadra, a Brah-
man philosopher of Kusinagara, came to ask some ques-
tions, but Ananda, fearing that this might be wearisome
to the dying sage, would not admit him. Gautama,
however, had overheard their conversation, and he would
not turn back a man who had come for instruction. He
ordered the Brahman to be admitted, and with his dying
breath explained to him the principles of his religion.
Subhadra was the last disciple whom Gautama converted,
and shortly after, at the last watch of the night, the
great sage departed this life, with the exhortation to
his brother men still on his lips, “Decay is inherent
in all component things ; work out your salvation with
diligence.”
The body of Gautama was cremated by the Mallas of
Kusinagara who surrounded his bones “in their council-
hall with a lattice-work of spears and with a rampart of
bows ; and there, for seven days, they paid honour and
reverence and respect and homage to them with dance
and song and music, and with garlands and perfumes.”
It is said that the remains of Gautama were divided
into eight portions. Ajatasatru of Magadha obtained
one portion, and erected a mound over it at Rajagriha.
The Lichchavis of Vaisali obtained another portion, and
erected a mound at that town. . Similarly the Sakyas
of Kapilavastu, the Bulis of Allakappa, the Koliyas of
Ramagrama, the Mallas of Pava, the Mallas of Kusina-
gara, and a Brahman Vethadipaka obtained portions of
the relics, and erected mounds over them. The Moriyans
of Pipphalivana made a mound over the embers, and the
Brahman Dona made a mound over the vessel in which
the body had been burnt.
CHAPTER XIII.
AJOCTR/WES OF GA UTAMA BUD/DF/A,
IT is not possible that we should, within the limits of a
single chapter, give our readers anything like a complete
summary of the doctrines of a religion which now forms
the subject of so much elaborate and learned inquiry by
so many distinguished and able scholars. Our attempt
will rather be to give here the substance of the great
lessons of ideas which Gautama preached and inculcated
to his countrymen. * , . .
Buddhism is, in its essence, a system of self-culture
and self-restraint. Doctrines and beliefs are of secondary
importance in this system ; the effort to end human suffer-
ing by living a holy life, free from passions and desires,
is the cardinal idea with which Gautama was impressed
on the day on which he was “enlightened” under the
Bo-tree in Buddha Gaya, and it was the central idea
which he preached to the last day of his life.
When he went from Buddha Gaya to Benares, and
first preached his religion to his five old disciples, he
explained to them the Four Truths and the Eightfold
Path, which form the essence of Buddhism. -
“This, O Bhikkhus, is the AVoble Truth of Suffering.
Birth is suffering, decay is suffering, illness is suffering,
death is suffering. Presence of objects we hate is suffer-
ing, not to obtain what we desire is suffering. Briefly,
the fivefold clinging to existence (i.e., clinging to the five
elements) is suffering. * -
“This, O Bhikkhus, is the Moble Truth of the Cause
342
CIMAP. XIII.] DOCTR INES OF BUDIOH A. 343
of Suffering. Thirst, that leads to re-birth accompanied
by pleasure and lust, finding its delight here and there.
(This thirst is threefold), viz., thirst for pleasure, thirst
for existence, thirst for prosperity. * * * * - - A
“This, O Bhikkhus, is the Moble Truth of the Cessa-
tion of Suffering. It ceases with the complete cessation
of thirst,--a cessation which consists in the absence of
every passion, with the abandoning of this thirst, with
the doing away with it, with the deliverance from it, with
the destruction of desire. - *
“This, O Bhikkhus, is the AVoble Truth of the Path
which leads to the cessation of suffering. That holy
Eightfold Path, viz. –
Right Belief,
Right Aspiration,
Right Speech,
Right Conduct,
Right Means of Livelihood,
Right Exertion,
Right Mindfulness, e -
Right Meditation” (Mahavagga, I, 6).
The substance of this teaching is that life is suffering,
the thirst for life and its pleasures is the cause of suffer-
ing, the extinction of that thirst is the cessation of suſfer-
ing, and that such extinction can be brought about by a
holy life. It is impossible to convey in a few words all
that is implied by the eight maxims into which a holy
life has been analysed, but to Buddhists, trained in the
traditions of their religion, these maxims speak volumes.
Correct views and beliefs must be learnt and entertained ;
high aims and aspirations must always remain present
before the mind's eye; truthfulness and gentleness must
characterise every word that is uttered ; uprightness and
absolute integrity must mark the conduct. A livelihood
must be sought and adhered to which does no harm to
living and sentient things ; there must be a lifelong per-
Severance in doing good, in acts of kindness, gentleness,
344 RATIONALISTIC PERIOD. [BOOK III,
and beneficence; the mind, the intellect must be active
and watchful ; a calm and tranquil meditation shall fill
the life with peace. This is the Eightfold Path for con-
quering desires and passions and thirst for life. A more
beautiful picture of life was never conceived by poet or
visionary ; and a more perfect system of self-culture was
never proclaimed by philosopher or saint.
The idea of self-culture was no doubt developed
during the long course of meditation and practical good
work in which Gautama passed his life. On the eve of
his death he called together his brethren, and appears to
have recapitulated the entire system of self-culture under
seven heads, and these are known as the Seven Jewels
of the Buddhist Law.
“Which, then, O brethren, are the truths which,
when I had perceived, I made known to you; which when
you have mastered, it behoves you to practise, meditate
upon, and spread abroad, in order that pure religion may
last long and be perpetuated, in order that it may conti-
nue to be for the good and the happiness of the great
multitudes, out of pity for the world, to the good and the
gain and the weal of gods and men P -
“They are these :-
The four earnest meditations,
The fourfold great struggle against sin,
The four roads to saintship,
The five moral powers,
The five organs of spiritual sense,
The seven kinds of wisdom, and
The Noble Eightfold Path” (Mahaparinibbana
Suſta, III, 65).
Here, again, it is impossible to convey in a few words
any adequate conception of all that is implied by these
rules of discipline ; a volume could be written on this
most edifying subject. -
The four earnest meditations alluded to are the medi-
tations on the body, the sensations, the ideas, and the
CHAP. XIII.] DOCTRINES OF BUDIDHA, 345
reason. The fourfold struggle against sin is the struggle
to prevent sinfulness, the struggle to put away sinful
states which have arisen, the struggle to produce good-
ness, and the struggle to increase goodness... The fourfold
struggle comprehends in fact a life-long, earnest, unceas-
ing endeavour on the part of the sinner towards more
and more of goodness and virtue. The fourfold roads to
saintship are the four means, –the will, the exertion, the
preparation, the investigation,--by which Iddhi is acquired.
In later Buddhism, Iddhi means Supernatural powers, but
what Gautama meant was probably the influence and
power which the mind by long training and exercise can
acquire over the body. The five moral powers, and the
five organs of spiritual sense, are Faith, Energy, Thought,
Contemplation, and Wisdom ; and the seven kinds of
wisdom are Energy, Thought, Contemplation, Investiga-
tion, Joy, Repose, Serenity. The Eightfold Path has
already been described. -
It is by such prolonged self-culture, by the breaking
of the ten fetters, doubt, sensuality, &c., that one can at
last obtain NIRVANA. -
“There is no suffering for him who has finished his
journey and abandoned grief, who has freed himself on
all sides, and thrown off all fetters. -
“They depart with their thoughts well collected, they
are not happy within abode ; like swans who have left
their lake, they leave their house and home.
“Tranquil is his thought, tranquil are his word and
deed, who has been freed by true knowledge, who has
become a tranquil man” (Phammaſada, 9o, 91, 96).
It was generally believed that “Nirvana” implied final
extinction or death ; and Professor Max Müller was the
first to point out, what most scholars have now accepted,
that Nirvana does not mean death, but only the extinction
of that sinful condition of the mind, that thirst for life and
its pleasures, which brings on new births. What Gautama
meant by Nirvana is attainable in life ; it is what he
VOL. I. 44
346 RATIONALISTIC PERKOD, [BOOK III.
attained in life; it is the sinless calm state of mind, the
freedom from desires and passions, the perfect peace,
goodness and wisdom, which continuous self-culture can
procure for man. As Rhys Davids puts it, “the Buddhist
heaven is not death, and it is not on death, but on a
virtuous life here and now, that the Pitakas lavish those
terms of ecstatic description which they apply to Arhat.
ship, the goal of the excellent way, and to Nirvana as one
aspect of it.” - -
But is there no future bliss, no future heaven beyond
“the virtuous life here and now” for those who have
attained Nirvana P. This was a question which often
puzzled Buddhists, and they often pressed their great
Master for a categorical answer.
On this point Gautama’s replies are uncertain ; nor
does he ever appear to have inspired in his followers any
hopes of heaven, beyond Nirvana, which is the Buddhist’s
heaven and salvation.
Malukyaputta pressed this question on Gautama, and
desired to know definitely if the perfect Buddha did or
did not live beyond the death. Gautama inquired, “Have
I said, Come, Malukyaputta, and be my disciple ; I shall
teach thee whether the world is everlasting or not everlast-
ing?” “That thou hast not said, sire,” replied Malukyaputta.
“Then,” said Gautama, “do not press the inquiry.” If a
man, struck by a poisoned arrow, says to his physician, “I
shall not allow my wound to be treated until I know who
the man is by whom I have been wounded, whether he
is a Kshatriya, a Brahman, a Vaisya, or a Sudra,”—what
would be the end of him P. He would die of his wound.
And so would the man perish who did not strive after
enlightenment and a holy life, because he did know what
lay beyond. “Therefore, Malukyaputta, whatsoever has
not been revealed by me, let that remain unrevealed, and
what has been revealed, let it be revealed” (Chula-
Malużya-Ovada, Majhima Avikaya). - -
In the same manner we are told that King Prasenaji
CHAP. xIII.] DOCTRINES OF BUDDHA. 347
of Kosala, during a journey between his two chief towns,
Saketa and Sravasti, fell in with the nun Khema, renowned
for her wisdom. The king paid his respects to her, and
asked : “Venerable lady, does the Perfect One exist after
death P” She replied : “The Exalted One, O great King,
has not declared that the Perfect One exists after death.”
“Then does the Perfect One not exist after death, Vener-
able lady ?” inquired the king. But Khema still replied :
“This also, O great King, the Exalted One has not
declared, that the Perfect One does not exist after death”
(Samyutta Mikaya).
These extracts will show that Gautama’s religion does
not look beyond the Nirvana.* Gautama’s aim was clear
and well-defined ; he invited all men, by a strict self-
culture, to end their sufferings, to avoid future states of
suffering, to attain in this world to a state of holy bliss
and perfect sinlessness, which is Nirvana.
If a man does not attain to this state of Nirvana in
life, he is liable to future births. Gautama did not be-
lieve in the existence of a soul ; but, nevertheless, the
theory of transmigration of souls was too deeply implanted
in the Hindu mind to be eradicated, and Gautama there.
fore adhered to the theory of transmigration without
accepting the theory of soul. But if there is no soul,
what is it that undergoes transmigration ? The reply is
given in the Buddhist doctrine of KARMA. :
The doctrine is, that “Karma,” or the “doing” of a
man cannot die, but must necessarily lead to its legitimate
result. And when a living being dies, a new being is
produced according to the Karma of the being that is
dead. Thus, though the pious Buddhist does not believe
in a soul, he believes that his state of life is determined
by his Karma in a previous birth. And Buddhist writers
* See the question fully and elaborately discussed by Dr. Oldenberg
in his work on Buddha, his Life, his Doctrine, his Order. The
learned scholar has based his opinion on a careful examination of
the entire body of the Buddhist canon,
348 - RATIONALISTHC PERIOD, [BOOK 155.
are fond of comparing the relation of one life to the next,
as that of the flame of a lamp to the flame of another
lighted by it. And if the innocent man suffers in this
world, he argues, “It is the result of my own work, why
should I complain P’’ But wherein is the identity of the
man who suffers with the man who is dead, if there is no
soul ? The Buddhist answers : “In that which alone
remains when a man dies and is dissolved into atoms–
in his action, thought and speech, in his Karma, which
cannot die.” -
The reasoning seems to us like arguing in a circle,
but nevertheless there is one aspect of the theory the
correctness of which will be admitted by modern social
philosophers. The Buddhist believes, as well as the
modern philosopher, that each generation is the heir to
the consequences of the virtues and sins of the preceding
generation, and that, in this sense, a nation reaps as it
sows, “The Buddhist saint does not mar the purity of
his self-denial by lusting after positive happiness which
he himself shall enjoy hereafter. His consciousness will
cease to feel, but his virtue will live and work out its full
effect in the decrease of the sum of the misery of sentient
beings.”
But the theory of transmigration was not the only
doctrine which Gautama accepted from ancient Hinduism
and adopted in a modified form into his own religion.
The whole of the Hindu Pantheon of the day was
similarly accepted, and similarly modified to suit his
cardinal idea, the supreme efficacy of a holy life. The
thirty-three gods of the Rig Veda were recognised, but
they were not supreme. Brahma, the Supreme Deity of
the Upanishads, was recognised, but was not supreme.
For they too were struggling through repeated births, to
attain to that holy life, that Nirvana, which alone was
supreme. Never was there such a daring attempt made
by man to elevate holiness and purity above the super-
* Rhys David's Buddhis/1, p. 104.
cHAP. XIII.] DOCTRINES OF BUDDHA. 349
natural and the celestial ; to raise goodness, attainable
by man,—above the gods and the unknown powers of
the universe ! w
It is necessary, however, to remark that it is doubtful
whether Gautama himself recognised the Hindu Pantheon.
It is not impossible that the Devas and Gandharvas and
Brahma lingered in the traditional language of the people
who had adopted Buddhism. -
With regard to the Caste-system, Gautama respected
a Brahman as he respected a Buddhist Sraman, but he
respected him for his virtue and learning, not for his caste,
which he in his soul ignored. When two Brahman youths,
Vasishtha and Bharadvaja, began to quarrel on the ques-
tion, “How does one become a Brahman P” and came to
Gautama for his opinion, Gautama delivered to them a
discourse in which he emphatically ignored caste, and
held that a man's distinguishing mark was his work, not
his birth. “The grass and the trees,” he said, “the worms,
moths, and ants, the quadrupeds, snakes, fishes, and
birds are all divided into species which are known by
their distinguishing marks. Man, too, has his distin-
guishing mark, and that is his profession.
“For whoever amongst men lives by cow-keeping,
know this, O Vasishtha, he is a husbandman, not a
Brahman.
“And whoever amongst men lives by different mechani-
cal arts . . . is an artisan, not a Brahman.
“And whoever amongst men lives by trade . . . is a
merchant, not a Brahman.
“And whoever amongst men lives by serving others
. . is a servant, not a Brahman.
“And whoever amongst men lives by theft . . . is a
thief, not a Brahman. º
“And whoever amongst men lives by archery. . . is
a soldier, not a Brahman.
“And whoever amongst men lives by performing house-
hold ceremonials . . . is a sacrificer, not a Brahman.
350 RATIONALISTIC PERIOD. [BOOK III.
“And whoever amongst men possesses villages . . . is
a king, not a Brahman. - {
“And I do not call one a Brahman on account of his
birth, or of his origin from a particular mother, he may
be called Bhupati, and he may be wealthy, -but the one
who is possessed of nothing and seizes upon nothing,
him I call a Brahman. . . .
“The man who is free from anger, endowed with holy
works, virtuous, without desire, subdued, and wearing his
last body, him I call a Brahman, - -
“The man who like water on a lotus leaf, or a mustard
seed on the point of a needle, does not cling to sensual
pleasures, him I call a Brahman” (Vasettha Sutta).
Similarly in the Assalayana Sutta of the Majjhima
Nikaya we are told that a distinguished Brahman scholar,
Assalayana, came to controvert Gautama's opinion that
all castes were equally pure. Gautama, who could meet
a logician with his own weapons, asked if the wives of
Brahmans were not subject to all the disabilities of child-
birth like other women. “Yes,” replied Assalayana.
“We’re there not differences in colour among the people
of adjacent countries like Bactria and Afghanistan,” asked
Gautama, “and yet could not slaves become masters, and
masters slaves, in those countries P” “Yes,” replied
Assalayana. “Then,” asked Gautama, “if a Brahman is a
murderer, a thief, a libertine, a liar, a slanderer, violent
or frivolous in speech, covetous, malevolent, given to false
doctrine, will he not after death be born to misery and
woe, like any other caste P” “Yes,” said Assalayana,
and he also admitted that good works would lead to
heaven irrespective of caste. Gautama proceeded further
to argue that when a mare was united with an ass, the
offspring was a mule, but the offspring of a Kshatriya
united to a Brahman resembled its parents, and the
obvious conclusion, therefore, was that there was really
no difference between a Brahman and a Kshatriya . By
such arguments Gautama drove the truth home to the
cHAP. XIII.] DOCTRINES OF BUDDHA. - 35 I
young logician's mind, and he “sat there silent, awkward,
distressed, looking downwards, reflecting, not able to
answer,”—and then became a disciple of Gautama.
At another time Gautama explained to his followers,
“As the great streams, O disciples, however many they
may be, –the Ganga, Yamuna, Asiravati, Sarabhu, and
Mahi, when they reach the great ocean lose their old
name and their old descent, and bear only one name, -the
great Ocean,”—so also do Brahmans, Kshatriyas, Vaisyas,
and Sudras lose their distinctions when they join the Order.
And we know that this theory was consistently carried out
in practice, and Upali, a barber, as we have seen before,
joined the Order and became one of the most revered and
learned of Buddhist monks. A touching story is also told
in the Theragatha, which enables us to comprehend how
Buddhism came like a salvation to the humble and the
lowly in India, and how they eagerly embraced it as a
refuge from caste-injustice. Sunita the thera or elder
says, “I have come of a humble family, I was poor and
needy. The work which I performed was lowly,–sweep-
ing the withered flowers. I was despised of men, looked
down upon and lightly esteemed. With submissive mien
I showed respect to many. Then I beheld Buddha with
his band of monks as he passed, the great hero, into the
most important town of Magadha. Then I cast away my
burden and ran to bow myself in reverence before him.
From pity for me he halted, that highest among men.
Then I bowed myself at the master’s feet, stepped up to
him and begged him, the highest among all beings, to
accept me as a monk. Then said unto me the gracious
master, ‘Come hither, O monk’—that was the initiation
I received.” And the passage concludes with the lesson
which Gautama had so often preached, “By holy zeal
and chaste living, by restraint and self-repression, there-
by a man becomes a Brahman: that is the highest
Brahmanhood.”
Who can read this touching story of humble Sunita's
352 RATIONALISTIC PERIOD. [BOOK III.
conversion without realising the loving spirit of equality
which was the soul of early Buddhism, and which ensured
its success P The great teacher who regarded nor wealth,
nor rank, nor caste, came to the poor and the despised
as well as to the rich and the noble, and welcomed them
to effect their own salvation by a pure life and unstained
conduct. A virtuous life opened the path to the highest
honour to the low-born and the high-born alike, -no
distinction was known or recognised in the Holy Order.
Thousands of men and women responded to this loving
and rational appeal, and merged their caste inequalities
in a common love for their teacher and a common
emulation of his virtues. And within three centuries
from the date when Gautama proclaimed his message of
equality and of love in Benares, the religion of equality
and of love was the state religion of India. Caste was
unknown within the Holy Order, and lost its sting among
laymen outside the Order; for it was open to the lowest
born among them to embrace the Order and thus win
the highest honour.
“393. A man does not become a Brahman by his
platted hair, by his family, or by birth ; in whom there is
truth and righteousness, he is blessed, he is a Brahman.
“394. What is the use of platted hair, O fool | What
of the raiment of goat skins P Within thee there is
ravening, but the outside thou makest clean.*
“422. Him I call, indeed, a Brahman, the manly, the
noble, the hero, the great sage, the conqueror, the im-
passible, the accomplished, the awakened.
“I41. Not nakedness, not platted hair, not dirt, not
fasting or lying on earth, nor rubbing with dust, nor sit-
ting motionless, can purify a mortal who has not over-
come desires”f (Zhammapada).
* Compare Matthew xxiii. 27, Luke xi. 39.
+ Professor Max Müller has the following interesting note to the
above verse :– -
“Walking naked and the other, things mentioned in our verse,
CHAP. XIII.] EOCTRINES OF BUIDEX H.A. 353
It is a mistake to suppose that Gautama positively
enjoined on all to retire from the world and to embrace
the Holy Order. To conquer the yearning for life and
its pleasures was the cardinal aim of the reformer, and
he assigned no peculiar virtue to an outward act of re-
nouncement of the world. But, nevertheless, as it is
difficult to conquer that thirst so long as one is actually.
living in the midst of his family and enjoying the pleasures
of life, Gautama recommended the life of a Bhikkhu as
the more efficacious means for securing the great end.
And so thousands retired from the world and became
Bhikkhus, and thus the Buddhist Monastic system was
formed ; probably the first organised Monastic system
in the world. * -
It is not necessary to narrate here the rules of the
Buddhist Monastic system, as they do not come in among
the essential doctrines of the religion. We will only
quote here a beautiful Sutra, giving a supposed con-
versation between Gautama and a herdsman relating to the
comparative virtues of worldly life and a religious life :-
H. “I have boiled my rice, I have milked my cows,”—so
Said the herdsman Dhaniya, “I am living together with
my fellows near the banks of the Mahi river. My house
is covered, the fire is kindled : therefore, if thou like,
rain, O Sky 1 " . -
“2, I am free from anger, free from stubbornness,”—
so said Bhagavat, “I am abiding for one night near the
are outward signs of saintly life, and these Buddha rejects because they
do not calm the passions. Nakedness he seems to have rejected on
other grounds, if we may judge from Sumagadha Avadana. A number
of naked friars were assembled in the house of the daughter of Anatha
Pindika. She called her daughter-in-law Sumagadha, and said, ‘Go
and see those highly respectable persons.” Sumagadha, expecting to
See Some of the Saints like Sariputra, Maudgalayana, and others, ran out
full of joy. But when she saw these friars, with their hair like pigeon-
Wings covered by nothing but dirt, offensive, and looking like demons,
She became sad. ‘Why are you sad P’ said her mother-in-law. Suma-
ºpied, “O mother, if these are saints, what must sinners be
ll&C : - - *.
VOL. I. 45
354 RATIONALISTIC PERIOD, [BOOK III.
banks of the Mahi river. My house is uncovered, the
fire (of passions) is extinguished : therefore, if thou like,
rain, O Sky P
3. “Gadflies are not to be found with me,”—so said
the herdsman Dhaniya, “in meadows abounding with
grass the cows are roaming, and they can endure the rain
when it comes : therefore, if thou like, rain, O Sky 1’’
4. “By me is made a well-constructed raft,”—so said
Bhagavat, “I have passed over (to Nirvana). I have
reached the further bank, having overcome the torrent
(of passions); there is no further use for a raft : therefore,
if thou like, rain, O Sky 1’’
5. “My wife is obedient, not wanton,”—so said the
herdsman Dhaniya,-“for a long time she has been living
together with me. She is winning, and I hear nothing
wicked of her: therefore, if thou like, rain, O Sky 1’’
6. “My mind is obedient and freed,”—so said Bhaga-
vat, “it has for a long time been highly cultivated and
well subdued. There is no longer anything wicked in
me: therefore, if thou like, rain, O Sky 1’’
7. “I support myself by my own earnings,”—so said
the herdsman Dhaniya, “and my children are about me
healthy. I hear nothing wicked of them : thererore, if
thou like, rain, O Sky 1”
8. “I am no one's servant,”—so said Bhagavat, “with
what I have gained, I wander about in all the world.
There is no need for me to serve: therefore, if thou like,
rain, O Sky 1”
9. “I have cows, I have calves,”—so said Dhaniya,
“I have cows in calf and heifers. And I have also a
bull as lord over the cows; therefore, if thou like, rain,
O Sky!” .
Io. “I have no cows; I have no calves,”—so said
Bhagavat, -“I have no cows in calf and no heifers.
And I have no bull as a lord over the cows : therefore,
if thou like, rain, O Sky!”
II. “The stakes are driven in, and cannot be shaken,”
CHAP. XIII.] DOCTRINES OF BUDDHA. 355
—so said the herdsman Dhaniya, –“the ropes are made
of munga grass, new and well made, the cows will not
be able to break them : therefore, if thou like, rain, O
Sky 1’’
12. “Having, like a bull, rent the bonds; having, like
an elephant, broken through the galuchchhi creeper, I
shall not again enter into a womb: therefore, if thou like,
rain, O Sky 1’’ *
Then at once a shower poured down, filling both sea
and land. Hearing the sky raining, Dhaniya spoke
thus:–
13. “No small gain indeed to us, since we have seen
Bhagavat. We take refuge in thee, O thou endowed
with the eye of wisdom | Be thou our master, O great
Muni l’’ (Phaniyasutta).”
These are the leading doctrines of Gautama's religion,
and a brief recapitulation of them will probably be useful
to our readers. We have explained that Buddhism is in
its essence a system of self-culture, an effort towards
a holy life on this earth, and nothing more. We have
seen that Gautama preached the Four truths that life was
suffering, the thirst after life was the cause of suffering,
the conquering of that thirst was the cessation of suffer-
ing, and the path of Self-culture was the means of
conquering the thirst after life. Placing a holy life and
sinless peace as the ideal of his religion and as the
highest aim of human destiny, Gautama carefully ela:
borated a system of Self-culture, a method of self-
restraint in thought, word, and speech, which he called
the Moble . Eightfold Path, or which is known as the
Seven Jewels of the Zaw. - -
And that holy peace, that sinless, tranquil life which
is the object of so much self-restraint and self-culture,
is attainable in this earth; it is the Buddhist’s heaven,
it is Mirvana. Gautama's religion offers no glowing
rewards in a world to come ; virtue is its own reward;
* Compare the parable in St. Luke xii. 16.
356 RATIONALISTIC PERIOD. [BOOK III.
a virtuous life is the Buddhist’s final aim ; a virtuous
peace on earth is the Buddhist's Nirvana. • |
* We have seen that Gäutama nevertheless adopted the
Hindu idea of transmigration in a modified form into
his own religion. If Nirvana is not attained in life, the
Karma or actions of a living being lead to their legitimate
results in re-births, until the discipline is complete and
Nirvana is attained. •
In the same manner Gautama adopted or permitted the
adoption of the popular belief in the Hindu Pantheon,
the thirty-three gods of the Rig Veda, and Brahma, and
the Gandharvas. All these beings, all leaving creatures
in the universe, are struggling through repeated births
in various spheres to attain that Nirvana which is the
supreme aim and destiny and salvation of all.
But there were doctrines and customs of Hindu.
ism which he could not accept. The caste-system he
eschewed, asceticism and penances he disapproved, the
Vedic rites he declared to be fruitless. In place
of such rites, he enjoined a benevolent life and the
conquest of all passions and desires; and he recom-
mended a retirement from the world as the most effica-
cious means for securing this end. The recommen.
dation was followed, and led to the Zºuddhist Monastis
systemz. )
The great distinguishing feature of Buddhism, then,
is that it is a training towards a virtuous and holy life
on this earth, and takes little thought of rewards and
punishments. It appeals to the most disinterested
feelings in man's nature, sets before him virtue as its
own reward, and enjoins a life-long endeavour towards
its attainment. It knows of no higher aim among gods
or men than the attainment of a tranquil, sinless life;
it speaks of no other salvation than virtuous peace, it
knows of no other heaven than holiness. “It swept
away from the field of its vision the whole of the great
soul-theory which had hitherto so completely filled abd
cHAP. XIII.] DOCTRINES OF BUDDHA. 357
dominated the minds of the superstitious and of the
thoughtful alike. For the first time in the history of the
world, it proclaimed a salvation which each man could
gain for himself, and by himself, in this world, during
this life, without any, the least, reference to God or
to gods, either great or small.”
On the other hand, this very feature of Buddhism is
the subject of charges frequently brought against the
religion. It is urged that it is an agnostic religion,
that it knows of no God, no soul, no future world for
those who have attained salvation. Dr. Rhys Davids
points out, however, that agnostic philosophy has come,
not once or twice, but repeatedly to the forefront when
theology has failed to offer satisfactory replies to in-
quiries after the unknown, and men have sought for new
solutions to old questions. “It is their place in the pro-
gress of thought that helps us to understand how it is
that there is so much in common between the agnostic
philosophers of India, the stoics of Greece and Rome,
and some of the newest schools in France, in Germany,
and among ourselves.” f v.
-
* Rhys Davids, IIibbert Lectures, 1881.
tº Buddhist Suttas, p. 145.
CHAPTER XIV.
MORAL PRAECEPTS OF GAUZAMA BUDDH.4.
A RELIGION, the great aim of which is the teaching of
holy living in this world, must necessarily be rich in
moral precepts, and such precepts are the peculiar beauty
of Buddhism, for which the religion is held in honour all
over the civilised world. It will be our pleasant task in
this chapter to glean some of these graceful precepts,
which will give our readers some idea of the essence of
Gautama's moral teachings. -
Gautama prescribed for lay disciples five prohibitory
rules or Commandments, which were, no doubt, suggested
by the five Mahapatakas or heinous crimes of the Hindu
law books, referred to before. • '
“18. A householder's work, I will also tell you, how
a Savaka is to act to be a good one ; for that complete
Bhikkhu Dhamma cannot be carried out by one who is
taken up by worldly occupations.
“19. Let him not kill or cause to be killed any
living being, nor let him approve of others killing, after
having refrained from hurting all creatures, both those
that are strong and those that tremble in the world.
“20. Then let the Savaka abstain from taking anything
in any place that has not been given to him, knowing it
to belong to another; let him not cause any one to take,
nor approve of those that take. Let him avoid all theft.
“21. Let the wise man avoid an unchaste life as a
burning heap of coals ; not being able to live a life of
chastity, let him not transgress with another man's wife.
358
CHAP. XIV.] | PRECEPTS OF BUDDHA. 359
“22. ‘Let no one speak falsely to another in the hall
of justice, or in the hall of the assembly ; let him not
cause any one to speak falsely, nor approve of those that
speak falsely. Let him avoid all untruth.
“23. Let the householder, who approves of this
Dhamma, not give himself to intoxicating drinks ; let
him not cause others to drink, nor approve of those that
drink, knowing it to end in madness.”—Dhammika Sutta,
Sutta AVipata.
These five precepts, which are known as the Five Com-
mandments, or the five rules of conduct (Pancha Sila),
are binding on all Buddhists, laymen, and Bhikkhus.
They are recapitulated thus :—
“25. Let not one kill any living being.
Let not one take what is not given to him.
Let not one speak falsely.
Let not one drink intoxicating drinks.
Let not one have unchaste sexual intercourse.”
r (Ibid.)
Three other rules are laid down which are not con-
sidered obligatory, but which are recommended to austere
and pious lay disciples. They are—
“25, 26. Let him not at night eat untimely food.
Let him not wear wreaths or use perfumes.
Let him lie on a bed, spread on the earth.”
- (Ibid)
The austere and pious householder is recommended
to take a vow of all these eight precepts, which are
known as the Eight Commandments, or the eight rules
of conduct (Ashtanga Sila).
To these eight rules two more are added, and they
are : To abstain from dancing, music, singing, and stage
plays ; and, To abstain from the use of gold and silver.
These Ten Commandments (Dasa Sila) are binding on
Bhikkhus, as the Five Commandments are binding on all
laymen.
To honour one's father and mother, and to follow an
360 JRATIONALISTIC PERIOD. [BOOK III.
honourable trade; though not included in the Command.
ments, are duties enjoined in the same Sutta on all house-
holders. . . f - -
“Let him dutifully maintain his parents, and practise
an honourable trade. The householders who observes
this strenuously goes to the gods Sayampabhas (Sanscriţ
Svayambhu).” - .
A more exhaustive category of the duties of the house.
holder is given in the well-known Sigalovada Sutta,
common both to the Northern and the Southern Buddhists,
and which has been more than once translated into Euro-
pean languages. The enumeration of the duties gives
us so clear an insight into the state of Hindu society and
into the ideal of Hindu social life, that we feel no hesita.
tion in quoting it:— -
1. Parents and Children.
Parents should—
1. Restrain their children from vice.
2. Train them in virtue. •
3. Have them taught in arts or sciences.
4. Provide them with suitable wives or husbands.
5. Give them their inheritance. i
The child should say—
I. I will support them who supported me.
2. I will perform family duties incumbent on them.
3. I will guard their property. g , ,
4. I will make myself worthy to be their heir.
5. When they are gone, I will honour their memory.
2. Pupils and Teachers.
The pupil should honour his teachers—
By rising in their presence.
By ministering to them.
By obeying them. . . . .
By Supplying their wants.
By attention to instruction.
i
cIIAP. XIV.] PRECEPTS OF BUDI} H.A. 361
The teacher should show his aſſection to his pupils—
By training them in all that is good.
By teaching them to hold knowledge fast.
By instruction in science and lore.
By ‘speaking well of them to their friends and
companions.
5. By guarding them from danger.
:
3. Husband and Weſe.
The husband should cherish his wife—
1. By treating her with respect.
2. By treating her with kindness.
3. By being faithful to her.
4. By causing her to be honoured by others.
5. By giving her suitable ornaments and clothes.
The wife should show her affection for her husband-–
I. She orders her household aright.
2. She is hospitable to kinsmen and friends.
3. She is a chaste wife.
4. She is a thrifty housekeeper.
5. She shows skill and diligence in all she has to do.
4. Friends and Companions.
The honourable man should minister to his friends—
By giving presents. *
By courteous speech.
. By promoting their interest.
By treating them as his equals.
5. By sharing with them his prosperity.
They should show their attention to him—
1. By watching over him when he is off his guard.
. By guarding his property when he is careless,
. By offering him a refuge in danger. -
. By adhering to him in misfortune.
. By showing kindness to his family.
:
2
:
VOL. I. 4ö
362 18 ATION ALISTIC PERIOD. [BOOK III,
5, Masters and Servants.
The master should provide for the welfare of his de-
pendents—
I. By apportioning work to them according to their
strength.
2. By supplying suitable food and wages.
3. By tending them in sickness.
4. By sharing with them unusual delicacies.
5. By now and then granting them holidays.
They should show their attachment to him as follows:–
1. They rise before him.
2. They retire later to rest.
3. They are content with what is given them.
4. They work cheerfully and thoroughly.
5. They speak well of him.
6. Zaymen and those devoted to religion.
The honourable man ministers to Bhikkhus and Brah-
II].3.I.) S –
1. By affection in act.
2. By affection in words.
3. By affection on thoughts.
4. By giving them a ready welcome,
5. By supplying their temporal wants.
They should show their affection to him—
1. By dissuading him from vice.
2. By exhorting him to virtue.
3. By feeling kindly towards him.
4. By instructing him in religion.
5. By clearing up his doubts and pointing the way
to heaven.
What glimpses of pure Hindu life, of pleasant domestic
and social feelings and duties, do we obtain from the
above categories! The anxious care of parents to give
CHAP. XIV.] PRECEPTS OF BUDDHA. 363
children education and moral teaching and earthly com-
forts; the dutiful desire of children to support and respect
their parents and honour their memory when dead; the
respectful behaviour of the pupil towards the teacher, and
the teacher's, anxious care and affection for the pupil; the
respect, the kindness, the honourable and affectionate
treatment which the Hindu religion has ever enjoined
on husbands towards their wives, and the faithfulness
and scrupulous attention to domestic duties for which
Hindu wives have always been known; the kindly rela-
tions between friends and friends, between masters and
servants, between laymen and spiritual instructors : these
are among the noblest lessons that the Hindu religion
has taught, and these are among the noblest traditions
which Hindu literature has handed down for thousands
of years. Buddhism accepted this noble heritage from
the ancient Hindus, and embalmed it in its sacred
literature.
We turn now from Gautama’s categories of duties to
those precepts and benevolent maxims to which Buddhism
mainly owes its deserved fame in the modern world.
Gautama's religion was a religion of benevolence and
love; and five centuries before Jesus Christ was born,
the Hindu teacher had declared— - 4.
“5. Hatred does not cease by hatred at any time,
hatred ceases by love : this is its nature.”
“I 97. Let us live happily, not hating those who hate
us. Among men who hate us, let us live free from
hatred.” t -
“223. Let one overcome anger by love, let him over-
come evil by good. Let bim overcome the greedy by
liberality, the liar by truth" (Dhammapada).
Parables were told to impress this great lesson on the
followers of the gentle and pure-souled Gautama, and we
Will here narrate one of these parables as briefly as we
Can. Trying to heal contentions and differences among
his followers, Gautama said: – -
364 RATION ALISTIC PERYOD). [BOOK III.
“In former times, O Bhikkhus, there lived at Benares
a king of the Kasis, Brahmadatta by name, wealthy, rich
in treasures, rich in revenues, and rich in troops and
vehicles, the lord over a great realm, with full treasuries
and storehouses, And there was also a king of the
Kosalas, Dighiti by name, not wealthy, poor in treasures,
poor in revenues, poor in troops and vehicles, the lord over
a small realm, with empty treasuries and storehouses.” .
As often happens, the rich king robbed the weak one of
his realm and treasures, and Dighiti with his queen fled
to Benares, and dwelt there in a potter's house in the
guise of an ascetic. There the exiled queen gave birth to
a child who was called Dighavu, and in course of time the
boy reached his years of discretion.
In the mean time King Brahmadatta heard that his
former rival was living in the town in disguise with his
wife, and he ordered them to be brought before him, and
had them cruelly executed. -
Theirson Dighavu was then living outside Benares, but
happened to come to the town at the time of his father's
execution. The dying king looked at his son, and with
more than human forgiveness left his last injuctions on
his son. “AWoë by hatred, my dear Dighavu, is hatred
appeased. By love, my dear Dighavu, Začred is appeased.”
And young Dighavu, O Bhikkhus ! went to the forest;
there he cried and wept to his heart's content. He then
returned to the town, after having formed his resolutions,
and took employment under an elephant trainer in the
royal stables. -
Early in the dawn he arose and sang in a beautiful voice
and played upon the lute. And the voice was so beautiful
that the king inquired who it was that had risen so early
and had sung in the elephant stables in so beautiful a
voice. And the young boy was taken to the king, pleased
him, and was employed as his attendant. -
And it so happened that on one occasion the king went
out to hunt, taking young Dighavu with him. Dighavu's
chap. xiv.] PRECEPTS OF BUDDHA. 365
secret resentment was burning within him, and he so drove
the royal chariot, that the hosts went one way, and the
king's chariot went another way. -
At last the king felt tired and lay down, laying his head
on the lap of young Dighavu, and as he was tired, he fell
asleep in a moment.
“And young Dighavu thought, O Bhikkhus, ‘This king
Brahmadatta, of Kasi, has done much harm to us. By
him we have been robbed of our troops and vehicles, our
realm, our treasuries, and storehouses. And he has killed
my father and mother. Now the time has come to me to
satisfy my hatred,’—and he unsheathed his sword.” -
But with the recollection of his father, the last words of
his dying parent came to the recollection of the vengeful
prince. “Mot by hatred, my dear ZXighazw, is hatred
appeased. By love, my dear ZXighavu, hatred is appeased.”
It would not become me to transgress my father’s word,
said the prince, and he put up his sword.
The king dreamt a frightful dream, and arose terrified
and alarmed. Dighavu told him the whole truth. The
king was astonished, and exclaimed, “Grant me my life,
my dear Dighavu ! Grant me my life, my dear Dighavu !”
The noble young prince forgave his father's murder in
carrying out his father's injunction, and granted Brahma-
datta his life. And Brahmadatta gave him back his father's
troops and vehicles, his realm, his treasures and store-
houses, and he gave him his daughter.
“Now, O Bhikkhus, if such is the forbearance and mild-
ness of kings who wield the sceptre and bear the sword, so
much more, O Bhikkhus, must you so let your light shine
before the world, that you, having embraced the religious
life according to so well-taught a doctrine and a discipline,
are seen to be forbearing and mild " (Mahavagga, X, 2).
But not only forbearance and mildness, but the virtue
of good acts is repeatedly, and impressively enjoined by
Gautama on his followers. # - * - - -
“51. Like a beautiful flower, full of colour, but without
366 RATIONALISTIC PERIOD, * [BOOK III.
scent, are the fine and fruitless words of him who does.
not act accordingly.” . . . -
“183. Not to commit sin, to do good, and to purify
one's mind, this is the teaching of the Buddhas.”
“20o. In like manner his good works receive him who
has done good and who has gone from this world to the
other—as kinsmen receive a friend on his return.”
“260. A man is not an elder, because his head is grey.
His age may be ripe, but he is called old in vain.”
“261. He in whom there is truth, virtue, love, restraint,
moderation, he who is free from impurity and is wise,
he is called an elder’ (Dhammapada).
And Gautama told the parable of Matanga, the Chan-
dala, who reached the highest fame, mounted the vehicle
of gods, and went to the Brahma world by good deeds.
Therefore, - -
“Not by birth does one become an outcast, not by birth
does one become a Brahman. By deeds one becomes an
outcast, by deeds one becomes a Brahman” (Vasala Sutta,
Sutta AViñata, 27). - -
And again in the Amagandha Sutta of the Sutta Mpata,
Gautama explains to a Brahman, Kasyapa by name, that
destroying life, killing, cutting, binding, stealing, lying,
fraud, and adultery; backbiting, treachery, and cruelty;
intoxication, deceit, and pride and a bad mind and wicked
deeds are what defile a man. Neither abstinence from fish
or flesh, nor nakedness, nor tonsure, nor matted hair, nor
dirt, nor rough garment, nor sacrifices to the fire, nor pen-
ances, nor hymns, nor oblations, nor sacrifices can purify him.
The whole of the Dhammapada is a string of 423 moral
precepts which for their beauty and moral worth are un-
surpassed by any similar collection of precepts made in
any age or country. And a good-sized volume, might be
compiled from the legends and maxims, the parables and
precepts which are interspersed throughout the Buddhist
Sacred Scriptures. We will close this chapter with only
a few more extracts:— . . . . . . . ' -
CHAP. XIV.] PRECEPTS OF BUDD H.A. 367
“129. All men tremble at punishment, all men fear
death. Remember that you are like unto them, and do
not kill, nor cause slaughter.”
“130. All men tremble at punishment, all men love
life. Remember that you are like unto them, and do not
kill nor cause slaughter.”
“252. The fault of others is easily perceived, but that
of oneself is difficult to perceive ; a man winnows his
neighbour's faults like chaff, but his own fault he hides,
as a cheat hides the bad die from the gambler” (Dham-
ºnapada). - -
“This is called progress in the discipline of the Noble
One, if one sees his sin in its sinfulness, and duly makes
amends for it, and refrains from it in future” (Mahavagga,
IX, I, 9). & -
“Thus he lives as a binder together of those who are
divided, an encourager of those who are friends, a peace-
maker, a lover of peace, impassioned for peace, a speaker
of works that make for peace” (Teviñja Sutta, II, 5).
Who is not struck by the remarkable coincidence of
these noble precepts with those preached five hundred
years after in Palestine by the gentle and pure-souled
Jesus Christ? But the relations between Buddhist and
Christian ethics and moral precepts will be discussed in
the following chapter.
CHAPTER XV.
HISTORY OF BUD/HISM.
WE are told in the Chu//avagga, XI, that, on the death
of Gautama, the venerable Mahakasyapa proposed, “Let
us chant together the Dhamma and the Vinaya.” The
proposal was accepted, and 499 Arhats were selected
for the purpose; and Ananda, the faithful friend and
follower of Gautama, completed the number 50o.
“And so the Thera Bhikkhus went up to Raja-
griha to chant together the Dhamma and the Vinaya.”
Upali, who was a barber before, was questioned as the
great authority on Vinaya, and Ananda, the friend of
Gautama, was questioned as the authority on Dhamma
(Sutta). * I
This was the Council of Rajagriha held in the year of
Gautama’s death, 477 B.C., to settle the sacred text and
fix it on the memory by chanting it together. .
A century after the death of Gautama the Bhikkhus
of Vaisali (Vajjians), promulgated at Vaisali ten theses,
which permitted among other things the use of unfer-
mented toddy, and the receipt of gold and silver by
Bhikkhus or monks.
Yasa, the son of Kakandaka, a venerable Bhikkhu,
protested against these licenses, and invited venerable
teachers to a great Buddhist Council at Vaisali. He
“sent messengers to the Bhikkhus of the western
country, and of Avanti, and of the southern country,
saying, ‘Let your reverences come ! We must take in
charge this legal question before what is not Dhamma is
368
CHAP. XV.] HMSTORY OF BUPDHISM," 369
spread abroad and what is Dhamma is put aside ; before.
what is not Vinaya is spread abroad and what is Vinaya.
is put aside.” - . . . . . . .
In the meantinae the Bhikkhus of Vaisali heard that:
Yasa was obtaining support from the Bhikkhus of the
Western Provinces, and they too sought for support from .
the East. Indeed the difference was between the Eastern.
Buddhists of Vaisali, and the Western Buddhists, of the
provinces along the higher course of the Ganges, and
also of Malwa and the Deccan. The Eastern opinions,
were started by the Vajjians of Vaisali, and if the Vaj-
jians be the same as the Turanian Yu-Chi tribe, as has
been supposed by Beal, the dispute was mainly between.
Turanian Buddhists and Hindu Buddhists. We shall
see further on that the Eastern opinions were subse-
quently upheld by the Buddhists of the Northern school,
and that the Turanian nations of the world, the Chinese,
the Japanese and the Thibetans belong to this Northern,
School. - .
The proceedings in the Council are interesting. The
Sangha met at Vaisali, and after much talk— . .
“The venerable Revata laid a resolution before the
Sangha: ‘Let the venerable Sangha hear me. Whilst
We are discussing this legal question, there is both much
pointless talking, and no sense is clear in any single:
speech. If it seem meet to the Sangha, let the Sangha
settle this question by referring it to a jury.’” W
And he proposed four Bhikkhus from the East and
four Bhikkhus from the West to form the jury. . The
resolution was put to the vote and carried unanimously.
that these eight should form a jury. *
The ten questions were then put one by one to the
jury, and the jury disallowed all the ten licenses for
which the Vaisali Bhikkhus had contended, except only
the sixth license, which, it was declared, was allowable
in certain cases, and not in other cases.
At this rehearsal, seven hundred Bhikkhus took part,
VOL. I. 47
37C RATIONALISTFC PERIOD, [BOOK II?.
and this was called the Council of Vaisali, and was held
in 377 B.C.
It must not be supposed, however, this settlement of
the ten questions was finally accepted by all parties.
The older and more influential members of the order
decided the questions, but the majority was against
them, and they seceded in large. numbers from the
bosom of the orthodox church. And the Northern
Buddhists are the successors of these seceders. Hence
the stream of Buddhism flows in two different channels,
known as the Northern Buddhism of Nepal, Thibet, and
China, and the Southern Buddhism of Ceylon, Burma,
and Siam.
It has been well observed that new religious systems,
knowever noble in their intrinsic worth, depend much
on external circumstances for their acceptance by man-
kind. The Christian religion, which made little progress
during the first few centuries, was then embraced by
Constantine when Roman sway and Roman culture
were predominant in Europe, and thus made an easy
and rapid progress in the western world. The religion
of Muhammad was proclaimed when the Arabians
had no rivals to oppose them in the world, when the
Roman power had declined, and the Feudal power had
not been developed in Europe. In India the ancient
Hindu religion had spread with the conquests of the
Aryans issuing from the Punjab and subjugating the
whole of India. In the same way the religion of Bud-
dha, which made no distinction between the Brahman
and the low-born, found acceptance in the non-Aryan
kingdom of Magadha more than in older Aryan provinces,
And when Magadha became the supreme power in India
in the third century before Christ, Buddhism was accepted
as a state religion for India. - - -
The Sisunaga dynasty, to which Bimbisara and Aja-
tasatru belonged, came to an end about 37c B.C., and
Nanda, born of a Sudra woman, ascended the throne,
CHAP. XV.] HISTORY OF BUDDHISM. 37 I
and he and his eight sons ruled for about fifty years.
A defeated rebel under the last of the Nandas escaped
from Magadha about 325 B. C., and met Alexander the
Great on the banks of the Sutlej. After Alexander's
departure, Chandragupta gathered round him the hardy
warriors of the west, and, about 320 B.C., succeeded in
having the last Nanda killed, and ascended the throne of
Magadha. -
Neither Chandragupta nor his son Bindusara was
a Buddhist. But Bindusara's successor, who ascended
the throne about 260 B.C., embraced the popular reli-
gion, and became its most powerful promulgator all over
India, and beyond India. Asoka's name is honoured
from the Volga to Japan, and from Siberia to Ceylon,
and “if a man's fame can be measured by the number of
hearts who revere his memory, by the number of lips
who have mentioned and still mention him with honour,
Asoka is more famous than Charlemagne or Caesar.””
Asoka extended his empire all over Northern India,
and his inscriptions have been found at Delhi and
Allahabad, near Peshawar and in Gujrat, in Orissa, and
even in Mysore.
He held the third Council at Patna about the eighteenth
year of his reign, i. e., about 242 B. C. One thousand
elders attended the Council which lasted for nine months,
under the presidency of Tissa son of Moggali. And the
Sacred texts were once more chanted and settled.
After the close of the Council, Asoka sent missionaries,
as we are told in the Dipavamsa and the Mahavamsa, to
Kashmir and Gandhara, to Mahisa (near modern Mysore),
to Vanavaso (probably Rajputana), to Aparantaka (West
Punjab), to Maharattha, to Yonaloka (Bactria and Greek
kingdoms), to Himavanta (central Himalayas), to Sub-
annabhumi (probably Burma), and to Lanka (Ceylon).
The edicts of Asoka also inform us that his orders were
carried out in Chola (Madras country), Pandya (Madura),
*Kopen, quoted in Rhys Davids’ Buddhism, p. 222.
37.2 TATION ALISTIC PERIOD), [BOOK III.
Satyapura (Satpura range), Kerala (Travancore), Ceylon,
and the land of the Greek king Antiochus of Syria. And
in another edict he tells us that he sent embassies to five
Greek kingdoms, viz., Syria, Egypt, Macedon, Epiros, and
Cyrene. -
We have seen before that Asoka sent his own son to
Ceylon, and Mahinda soon converted the king and spread
Buddhism in Ceylon. The scenes of Mahinda's labours
are still visible in Ceylon. Eight miles from the ruined
city of Anuradhapura is the hill of Mihintale, where the
Ceylonese king built a monastery for the Indian monks.
“Here on the precipitous western side of the hill, under
a large mass of granite rock, at a spot which, completely
shut out from the world, affords a magnificent view of
the plains below, he (Mahinda) had his study hollowed
out and steps cut in the rock, over which alone it could
be reached. There also the stone couch which was carved
out of the solid rock still exists, with holes, either for
curtain rods, or for a protecting balustrade beside it. The
great rock effectually protects the cave from the heat
of the sun, in whose warm light the broad valley below
lies basking. Not a sound reaches it from the plain, now
one far-reaching forest, then full of busy homesteads. . .
H shall not easily forget the day when I first entered that
lonely, cool, and quiet chamber, so simple and yet So
beautiful, where more than 2000 years ago the Great
Teacher of Ceylon had sat and thought and worked
through the long years of his peaceful and useful
life.” + s - O
,, . After the death of King Tissa, and of Mahinda, Ceylon
was twice overrun and conquered by Dravidian conquer.
ors, who were finally expelled by Watta Gamini about
88 B.C. And it was then that the Three Pitakas, which
had been so long preserved by word of mouth, are said to
have been reduced to writing, “Seeing the destruction of
men,” as the Dipavansa has it.
* Rhys Davids' Auddhis/?, pp. 230, 231,
CHAP. xv.1 HISTORY OF BUDDHISM, 373
Buddhagosha was the great commentator of Buddhist
sacred works, the Sayanacharya of Buddhism. He was a
Brahman of Magadha, and went to Ceylon and wrote the
great commentaries for which he is known. He then
went to Burma about 450 A.D., and introduced Buddhism.
into that country. - g
Buddhism was introduced in Siam in 638 A.D. Java
seems to have received Buddhist missionaries about the
same time, and Buddhism seems to have spread thence
to Sumatra. All these countries belonged to the Southern
Buddhist school. - ** - &
With regard to Northern Buddhism, we know that it
was the prevailing faith in the north-west of India before
the commencement of the Christian Era. Pushpa Mitra,
king of Kashmir, persecuted the Buddhists' early in the
second century B.C., and Pushpa Mitra’s son Agni Mitra
met the Greeks on the banks of the Ganges. The Greeks
under Menander were victorious, and about 150 B.C.
extended their conquests as far as the Ganges. But the
victory of the Greeks was no loss to Buddhism, and
Nagasena, a renowned Buddhist teacher of the time;
had religious controversies with the Greek king, which
have been preserved to us in a most interesting Pali
work. . . ' ' ' )
In the first century after Christ the Yu-Chis under
Kanishka conquered Kashmir. Kanishka's vast empire
extended over Kabul, over Yarkand; and Khokan, over
Kashmir and Rajputana, and over the whole of the Punjab
to Gujrat and Sind in the south, and to Agra in the east,
He was a zealous Buddhist of the Northern school; and
held a Council of 500 monks. If this Council had settled
the text as the Council of Asoka at Patna had done, we
should now have had in our possession: the settled
Scriptures of Northern Buddhism as we have the Three
Pitakas of the South. But Kanishka's, Council satisfied
itself with writing three commentaries only, and Northern
Buddhism therefore has drifted more and more frém the
374 RATIONALISTIC PERIOD, [BOOK III,
original religion, and assumed different forms in different
countries. It is necessary to add that Kanishka's Coun-
eil is unknown to the Southern Buddhists, as Asoka's
Council is unknown to the Northern Buddhists. Asva-
ghosa, who has written a life of Buddha for the Northern
Buddhists, lived in Kanishka's court. It is supposed that
the Christian apostle St. Thomas visited Western India
about this time, and died a martyr. The king Gondo-
phares of the Christian legend is supposed to be Kanishka
of Kandahar,
As early as the second century B.C., Buddhist books
were taken to the Emperor of China, probably from
Kashmir. Another emperor, in 62 A.D., procured more
Buddhist works, and Buddhism spread rapidly from
that date until it became the state religion in the fourth
century.
From China Buddhism spread to Korea in 372 A.D.,
and thence to Japan in 552 A.D. Kochin-China, Formosa,
Mongolia, and other places received Buddhism from
China in the fourth and fifth centuries; while from Kabul
the religion travelled to Yashkand, Balk, Bokhara, and
other places.
Buddhism must have penetrated into Nepal early, but
the kingdom became Buddhist in the sixth century, and
the first Buddhist king of Thibet sent for scriptures from
India in 632 A.D. -
We have now narrated the history of the spread of
Buddhism in the Southern countries, as well as among
the nations of the North and East. And it remains for us
only to ascertain the result of the missions which Asoka
sent to the West, i.e., to Egypt and Palestine. And this
brings us face to face with one of the most interesting
questions in the history of modern civilisation and religion.
The remarkable resemblance between the legends,
traditions, forms, institutions, and moral precepts of
Christianity and those of Buddhism has struck every
candid inquirer. A few: instances only are cited below
CHAP. XV.] HISTORY OF BUDDHišM. 375
The myths connected with the birth of Buddha are
strangely similar to those relating to the birth of Jesus.
In both the cases there was a divine annunciation, both
to the father and to the mother of the child, and both
the children were miraculously born, or virgin-born. “By
the consent of the king,” says the Lalita Vistara, “the
queen was permitted to lead the life of a maiden, and not
of a wife, for the space of thirty-two months.” We are
not aware, however, that this myth is to be found in the
older Pali records of the southern Buddhists. . . .
As in the case of Jesus, a star presided at the birth of
Gautama, and the star was Pushya, identified by Cole-
brooke with 8 of cancer. Asita, the Simeon of Buddhist
story, came to Gautama’s father and wished to see the
divine child. The child was shown, and the saint fore-
told that the boy would establish righteousness, and his
religion would be widely spread (AValaka Sutta.)
We do not attach much importance to the good omens
which are said to have hailed the auspicious event in the
one case as in the other. At Buddha's birth “the blind
received their sight as if from very longing to behold his
glory ; the deaf heard the noise ; the dumb spake one
with another; the crooked became straight ; the lame
walked ; all prisoners were freed from bonds and chains.”
Such happy events are narrated by the followers of all
religions as attending on the birth of their great Masters.
We have commented before on the close and remark-
able resemblance between the temptation of Gautama and
the temptation of Jesus. The story of the temptation is
told in a poetic garb in the Lalita Vistara, but even as
told in the southern records, it has a curious resemblance
with the Biblical story. - - -
Like Jesus, Gautama had twelve disciples. “Only in
my religion,” said he shortly before his death, “can be
found the twelve great disciples who practise the highest
virtues, and excite the world to free itself from its
*
& Rhys Davids' Birth Stories, p. 64.
376 RATIONALISTIC PERIOD. [BOOK III,
torments.” And the same missionary spirit impelled
the preacher of Kapilavastu and the preacher of Beth-
lehem. “Let not two of you go the same way,” said
Gautama. “Preach, O Bhikkhus, the doctrine which is
glorious” (Mahavagga, I, I 1, 1).
Baptism is common to Buddhism and to Christianity,
and indeed John the Baptist adopted the rite of baptism
from the Essenes, who admittedly represented the Bud-
dhist movement in Palestine, before the birth of Christ, as
we shall see later on. When Jesus was a young preacher
in Galilee, the fame of John the Baptist reached him.
Jesus went to John and lived with him, and no doubt
learnt from John many of the precepts and teachings of
the Essenes, and adopted the rite of baptism which John
had practised so long. Baptism has since been accepted
as a fundamental rite in Christendom. A Christian
acknowledges the Father, the Son, and the Hoky Ghost
at baptism, as a Buddhist, after abhisheka, acknowledges
Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha.
We pass by the subject of miracles, which are said to
have been performed both by Gautama and by Jesus.
And we also pass by Gautama’s parables, of which we
have said something in a previous chapter, and which
have such a remarkable resemblance with Christian
parables. Renan, who is so unwilling to admit Buddhist
influence on the development of the Christian faith,
nevertheless states that there was nothing in Judaism
which could have furnished Jesus with a model for the
parable style. On the other hand, “we find in the
Buddhist books parables of exactly the same tone and
the same character as the Gospel parables.” f
It is when we turn to monastic forms, rites, and
ceremonies, that we are struck with the most remark-
able resemblance, a resemblance about which Dr. Rhys
Davids states, “If all this be chance, it is a most
* Bigandet, p. 3OI.
f Life of Jesus translation), p. 136.
CHAP. XV.] HISTORY OF BUDD HISM, 377
stupendous miracle of coincidence ; it is in fact ten thou-
sand miracles.” " - r - -
A Roman Catholic missionary, Abbe Huc, was much
struck by what he saw in Thibet. “The crosier, the mitre
the dalmatic, the cope or pluvial, which the grand llamas
wear on a journey, or when they perform Some ceremony
outside the temple, the service with a double choir,
psalmody, exorcisms, the censer swinging on five chains
and contrived to be opened or shut at will, benediction by
the llamas with the right hand extended over the heads
of the faithful, the chaplet, sacerdotal celibacy, lenten
retirements from the world, the worship of saints, fasts,
processions, litanies, holy water, these are the points of
contact between the Buddhists and ourselves.” Mr. Arthur
Łillie, from whose book the above passage is quoted,
remarks, “The good Abbe has by no means exhausted
the list, and might have added confessions, tonsure, relic
worship, the use of flowers, lights and images before
shrines and altars, the sign of the cross, the Trinity in
Unity, the worship of the Queen of Heaven, the use of
religious books in a tongue unknown to the bulk of the
worshippers, the aureole or nimbus, the crown of saints
and Buddhas, wings to angels, penance, flagellations, the
flabellum or fan, popes, cardinals, bishops, abbots, pres-
byters, deacons, the various architectural details of the
Christian temple.” + -
It is not possible for us to go into the details of all
these rites and ceremonies, or to point out how the whole
fabric and structure of the Roman Catholic system seems
like a copy of the Buddhist system. So strong is the
resemblance, that the first Christian missionaries who
travelled in Thibet believed and recorded their im-
pression that the Buddhist Church had borrowed their
rites and forms from the Roman Catholic Church. It is
well known, however, that the Buddhists excavated many
* Hibbert Lectures, 1881, p. 93.
ſt Buddhism in Christendom, p. 202.
WOL, I. 48
378. RATIONALISTIC PERIO-D. [BOOK III,
of their great church edifices in India before Jesus Christ
was born ; that a vast monastery, a wealthy church, and
a learned university flourished in Nalanda near Patna,
before similar church edifices and monasteries were seen
in Europe ; and that as Buddhism declined in India,
gorgeous Buddhist rites, ceremonials, and institutions
were copied from Nalanda and other places by the Bud-
dhists of Nepal and Thibet, before Europe had yet re-
covered from the invasions of barbarous races, or had
developed her Feudal civilisation or Feudal church system.
It is clear, therefore, that the entire structure of church
government and church institutions—in so far as there is
resemblance between the two systems—was borrowed
from the East by the West, not from the West by the East,
But we are not concerned here with the later forms
and institutions of the Buddhist Church, The glory
of Buddhism consists not in the pompous ceremonials
which were witnessed in Nalanda and Thibet, and which
were reproduced after several centuries in Rome, but
in the moral precepts of surpassing beauty which were
preached in Benares and Rajagriha by Gautama himself,
and were repeated after five centuries in Jerusalem.
“Never has any one,” says M. Renan, “so much as He
(Jesus) made the interests of humanity predominate in
His life over the littlenesses of self-love. . . . There never
was a man, Sakya Muni, perhaps, excepted, who has to this
degree trampled under foot family, the joys of this world,
and all temporal care.” To do good unto those who
smite you, to love those who hate and persecute you, and
to relinquish the world for righteousness, these were the
cardinal teachings of Gautama and of Jesus. Was this
similarity in precepts merely accidental P -
In order to enable our readers to form an opinion on
this great question, we will refer them to a few historic
facts. We know from the edicts of Asoka that he sent
Buddhist missionaries to work in Egypt and in Syria,
and these missionaries settled in those countries and
CHAP. . XV.] HISTORY OF BUDDHISM. 379
formed large and influential Buddhist communities. The
Therapeuts of Alexandria and the Essenes of Palestine
who were SO, well known to the Greek world were in
fact communities of Buddhist Bhikkhus, practising Bud.
dhist rites, preaching Buddhist doctrines and precepts, and
spreading the teachings of Gautama Buddha in the West.
Christian thinkers like Dean Mansel and Dean Milman,
and philosophers like Schelling and Schopenhauer alike
admit that the Therapeuts and the Essenes sprang from
the Buddhist missionaries who came from India.
The communities lived and continued their work. Three
centuries after the time of Asoka, -and at the time when
Jesus Christ lived and preached,—the Essenes were so
well known, and so influential, that the celebrated Pliny
wrote of them. -
Pliny flourished between 23 and 79 A.D., and thus
describes the Essenes : —“On the western shore (of the
Dead Sea), but distant from the sea far enough to escape
its noxious breezes, dwelt the Essenes. They are an
hermit clan, one marvellous beyond all others in the
whole world, without any women, with Sexual intercourse
entirely given up, without money ; and the associates of
palm-trees. Daily is the throng of those who Crowd
about them renewed, men resorting to them in numbers,
driven through weariness of existence and the surges
of ill fortune in their manner of life. Thus it is that
through thousands of ages, incredible to relate, their
society, in which no one is born, lives on perennial"
(JHist. Maf, V, 17). t
This is a most remarkable piece of evidence. It is the
evidence of an impartial and cultured Roman, describing
the progress which Eastern ideas and institutions had
made in Palestine at the time of Jesus Christ. We see
in the passage given above the result which Buddhist
missionaries had achieved in Palestine in three centuries
from the time of Asoka. They had founded a sect there
answering to the Buddhists of India, and the Sect
38o RATIONALISTIC PERIOD), [BOOK III.
followed the Same practices, engaged themselves in the
same speculations, and lived the same abstemious and
celibate life as the Indian Buddhists. The heritage of
Gautama's moral precepts was not lost on them ; they
revered it and repeated it, and spread it among the pious
and thoughtful among the Jews.
We are content to leave the matter here. We have
shown that Buddhism was preached in Syria in the
third century B.C. We have shown that Buddhism was
received in Palestine, and that Buddhists under different
names lived in Palestine when Christ was born, and were
preaching Gautama’s doctrines and moral precepts in
Palestine. We have shown that Christ came in contact
with their rites and teachings through John, as well as
through various other channels probably. And, lastly,
we have shown the remarkable resemblance between
Christian moral precepts and Buddhist precepts in Sentic
ment and in language, between Christian resignation of
the world and Buddhist resignation, between Christian
and Buddhist rites and legends and forms. Is this coin-
cidence fortuitous P Let each reader form his own opinion
on the subject. -
Some writers go so far as to maintain that early Chris-
tianity was Essenism, i.e., Buddhism as it prevailed in
Palestine. We do not agree in this opinion. Christianity
in doctrinal matters is little indebted to Buddhism,-Christ
having adopted the national Monotheistic faith of the
Jews, as Gautama had adopted the national beliefs of the
Hindus in Transmigration and Final Beatitude. Chris-
tianity as an ethical and moral advance on the religions
of antiquity is indebted to Buddhism, as preached in
Palestine by the Essenes when Jesus was born.
CHAPTER XVI.
History of Jaſwaſsu.
THE Jaina religion has long been considered as an off.
shoot from the religion proclaimed by Gautama Buddha.
Houen Tsang, who travelled in India in the seventh century
after Christ, viewed it in this light ; and all that we have
hitherto known of the tenets of Jainaism justified this
supposition. - r -
Both Lassen and Weber denied, and with very good
reasons, the independent origin of the Jaina religion, and
both the scholars maintained that the Jainas were seceders
from Buddhism, and had branched off from the Buddhists,
and formed a sect of their own. The scriptures of the
Jainas were not reduced to writing till the fifth century
A.D., and Barth held very plausibly that the traditions
of the Jainas as to the origin of their religion were formed
of vague recollections of the Buddhist tradition. Jaina.
architecture in India, too, is of comparatively recent date,
and, as we shall see in a subsequent chapter, may be said
to have commenced centuries after Buddhist architecture
had declined and disappeared in India.
Doctors Buhler and Jacobi, however, have recently
discovered facts on the basis of which they contend
that Jainaism had its commencement at about the same
time as the religion of Gautama, and that the two re-
ligions flowed in parallel streams for long centuries,
until Buddhism declined, while Jainaism still continues
to be a living religion in some parts of India. We will
381
382 RATIONALISTIC PERIOD. [ BOOK III.
place before our readers the facts and traditions on which
this opinion is based.
The Jainas, both Svetambaras (with white clothing),
and Digambaras (without clothing), allege that Mahavira,
the founder of the religion, was the son of Siddhartha
of Kundagrama, and belonged to the clan of Jnatrika
Kshatriyas. We know that Gautama Buddha, when
travelling in Kotigrama, was visited by the courtesan
Ambapali and the Lichchavis. This Kotigrama is iden-
tified with Kundagrama of the Jainas, and the Natikas
spoken of in the Buddhist Scriptures are identified with
the Jnatrika Kshatriyas. Further, Mahavira's mother
Trisaa is said to have been the sister of Kataka, king of
Vaisali, whose daughter was married to the renowned
Bimbisara, king of Magadha.
Mahavira, at first called Vardhamana or Jnatriputra,
was like his father a Kasyapa. At the age of twenty-
eight he entered into the Holy Order, and after twelve
years of self-mortification, became a Kevalin or Jina,
Tirthakara or Mahavira, i.e., a saint and prophet. During
the last thirty years of his life he organised his Order of
ascetics. He was thus a rival of Gautama Buddha, and
is mentioned in Buddhist writings under the name of
Nataputra as the head of the Niganthas (Nirgranthas,
without clothing), already a numerous sect in Vaisali.
Mahavira died at Papa. . .
The Jaina tradition goes on to say that in the second
century after Mahavira's death there was a famine in
Māgadha. The renowned Chandragupta was then the
sovereign of Magadha. Bhadrabahu, with a portion of
his Jaina followers, left Magadha under pressure of the
famine and went to Karnata. During his absence, the
Jainas of Magadha settled their scriptures, consisting of
the eleven Angas and, the fourteen Puvvas, which latter
are sometimes called the twelfth Anga. On the return
of peace, and plenty, the exiled Jainas returned to
Magadha ; but within these years a difference in custom
CHAP. XVI.] HISTORY OF JAINAISM. 383
had arisen between those who had stayed in Magadha,
and those who had gone to Karnata. The former had
assumed a white dress, and the latter adhered to the old
rule of absolute nakedness. The former were thus
called Svetambaras, the latter were called Digambaras.
The scriptures which had been settled by the former
were not accepted by the latter, and for the Digambaras
therefore there are no Angas. The final division
between the two sects is said to have taken place in 79
or 82 A.D.
In course of time the scriptures of the Svetambaras
fell into disorder, and were in danger of becoming
extinct. It was necessary to record them into writing,
and this was done at the Council of Vallabhi (in Gujrat)
in 454 or 467 A.D. The operations of the Council re-
sulted in the redaction of the Jaina canon, in the form
in which we find it at the present day.”
Besides these facts and traditions, inscriptions have
been discovered on the pedestals of Jaina statues at
Mathura which, according to Dr. Buhler (who first dis-
covered this evidence), proves that the Svetambara, sect
existed in the first century A.D. The inscriptions are
dated according to the era of Kanishka, king of Kashmir,
i.e., the Saka Era, 78 A.D. One of the inscriptions, dated
9 of the Era (and therefore corresponding to 87 A.D.),
states that the statue was erected by a Jaina lay-woman
Vikata. t - !
Such is the substance of the evidence on which it
is contended that the Jaina religion is coeval with
Buddhism, and not an offshoot from that religion. From
the mention of “Nataputra” and of the “Nirgranthas"
in the Buddhist Scriptures, it is reasonable to suppose
that the Jaina sect of unclad ascetics had its origin too
about the same time. Indeed, we have repeatedly stated
before that various sects of ascetics lived in India at
the time when Gautama Buddha lived and taught and
* Dr. Hoernle’s Introduction to his translation of the Uvasagadasao.
384 RATIONALISTIC PERIOD. ... [BOOK III.
led his sect of ascetics. What we find it difficult to
àccept is that the Jaina religion, as we have it now, was
professed by the Nirgranthas of the sixth century B.C.
The story that the Jaina canon was settled in a Council
in Magadha at the time of Chandragupta is probably a
pure myth ; and even if that story was true, the canon
settled in the third century B.C. would be very different
from the canon recorded in the fifth century A.D. For
there can be little doubt that the early tenets of the
first Nirgranthas have long since been modified, and
completely transformed ; and that the more cultured
section of that body, who adopted a white garment, con-
tinuously borrowed their maxims and precepts, their rules
and customs, their legends and traditions from Buddhism,
which was the prevailing religion of India after the third
century B.C. Thus the Jainas drifted more and more
towards Buddhism for long centuries, until they had
adopted the substance of the Buddhist religion as their
own, and very little of the early tenets of the unclad
Nirgranthas was left. It was then, in the fifth century
A.D.,-that their scriptures were recorded, and it is no
wonder that those scriptures appear like a copy of the
Buddhist Scriptures recorded six centuries before. Admit-
ting, then, the independent origin of the Nirgranthas in
the sixth century B.C., we hardly think Houen Tsang was
very far wrong, when he described the Jaina religion, as
he saw it in the seventh century (and as we see it in the
present day), to be an offshoot from Buddhism.
Among the other sects of ascetics which flourished
side by side with the Buddhists and the Nirgranthas in
the sixth century B. C., the Ajivakas founded by Gosala
were the best known in their day. Asoka names them
in his inscriptions, along with the Brahmans and, Nir-
granthas. Gosala was therefore a rival of Buddha and
Mahavira; but his sect has now ceased to exist. -
It follows from what has been stated before, that the
religious tenets of the Jainas differ but slightly from that
CHAP, XVI, J HISTORY OF JAINAISM. 385
of the Buddhists. Like the Buddhists, the Jainas have
their Monastic Order, and they refrain from killing
animals, and praise retirement from the world. In some
respects they even go further than the Buddhists, and
maintain that not only animals and plants, but the
smallest particles of the elements, fire, air, earth, and
water, are endowed with life or jiva. For the rest, the
Jainas, like the Buddhists, reject the Veda, they accept
the tenets of Karma and of AVirvana, and believe in the
transmigration of souls. They also believe in 25 Tirtha-
karas, as the early Buddhists believed in 24 Buddhas who
had risen before Gautama Buddha.
The sacred books or Agamas of the Jainas consist of
seven divisions, among which the Angas form the first
and most important division. The Angas are eleven in
number, of which the Acharanga Sutra, setting forth the
rules of conduct of Jaina monks, has been translated by
Dr. Jacobi, and the Upasakadasah, setting forth the rules
of conduct of Jaina laymen, has been translated by Dr.
Hoernle.
We will now present our readers with some extracts
relating to the life of Mahavira from the Acharanga Sutra.
Hermann Jacobi, the learned translator of the work, assigns
to it the third or fourth century B. C., but from the verbose
and artificial language of the work, many readers will be
inclined to assign to it a date as many centuries after
Christ. The entire work reads like a very distant and
very perverted imitation of the simple Buddhist accounts
of the life of Gautama. * - - J
“When the Kshatriyani Trisala, having seen these four-
teen illustrious great dreams, awoke, she was glad, pleased
and joyful, . . . . rose from her couch and descended
from the footstool. Neither hasty nor trembling, with a
Quick and even gait like that of a royal swan, she went
to the couch of the Kshatriya Siddhartha. There she
awakened the Kshatriya Siddhartha, addressing him with
kind, pleasing, amiable, tender, illustrious, beautiful, lucky,
386 PATIONALISTIC PERIOD. {BOOK III.
blest, auspicious, fortunate, heart-going, heart-easing, well.
measured, sweet and soft words . . . . ‘O’ beloved of the
gods, I was just now on my couch . . . . and awoke after
having seen the fourteen dreams, to wit, an elephant, &c.
What, to be sure, O my Lord, will be the happy result
portended by these fourteen illustrious great dreams ?’. . . .
He grasped the meaning of those dreams with his own
innate intelligence and intuition, which were preceded by
reflection, and addressing the Kshatriyani Trisala with
kind, pleasing, &c., words, spoke thus: ‘O beloved of
the gods, you have seen illustrious dreams, &c. . . . . .
you will give birth to a lovely, handsome boy, who will
be the ensign of our family, the lamp of our family, the
crown of our family, the frontal ornament of our family,
the maker of our family's glory, the sun of our family, the
stay of our family, the maker of our family's joy and fame,
the tree of our family, the exalter of our family.' . . . .
“Surrounded by many chieftains, satraps, kings, princes
knights, sheriffs, heads of families, ministers, chief mini-
sters, astrologers, counsellors, servants, dancing masters,
citizens, traders, merchants, foremen of guilds, generals,
leaders of caravans, messengers, and frontier-guards, he—
the lord and chief of men, a bull and a lion among men,
'shining with excellent lustre and glory, lovely to behold,
like the moon emerging from a great white cloud in the
midst of the flock of the planets and of brilliant stars and
asterisms—left the bathing house, entered the exterior hall
of audience, and sat down on his throne with the face
towards the east . . . . ‘Quickly, O beloved of the gods,
call the interpreters of dreams who well know the science
of prognostics with its eight branches, and are well versed
in many sciences besides " . . . . When the interpreters
of dreams had heard and perceived this news from the
Kshatriya Siddhartha, they—glad, pleased, and joyful, &c.
—fixed the dreams in their minds, entered upon Con-
sidering them, and conversed together. . . - w
* *
“In that night in which the venerable ascetic Mahavira
CIIA P. XVI. J HISTORY OF JAIN A ISM.' 387
|
was born, there was a divine lustre originated by many
descending and ascending gods and goddesses, and in
the universe, resplendent with one light, the conflux of
gods occasioned great confusion and noise. . . . . . Before
the venerable ascetic Mahavira had adopted the life of:
a householder (i. e. before his marriage), he possessed
supreme, unlimited, unimpeded knowledge and intuition.
The venerable ascetic Mahavira perceived with this his.
supreme nnlimited knowledge and intuition that the time
for his Renunciation had come. He left his silver, he
left his gold, he left his riches, corn, majesty, and king-
dom, his army, grain, treasure, Storehouse, town, Seraglio,
and subjects ; he quitted and rejected his real, valuable
property, such as riches, gold, precious stones, jewels,
pearls, conches, stones, corals, rubies, &c.; he distributed
presents through proper persons. He distributed pre-
sents among indigent persons. . . . The venerable ascetic
Mahavira for a year and a month wore clothes; after that
time he walked about naked, and accepted the alms in
the hollow of his hand. For more than twelve years the
venerable ascetic Mahavira neglected his body and aban-
doned the care of it ; he with equanimity bore, underwent,
and suffered all pleasant or unpleasant occurrences arising
from divine powers, men, or animals. . . . During the
thirteenth year, in the second month of summer, in the
fourth fortnight, the light (fortnight) of Vaisakha, on its
tenth day, when the shadow had turned towards the east
and the first wake was over, on the day called Suvrata,
in the Muhurta called Vijaya, outside of the town Jrimbhi-
kagrama on the bank of the river Rijupalika, not far from
an old temple, in the field of the householder Samaga,
under a sal tree, when the moon was in conjunction with
the asterism Uttaraphalguni (the Venerable One) in a
squatting position with joined heels exposing himself to
the heat of the sun, after fasting two and a half days
without drinking water, being engaged in deep medita-
tion, reached the highest knowledge and intuition, called
388 RATIONALISTIC PERIOD, [BOOK III,
Kevala, which is infinite, supreme, unobstructed, unim-
peded, complete, and full. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
“In that period, in that age, the venerable ascetic
Mahavira stayed the first rainy season in . Asthikagrama,
three rainy seasons in Champa and Prishtichampa, twelve
in Vaisali and Vanijagrama, fourteen in Rajagriha and
the suburb of Nalanda, six in Mithila, two in Bhadrika,
one in Alabhika, one in Panitabhumi, one in Sravasti, one
in the town of Papa, in king Hastipala's office of the
writers: that was his very last rainy season. . In the
fourth month of that rainy season, in the seventh fort.
might, in the dark (fortnight) of Kartika, on its fifteenth
day, in the last night, in the town of Papa, in king
Hastipala's office of the writers, the venerable ascetic
Mahavira died, went off, quitted the world, cut asunder
the ties of birth, old age, and death ; became a Siddha, a
Buddha, a Mukta, a maker of the end (to all misery),
finally liberated, freed from all pains.”
The Upasakadasah, as its name indicates, details the
duties of Jaina laymen in ten lectures. The first lecture
details the vows and observances that must regulate a
layman's conduct; the next four lectures detail various
kinds of temptations arising from external persecutions;
the sixth lecture treats of temptations from internal
doubts, and specially from the antagonism of other
religions, like that of the Ajivakas founded by Gosala;
the seventh shows the superiority of the Jaina religion;
the eighth dwells on the temptations to sensual enjoy.
ments ; and the ninth and tenth give examples of a
quiet and peaceful career of a faithful Jaina layman.
We are unable to make room for extracts from Dr.
Hoernle's translation of this work, but we will glean
some facts from the portion which treats of Ananda's
conversion, which will be interesting, as detailing many
articles of luxury in, which a Hindu householder indulged
in the olden times, Ananda does not become a monk,
but only becomes a Jaina layman, and he therefore takes
CHAP. XVI.] HISTORY OF JAINAISM. 389
the five lesser vows, anu-vratani, in contrast with the
maha-vratani of monks, as, also the disciplinary vows.
Ananda renounces, all gross ill-usage of living beings,
all gross lying, and all gross theft. He contents himself
with one wife, saying, “excepting with one woman
Sivananda my wife, I renounce every other kind of
sexual intercourse.” He limits himself to the possession
of a treasure of four kror measures of gold deposited in
a safe place, of a capital of four kror measures of gold
put out on interest, and of a well-stocked estate of the
value of four kror measures of gold. Similarly he limits
himself to the possession of four herds, each consisting
of ten thousand head of cattle ; to the possession of 5oo
ploughs and land at the rate of roo nivarianas for each
plough ; to the possession of five hundred carts for foreign
traffic, and five hundred carts for home traffic; and lastly,
to the possession of four boats for foreign traffic and four
boats for home use. The above enumeration gives us a
very fair idea of a Hindu capitalist, land-owner, money-
lender, and merchant of olden days, -a Seth, such as
Jains have always been in India. We now turn to the
articles of household use and luxury.
Ananda limits himself to one kind of red-tinted bathing
towel, to one kind of green stick for tooth-cleaning, to one
kind of fruit, the milky pulp of Amalaka, to two kinds of
oil as unguents, to one kind of scented powder, to eight
gharas of washing water, to one kind of clothes, viz.,
“a pair of cotton clothes ;” to perfumes made of aloes,
saffron, Sandal, and similar substances, to one kind of
flower, the white lotus, to two kinds of ornaments, viz.,
ear-pendants and a finger-ring engraved with his name,
and to certain kinds of ingense.
With regard to food, he limits himself in his use of
beverages to a decoction of pulses or rice, and in the use
of pastry to such as are fried in clarified butter or turned
in sugar. He confines himself to boiled rice of the
cultivated varieties, to dal made of kalai, mug, or mas, to
390 RATIONALISTIC PERIOD. [BOOK III.
clarified butter produced from cows' milk in autumn, to
certain ki ds of curry, to one kind of liquor made from
palanga, to plain relishes or sauces, to rain water as
drinking water, and lastly, to betel with its five spices.
Many of our readers will be inclined to think that our
friend Ananda with his broad acres and large trade, and
with the articles of use and luxury left to him, was not
so badly off after all.
IND OF VOL. I.
VOLUME II.
~~~~~~~~~~ * ~~~~ *- ~~~~~~ *-*~ * >~~~~~~~~~~...~~~~~~~~~. J.-- ~~ ~ ~~~~~~~~~~~
PREF ACE.
IT is with mingled feelings of pleasure and unfeigned
diffidence that I now place this completed work before
the public. The great task of compiling for the first time
a connected and clear history of the Ancient Hindus
requires greater leisure and more extensive reading than
I can lay claim to. Years of study, often interrupted,
enabled me, however, to grasp the leading facts, and
during the last three years I have worked continuously
in moments spared from official duties to arrange these
facts in their present shape. The first chapters on the
Vedic Age were commenced in April 1887, the last
chapters on the Puranic Age have been revised in March."
1890. The work, such as it is, is now placed in the
hands of my indulgent countrymen, for whom it has
been written. -
The reception which my countrymen have given to
the first volume has surpassed my most sanguine ex-
pectations. The entire edition of a thousand copies has
been nearly exhausted before the last volume is out,
and a second edition has been called for, and will be
Shortly taken in hand. More gratifying to me were the
requests which were made, and which have been gladly
acceded to, for permission to translate the work into the
wi PREFACE.
vernaculars of Bombay, Madras, and the North-Western
Provinces. And equally encouraging to me were the
numerous inquiries, congratulations, and expressions of
sympathy which I have received from all parts of India,
testifying to the interest which has been taken in this
Somewhat novel venture. I am too keenly aware of the
imperfections of my rude attempt to ascribe the success
of the work to its merits; and I can only suppose, there-
fore; that the demand for a readable handbook of this
nature was so great among my countrymen, that they
have consented to accept the article even from such a
clumsy workman as myself. -
I take this opportunity also to thankfully acknowledge
the valued opinions, notices, and reviews with which
many Scholars in this country and in Europe have hon.
oured this work. A popular work of this nature can
scarcely be acceptable to Scholars who have devoted their
lifetime to all the miuntiae of Indian antiquities, and I feel
therefore all the more grateſul for the cordial and ſavour.
‘able acceptance which it has received at their hands.
My sincere acknowledgments are due to Doctors Roth,
Weber, and Max Muller, and several other scholars.
Of greater value to me than these favourable notices
are the criticisms of some of these scholars on certain
portions of my work, and it is due to my readers that I
should indicate the main points on which my views have
not always received assent. It is necessary to do this,
if only to guard my readers form accepting my conclu-
sions in all cases, and to induce them to form their own
judgments on the facts. -
Scholars belonging to the orthodox section of my
PREFA CE, vii
countrymen have not always accepted my account of
Vedic civilisation. Life in the Vedic Age, they hold, was
more “spiritual" more pious, and contemplative in its
tone and character, and they are scarcely prepared to
accept my account of the rude self-assertion and boister-
ous greed for conquests of the Vedic warriors. On the
other hand, some European Scholars think that I have
represented Vedic civilisation in too favourable a light.
M. Barth, who did me the honour of favourably nºticing
in Paris my chapters on the Vedic Period when they first
appeared in the Calcutta Review, expressed his opinion
that my account should be accepted with some degree of
caution. And Dr. Kern, who has published a favourable
review of the first volume of the present work in a Dutch
journal, states that opinion is divided as to the char-
acter of the Vedic civilisation. Some scholars delight in
describing all that was robust and manly and straight-
forward in the character of the Vedic Hindus, while
others portray their coarseness and imperfections. Dr.
Kern is of opinion that I have adhered to the first school
of opinion, but that the truth lies midway.
I am not aware that I have tried to keep back the
robust rudeness—coarseness if you like—of the civilisa-
tion of the Vedic Age. But I confess that, like most
modern Hindus, subject to all the drawbacks of a later
and more artificial civilisation, I feel a warm apprecia-
tion for the manly freedom of ancient Hindu civilisation
and life. I have sought to portrary this prominently in
my account of the Vedic Period ; and in my description
of later ages I have not hesitated to point out emphati-
cally and repeatedly how much we lack in all that was
viii PR EFACE,
healthy and free, unrestricted and life-giving in the
ancient Hindu institutions and social rules. It is a truth
which we Hindus need bear in mind.
Coming now to the Epic Age, scholars are generally
agreed that the caste system of India first took its rise
in this period. But here again we should ever remember
that caste rules, with all their potential evils, served in
this early period as a sort of moral code for the Aryan
Hindus, and tended to unite them by classing them
in three great sections, with sanction for inter-caste
marriage and religious instruction for all. The caste
system of the Epic Period was no more like the system
of to-day than the Feudal institutions of the Middle Ages,
which had their object and their use, were like the
baronial oppression of the eighteenth century in France,
As it was neither possible nor desirable under changed
circumstances to restore the old institution of the Middle
Ages, the living nations of Europe swept away its de-
based and oppressive substitute which flourished down
to the last century.
The account of Buddhism has necessarily taken up a
good deal of space in my narrative of the Rationalistic
Period. My appreciation of Buddhism has been criti-
cised, and many friendly critics have reminded me that
Buddhist precepts, literally obeyed, would not hold the
world together, but would lead nations to subjection, to
inaction, and to beggary. This is not the place to enter
into a controversy on the subject, but I may be permitted
to point out that a religion cannot be criticised on this
spirit, and that the teachings of the pure-souled Jesus
have not been thus criticised. He too recommended a
PRICFACE. ' ix
relinquishment of the world and unresisting Submission
to wrongs and injuries, but neither he nor Gautama
intended that men should cease to be men. Religion
holds before us great models and perſect ideals or virtues
like charity, love, and unselfishness; and these ideals,
conveyed in precepts or commandments, legends or para-
bles, have their effect on our moral nature and on Our
actions, in our eternal and selfish struggle in this world.
Let us be, candid then, and concede that Gautama's
ideals were lofty and holy ; that his message of the
equality of men, proclaimed to the caste-stricken people
of India, was large-hearted and benevolent; and that
his religion, which imparts moral lessons to a third of
the world's population, is beautiful and great.
On another, and a more delicate point, I expected my
position would be assailed. My account of the historical
Connection between Buddhism and the rise of Chris-
tianity has been questioned. But enough, I hold, has
been discovered to prove that connection, and we can
afford calmly to await the result of future researches. I
do not hesitate to maintain, though few Christian writers
will agree with me, that the world owes to India that
higher system of ethics and nobler code of morality
which distinguish the modern religion from the religions
of the ancient world. - w -
In the present volume I have treated of the Buddhist
and the Puranic Age. The edicts of Asoka have thrown
a flood of light on his administration and his times;
and numerous other inscriptions which have been read
elucidate many facts relating to the regal dynasties of
the different provinces of India. But for an account of
X PREFACE, i.
the people, their customs, laws, and manners, we must
turn to the code of Manu and to the account of the
Chinese traveller Fa Hian. When we have compared
these two records, we know how the Hindus saw them.
selves, and how they were seen by others. -
The Puranic Age opens with the sixth century A.D.,
when there was a renaissance in literature, science, and
religion. This opinion, which is now held by most
scholars, is not, however, acceded to by all. My kind
critic Dr. Buhler has pointed out that the Kavya litera.
ture flourished during the early centuries of the Christian
Era ; that Chandragupta II. and his father Samudra-
gupta of the Gupta dynasty were celebrated patrons of
poetry and learning in the fifth and fourth centuries A.D.;
and that it cannot therefore be asserted that there was a
renaissance in Sanscrit literature in the sixth century A.D.
I have in the present volume admitted all the facts
kindly pointed out by my learned critic, but I demur
to his conclusion. Kavya literature no doubt had its
commencement in the fourth and fifth centuries of the
Christain Era, just as modern English poetry had its
commencement with Chaucer and Gower. But never
theless the sixth century A.D., which I take to be the era
of Vikramaditya and Kalidasa, marked a real revival and
renaissance of Sanscrit literature, as the age of Elizabeth
and Shakespeare marked a real revival of English litera-
ture. It was the commencement of a new epoch,
marked by an upheaval of the national mind.
In order properly to comprehend the history of the
national mind in the Puranic Age, we must compare the
Puranic literature with the account of the Hindus from
PREFACE. - xi
the discriminating and friendly pen of Houen Tsang.
And the impression which is left on the mind of the
civilisation of the age is pleasing. A great storm then
swept through India in the dark ages, and when the
Rajputs became masters of India at the close of the tenth
century, the Modern Age begins. We have a picture
of this age from the pen of Alberuni, and the impression
which Alberuni's account leaves on the mind of the
Hindu is a Sad One. I have not sought to suppress this
sad portion of our national story; rather have I tried
to tell it fully and impressively, So that we may now
learn to turn to a brighter page of our national existence.
If the present work contributes in any degree towards
this result, if it helps us to sink our social disunion, to
cast asunder hurtful restrictions, and to turn towards
that unpolluted stream of religion, morality, and know-
ledge which are our birthright, my labours, humble
and unworthy as they are, have not been altogether in
Walſl.
R. C., DUTT.
MYMENSING DISTRICT, BENGAI,
March 14, 1890.
CONTENTS OF WOL. II.
PREFACE ... º e º tº a tº tº º tº V
Book IV.-Buddhist Period, B. C. 320 to A. D. 500.
Q & © tº º º © e g © e º
Chapter [.. Chandragupta and Asoka the Great I
Chapter II. Language and Alphabet ... • . . 22
Chapter III. The Kings of Magadha .., • . , 29
Chapter IV. Kashmir and Gujrat © e º • 4 I
Chapter V. Gupta Kings tº e : tº º ſº • . . 48
Chapter VI. Fa Hian's Account of India • . . 55
Chapter VII. Buddhist Architecture and Sculpture 62
Chapter VIII. Caste te e Q e Q e tº g tº ... 83
Chapter IX. Social Life ... tº e tº º e Q 93
Chapter X. Administration e e Q tº º º • . . IOO
Chapter XI. Laws e tº gº & © tº tº tº º • . . IOS
Chapter XII. Astronomy and Learning ... ... IIS
Book V.-Puranic Period, A. D. 500 to Iooo.
Chapter I. Vikramaditya the Great and his
SU1CCéSSOTS tº º ſº tº e ſº • I24
Chapter II. Houen Tsang's Account of India... 134
Chapter III. The Valabhis and the Rajputs I6o
Chapter IV. Bengal and Orissa ... tº tº I66
Chapter V. Kashmir and Southern India . . . I 77
Chapter VI. Religion & 6 a. tº º ºs ſº e º I88
Chapter VII. Religious Literature ... I96
Chapter VIII. Caste . . . tº to ſº. © tº o tº gº e • • 2 I4.
Chapter IX. Hindu Architecture and Sculpture 220
Chapter X. Astronomy, Algebra, and Arith-
* * * tº tº º
$ºmºsºm-
metic • , , gº tº º tº º tº • . . 24 I
Chapter XI. Medicine . . . & gº 248
Chapter XII. Drama tº tº 6 © & 9 e G 3 ... 258
Chapter XIII. Poetry tº g tº e tº º •. 283
Chapter XIV. Fiction & Q & & tº tº e º • . . 297
Chapter XV. Close of the Ancient Age ... • . . .303
Chapter XVI. Commencement of the Modern
Age & C & a º q Q & © ... 318
Index... © o q Q & Q
33S
CIVILISATION IN ANCIENT INDIA
B O O R. J. V.
BUDDHIST PERIOD, n.c. 320 to A.D. 500.
CJHAPTER I. -
CHA/VD RAG UPTA A/V/) Asoka ZY/AE GA’EA T.
THE death of Alexander the Great marks an epoch in
the history of the ancient world. In India, too, a new
epoch begins at this time. The great political fact of
this new epoch is that the whole of Northern India was
for the first time united into one great empire by the
genius of Chandragupta. The great religious fact of
this new epoch is that the religion of Gautama Buddha,
which was making progress among the humble and the
lowly, was embraced by Chandragupta's grandson, the
renowned Asoka the Great, and was preached and pro-
claimed all over India, and beyond the limits of India.
Of Chandragupta himself we have said enough else-
where. . His rule extended over the whole of Northern
India from Behar to the Punjab. He drove out the
Greeks from the Punjab, conquered from them a tract
of country beyond the Indus, and at last concluded peace
with Seleucus, the successor of Alexander the Great in
Western Asia. Seleucus ceded the provinces which had
been already conquered by Chandragupta, and also gave
his daughter in marriage with the great Hindu emperor.
WOL. II. I
2 BUDDHIST PIERIOD, [BOOK IV,
We have also seen that Chandragupta had a standing
army of 6oo, ooo foot and 30, ooo horse; that his civil
officers carefully supervised the administration of towns
as well as of villages ; that trade, and commerce, and
agriculture were protected ; that irrigation was carefully
attended to, and forests were preserved. A Greek
ambassador, who lived in the court of Chandragupta, has
recorded with admiration that as most part of the country
was under irrigation, famine was unknown in the land;
and that wars were waged and battles were fought within
view of cultivated lands, and neither the cultivator nor
his cultivation was molested by the contending parties.
The picture of the power and greatness of the Hindu
empire under Chandragupta, of the security to life and
property which was afforded under his rule, and of the
prosperious condition of irrigation and agriculture in that
ancient age, is one which every modern Hindu will
cherish with legitimate pride. f -
Chandragupta was succeeded by his son Bindusara
about 290 B.C., and he was succeeded, in 260 B.C., by
the renowned Asoka the Great. *
No greater prince had, ever reigned in India since
the Aryans first colonised this country, and no succeeding
monarch excelled his glory. But the claims of Asoka
to greatness rest less on the extent of his enpire and
of his prowess, than on the liberal and catholic spirit.
which inspired his internal administration and his foreign
policy, and the fervent love of truth, and the desire to
spread the truth, which have made his name a household
word from Siberia to Ceylon. No monarch of India,
not even Vikramaditya, has such a world-wide reputation,
and none has exerted such influence on the history of
the world by his zeal for righteousness and virtue.
It is said that during the reign of his father, young
Asoka was sent to be Viceroy of Ujjayini. If we may
rely on the writer of the Asoka Avadana,” Asoka was
T*Dr. Rajendra Lala Mitra's Aapalese Buddhist Literature, p. 38.
cHAP. I.] CHAN DRAGUPTA AN ID ASO FC.A. ! 3
born of a Brahmani queen, named Subhadrangi. The
same authority tells us that Asoka was turbulent in his
younger days, and had to be sent to the western frontier
to quell a mutiny which had broken out in Takshasila,
which he did with eminent success. After the death of
Bindusara, Asoka ascended the throne, and the date of
his coronation is generally believed to be about 260 B.C.
The works both of the Northern and the Southern
Buddhists contain little that is authentic about Asoka's
reign. The Ceylonese accounts have it that Asoka put to
death ninety-nine of his brothers (only six according to
Taranatha) before ascending the throne; while the Asoka
Avadana states that the emperor killed his officers and
their wives, and subjected crowds of innocent people to
the most refined cruelties before his conversion to
Buddhism. These stories are absolutely unfounded,
and were invented to heighten the merit of the Buddhist
religion by blackening the character of Asoka before his
conversion to that creed.
Fortunately for us, the great emperor has left us
his Edicts, not in the garbled stories of later poets
and chroniclers, but in inscriptions cut on Rocks,
CAVES, and PILLARs, by his own order, in his own time,
and in the language and the alphabet of the time.
The historical information conveyed in these inscriptions
has been recently pieced together with great learning
and ingenuity by the illustrious French scholar Senart,
and we will glean some facts from his learned work,
Les Inscription de Piyadasi, in two volumes,
... The Fourteen Edicts on Rocks appear to have been in-
scribed in the 13th and 14th years from Asoka's corona-
tion, while the Eight Edicts on Pillars were inscribed in
the 27th and 28th years. The last of the Pillar Edicts
is the last expression of the great emperor's ideas and
wishes that is available to us. The Edicts in Cavés
were intermediate in point of time between those on
Rocks and those on Pillars, * .
4 BUDDHIST PERIOD, [BOOK Iv.
The Dipavansa and the Mahavansa maintain that
Asoka was converted to Buddhism in the fourth year
after his anointment. But M. Senart proves from the
inscriptions themselves that the conversion really took
place in the ninth year after the anointment, and imme.
diately after the emperor had conquered Kalinga. It
was the spectacle of the war of Kalinga, and of the
cruel and sanguinary acts which accompanied it, that
created a lasting impression on the mind of the benevolent
emperor, and made him disposed to embrace the gentle
and merciful creed of Gautama. Two years after, i. e.,
in the eleventh year after his coronation, Asoka was
converted a second time, i. e., he was led to spread and
proclaim the faith more zealously than he had done
before ; and from the thirteenth year he began to cause
his Edicts to be inscribed in all parts of his great empire.
We learn from the inscriptions that Asoka had brothers
and sisters living at the time of the inscriptions ; and
the story that Asoka killed his brothers in order to
ascend the throne must therefore be rejected as false.
The emperor had more than one queen, and one inscrip-
tion describes the liberality of his second queen (Dutiya
Devi). Pataliputra was the capital of the empire, but
Ujjayini, Takshasila, Tosali, and Samapa, are spoken of
as subject towns. The whole of Northern India owned
the emperor's sway. • .
Fourteen nations (Aparantas) living beyond the limits
of Northern India also owned his suzerainty. In this
category are mentioned the Yavanas (of Bactria), the
Kambojas (of Kabul), the Gandharas (of Kandahar),
the Rastikas (Saurashtras and Maharashtras), the Pete-
nikas (of the Deccan, Paithana or Pratishthana), the
Andhras (of the Deccan), the Pulindas (of the Deccan),
the Bhojas (of Malwa), and the Nabhakas and Nabhapantis.
Thus Southern India as far as the Krishna river, and
Kabul, Kandahar, and Bactria to the west, owned the
suzerainty of the great emperor.” - - a 1
cIIAP. I.] CHANDRAGUPTA AND ASOKA, 5
Other neighbouring nations are also spoken of as Praty-
antas who were independent. The Cholas, the Pandyas,
and Keralaputa (all to the south of the Krishna river),
and five Greek kingdoms belong to this class. -
Of Asoka's system of administration the inscriptions
give us but meagre information. We are told of Purushas
or officers of the king, of Mahamatras or functionaries
of all orders, of Dharma-mahamatras or officers specially
employed to propagate religion and foster morality, and
of Pradesikas or local hereditary chiefs, the ancestors
of the modern Raos and Raols and Thakurs, of whom
India, with its Feudal system of administration, has always
been rich. Besides these we hear of Anta-mahamatras
or frontier officers, of Prativedakas or spies, and of
Rajukas specially appointed to inculcate religion to the
Dharmayuta or the faithful. -
The Anusamyana was a religious assemblage to which
all the faithful were invited, and in which the Rajjukas
exercised their special mission of imparting instruction
to the people. We know that such Buddhist gatherings
were held every five years, but this rule was not universal.
A quinquennial Anusamyana was held in the provinces
immediately under the emperor, but in Ujjayini and
Takshasila the celebration was held once in every three
years. f - *
In the inscription of Sahasaram, we are told that
after his conversion Asoka deprived Brahmans of the
almost divine honour in which they were held, no
doubt by showing equal honour to Buddhist monks.
This salutary measure has been exaggerated into legends
of Sanguinary persecutions of Brahmans of which the
pious emperor was entirely innocent. In the same in-
Scription, as well as in that of Rupnath, we are told that
Asoka sent his missionaries (Vivuthas) to all parts of
the then known world. In the inscriptions of Bhabra,
Asoka makes a profession of faith in the Buddhist
Trinity,+Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha, ºf , º, ...)
6 BUDD H-IST PIERIOD. [BOOK IV.
We now turn to the inscriptions themselves, and we
will begin with the Rock Edicts.
Five rocks in five different parts of India bear on them
five texts of the same series of edicts which Asoka pub-
lished. One of them is near Kapur da giri, about 25
miles to the north-west of Attok, on the Indus ; another
is near Khalsi, on the Jumna river just where it leaves
the higher range of the Himalaya mountains; the third
is at Girnaz in Gujrat, about 40 miles to the north of the
famous Somnath ; the fourth is at Z9/hauli in Orissa,
about 20 miles to the south of Cuttack ; and the fifth is
at Jaugada, near the Chilka Lake, and about 18 miles to
the north-west of the modern town of Ganjam.
These Fourteen Edicts possess such surpassing in.
terest for every student of Indian history, that we consider
it necessary to transcribe them in full. They were first
translated by James Prinsep, and have since been revised
by Wilson and Burnouf, Lassen, Kern, and Senart.
M. Senart's revision is the latest, and the following
rendering is based on his interpretation of the Edicts,
It is scarcely necessary to premise that Asoka calls him.
self Piyadasi in the Edicts:—
EDICT I.
This Edict has been engraved by the order of King Piyadasi,
beloved of the gods. One must not, here below, kill any living
animal by immolating it, not for the purpose of feasts. The King
Piyadasi sees much that is sinful in such feasts. Formerly such
feasts were allowed ; and in the cuisine of King Piyadasi, beloved
of the gods, and for the table of King Piyadasi, beloved of the
gods, hundreds of thousands of living beings were killed every
day. At the time when this Edict is engraved three animals only
are killed for the table, two pea-fowls and a gazelle, and the gazelle
not regularly. Even these three animals will not be killed in
future.
f
) ' EDICT II.
Everywhere in the kingdom of the King Piyadasi, beloved of
the gods, and also of the nations who live in the frontiers, such as
CHAP. i.] CHANDRAGUPTA AND ASOKA. 7.
the Cholas, the Pandyas, the realms of Satyaputra, and Kerala-
putra, as far as Tambapanni, (and in the kingdom of) Antiochus,
king of the Greeks, and of the kings who are his neighbours, -
everywhere the King Piyadasi, beloved of the gods, has provided
medicines of two sorts, medicines for men and medicines for
animals. Wherever plants useful either for men or for animals.
were wanting, they have been imported and planted. Wherever,
roots and fruits , were wanting, they have been imported and
planted. And along public roads, wells have been dug for the
use of animals and men.
EDICT III.
Thus spake King Piyadasi, beloved of the gods. In the twelfth
year after my anointment, I ordered as follows. Everywhere in
my empire, the faithful, the Rajuka, and the governor of the
district, shall meet in a gathering (Anusamyana), once every five
years, as a part of their duty, in order to proclaim religious in-
structions as follows: “It is good and proper to render dutiful
service to one’s father and mother, to friends, to acquaintances
and relations; it is good and proper to bestow alms on Brahmans
and Sramans, to respect the life of living beings, to avoid pro-
digality and violent language.” The clergy shall then instruct the
faithful in detail in the spirit and in the word. f * - -
EDICT IV.
In past times, during many hundred years, have prevailed the
slaughter of living beings, violence towards creatures, want of
regard for relations, and want of respect, for Brahmans. and
Sramans. But this day the King Piyadasi, beloved of the gods,
and faithful to the practice of religion, has made a religious pro-
clamation by beat of drum, and has made a display or equipages,
elephants, torches, and celestial objects, to his people. . . .
Thanks to the instructions of the religion spread by the, King
Piyadasi, beloved of the gods, there exist to-day a respect for
living creatures, a tenderness towards them, a regard for relations
and for Brahmans and Sramans, a dutiful obedience to father and
mother, and obeisance to aged men, such as have not existed for
centuries. In this respect as in others, the practice of religion
prevails, and the King Piyadasi, beloved of the gods, will continue
to cause it to prevail. The sons, the grandsons, and the great-
grandsons of King Piyadasi, beloved of the gods, will cause this
8 BUDDHIST PERIOD. [BOOK IV .
practice of religion to prevail to the end of this world. Firm in
religion and in virtue, they will inculcate religion. For the teach.
ing of religion is the most meritorious of acts, and there is no
practice of religion without virtue. The development, the pro.
sperity of the religious interest, is desirable. With this object has
this been engraved, in order that they may apply themselves to
the highest good of this interest, and they may not allow it to
decline. The King Piyadasi, beloved of the gods, has caused this
to be engraved twelve years after his anointment. *
EDICT V.
Thus spake King Piyadasi, beloved of the gods. The practice
of virtue is, difficult, and those who practice virtue perform what is
difficult. I have myself accomplished many virtuous acts. And
so shall my sons and grandsons, and my latest posterity to the end
of the Kalpa pursue the same conduct, and shall perform what is
good. And he who shall neglect such conduct shall do what is evil.
To do evil is easy. Thus in the past there were no ministers of reli-
gion (Dharmamahamatra). But I, thirteen years after my anoint-
ment, have created ministers of religion. They mix with all sects
for the establishment and the progress of religion, and for the well-
being of the faithful. They mix with the Yavanas, the Kambojas,
the Gandharas, the Saurashtras, and the Petenikas, and with other
frontier (Aparanta) nations. They mix with warriors and with
Brahmans, with the rich and the poor and the aged, for their well-
being and happiness, and in order to remove all the obstacles in
the path of the followers of the true religion. They bring comfort
to him who is in ſetters, to remove his obstacles, and to deliver
him, because he has a family to support, because he has been
the victim of deceit, and because he is bent with age. At Patali-
putra and in other towns they exert themselves in the houses of
my brothers and sisters and other relations. Everywhere the
ministers of religion mix with the followers of the true religion,
with those who apply themselves to religion and are firm in re-
ligion, and with those who bestow alms. It is, with this object
that this Edict is engraved.
EDICT VI.
Thus spake King Piyadasi, beloved of the gods. . There never
was in past times a system of despatch of work and of hearing of
reports at all moments. This is what I have done. At all
moments, during meals, during repose, in the inner appartments, in
CHAP. I.] CHANDRAGUPTA AND Asoka. 9
the secret chamber, in my retreat, in the garden,-everywhere,
officers entrusted with information about the affairs of my people
come to me, and I despatch the concerns relating to my people.
I myself with my own mouth issue instructions which the ministers
of religion impart to the people. Thus I have directed that
wherever there is a division, a quarrel, in the assembly of the
clergy, it should always be immediately reported to me. For
there cannot be too much activity employed in the administration
of justice It is my duty to procure by my instructions the good
of the public ; and in incessant activity and the proper administra-
tion of justice lies the root of public good, and nothing is more
efficacious than this. All my endeavours have but thus one
object, to pay this debt due to my people ! I render them as
happy as possible here below ; may they obtain happiness hereafter
in heaven ' It is with this object that I have caused this Edict to
be engraved ; may it endure long ! And may my sons and my
grandsons and my great-grandsons follow my example for the
public good. This great object requires the utmost endeavour.
EDICT VII.
The King Piyadasi, beloved of the gods, ardently desires that
all sects may live (unmolested) in all places. All of them equally
propose the subjection of the senses and the purification of the
soul ; but man is fickle in his attachuments. They thus practice
but imperfectly what they profess; and those who do not bestow
ample gifts may yet possess a control over their senses, purity of
soul, and gratitude and fidelity in their affections; and this is
commendable.
EDICT VIII.
In past times kings went out for pastimes. Hunting and other
amusements of the kind were their pastines here below. I, King
Piyadasi, beloved of the gods, obtained true intelligence ten years
after my anointment. These, then, are my pastines;–visits and
gifts to Brahmans and Sramans, visits to aged men, the distribu-
tion of money, visits to the people of the empire, their religious
instruction, and consultations on religious subjects. It is thus
that the King Piyadasi, beloved of the gods, enjoys the pleasure
derived from his virtuous acts.
EDICT IX.
Thus spake King Piyadasi, beloved of the gods, Men perform
various observances in illness, at the marriage of a son or a
VOL. II. 2
I O BUDD HIST PERIOD. [BOOK IV.
daughter, at the birth of a child, and at the time of proceeding on
a journey. On these and similar occasions men follow various
practices. But these numerous and diverse practices observed by
most people are valueless and vain. It is customary, however, to
observe such practices, although they produce no fruit. But the
practice of religion, on the contrary, is meritorious in the highest
degree. Regard for slaves and servants, and respect for relations
and teachers are meritorious ; tenderness towards living beings,
and alms to Brahmans and Sramans are meritorious. I call these
and similar virtuous acts the practice of religion. A father or a
son, a brother or a teacher should say, -this is what is meritorious,
this is the practice which must be observed till the end is attained.
It has been said that alms are meritorious, but there is no gift and
no charity so meritorious as the gift of religion, the imparling of
religion. Hence a friend, a relation, a companion should give
such counsel,—in such and such circumstances this should be done,
—this is meritorious. Convinced that such conduct leads to
heaven, one should follow it with zeal as ube way which leads to
heaven. *
EIDICT X.
The King Piyadasi, beloved of the gods, does not deem any
kind of glory and renown to be perſect except this, viz., that in the
present and in the future my people practice obedience to my
religion and perform the duties of my religion That is the glory
and the renown which the King Piyadasi, beloved of the gods,
seeks. All the efforts of the King Piyadasi, beloved of the gods,
are for the fruits obtainable in the future life, and for escaping
mortal life. For mortal life is evil. But it is difficult to attain
this end both for the small and the great, except by a determined
effort to detach themselves from all objects. It is assuredly a
difficult task, specially for the great, to perform this.
EDICT XI.
Thus spake King Piyadasi, beloved of the gods. There is no
giſt comparable with the gift of religion, the intimacy of religion,
the charity of religion, the relationship of religion. This should
be observed,—regard towards slaves and servants, obedience to
father and mother, charity towards friends, companions, relations,
Sramans, and Brahmans, and respect for the life of living creatures.
A father or a son or a brother, a friend, a companion, or even a
CHAP, I.] CHAN DRAGU PTA AND ASOK A. II.
neighbour, should say, this is meritorious, this should be done.
In striving thus, he derives a gain in this world and in the life to
come ; infinite merit results from the gift of religion.
EDICT XII.
The King Piyadasi, beloved of the gods, honours all sects, both
ascetics and householders; he propitiates them by alms and by
other gifts. But the beloved of the gods attaches less importance
to such gifts and honours than to the endeavour to promote their
essential moral virtues. It is true, the prevalence of essential
virtues differs in different sects. But there is a common basis,
and that is gentleness and moderation in language. Thus one
should not exalt one’s own sect and decry the others ; one should
not depreciate them without cause, but should render them on
every occasion the honour which they deserve. Striving thus,
one promotes the welfare of his own sect while serving the others.
Striving otherwise, one does not serve his own sect, and does dis-
service to others. And whoever from attachment to his own sect,
and with a view to promote it, exalts it and decries others, only
deals rude blows to his own sect Hence concord alone is
meritorious, so that all bear and love to bear the beliefs of each
other. It is the desire of the beloved of the gods that all sects
should be instructed, and should profess pure doctrines. All
people, whatever their faith may be, should say that the beloved
of the gods attaches less importance to gifts and to external
observances, than to the desire to promote essential moral doc-
trines and mutual respect for all sects. It is with this object that
the ministers of religion, the officers in charge of females, the
inspectors, and other bodies of officers, all work. The result of
this is the promotion of my own faith, and its advancement in the
light of religion.
EIOICT XIII.
Vast is the kingdom of Kalinga conquered by King Piyadasi,
beloved of the gods. Hundreds of thousands of creatures have
been reduced to slavery, a hundred thousand have been killed.
Since the conquest of Kalinga, the king, beloved of the gods, has
turned towards religion, has been devoted to religion, has con-
ceived a zeal for religion, and has applied himself to the diffusion
of religion,-so great was the regret which the beloved of the gods
felt at the conquest of Kalinga. In conquering the country which
was not subject to me, I, beloved of the gods, have deeply felt and
I 2 BUIDDHIST PERIOD. [BOOK IV.
sorrowed for the murders, the deaths, and the reducing of the native
inhabitants to slavery. But this is what the beloved of the gods
has felt and Sorrowed for more keenly. Everywhere dwell Brah.
mans or Sramans, ascetics or householders; and among such men
are witnessed respect to authorities, obedience to fathers and
mothers, affection towards friends, companions, and relations, re-
gard for servants, and fidelity in affections. Such men are exposed
to violence and to death, and to separation from those who are
dear to them. And even when by special protection they them-
selves escape personal harm, their friends, acquaintances, com-
panions, and relations are ruined ; and thus they too have to suffer.
All violence of this kind is keenly felt and regretted by me, beloved
of the gods. There is no country where bodies of men like the
Brahmans and Sramans are not known, and there is no spot in
any country where men do not profess the religion of some sect or
other. It is because so many men have been drowned, ruined,
killed, and reduced to slavery in Kalinga that the beloved of the
gods feels this to-day a thousand times more keenly. •
*
º o e sº º & * e
The beloved of the gods ardently desires security for all crea-
tures, respect for life, peace, and kindliness in behaviour. This is
what the beloved of the gods considers as the conquests of re-
ligion. It is in these conquests of religion that the beloved of the
gods takes pleasure, both in his empire and in all its frontiers,
with an extent of many hundred Yojanas. Among his (neigh-
bours), Antiochus, king of the Yavanas, and beyond Antiochus,
four kings, Ptolemy, Antigonas, Magas, and Alexander ; to the
south, among the Cholas, Pandyas as far as Tambapanni, and also
the Henaraja Vismavasi ; among the Greeks and the Kambojas,
the Nabhakas and the Nabhapantis, the Bhojas, and the Petenikas,
the Andhras, and the Pulindas ;-everywhere they conform. to the
religious instructions of the beloved of the gods. There where the
messengers of the beloved of the gods have been sent, there the
people heard the duties of the religion preached on the part of the
beloved of the gods, and conform and will conform to the religion
and religious instructions. . . . Thus the conquest is extended on
all sides. I have felt an intense joy, -such is the happiness which
the conquests of religion procure ' But to speak the truth, this joy
is a secondary matter ; the beloved of the gods attaches great
value only to the ſruits which are assured in a future life. It is
with this object that this religious inscription has been engraved,
in order that our sons and grandsons may uot think that a new
conquest is necessary ; that they may not think that conquest by
ciiAP. I.] CH AN ID |& AGUIPTA AND ASOKA. I 3
the sword deserves the name of conquest ; that they may see in
it nothing but destruction and violence ; that they may consider
nothing as true conquest save the conquest of religion | Such con-
quests have value in this world and in the next ; may they derive
pleasure only from religion, for that has its value in this world and
in the next.
EDICT XIV.
This Edict is engraved by King Piyadasi, beloved of the gods.
It is partly brief, partly of ordinary extent, and partly amplified.'
All is not connected yet, for my empire is vast, and I have caused
much to be engraved, and will yet cause more to be engraved,
Some precepts have been repeated because I attach particular
importance to their being followed by the people. There may be
faults in the copy, be it that a passage has been truncated, or
that the sense has been misunderstood. All this has been engraved
by the engraver.
Such are the famous Fourteen Edicts of Asoka, by
which he ( I ) prohibited the slaughter of animals.; (2)
provided medical aid for men and animals ; (3) enjoined
a quinquennial religious celebration ; (4) made an an-
nouncement of religious grace ; (5) appointed ministers
of religion and missionaries ; (6) appointed moral in-,
structors to take cognisance of the conduct of people in
their social and domestic life ; (7) proclaimed universal
religious toleration ; (8) recommended pious enjoyment
in preference to the carnal amusements of previous
times ; (9) expatiated on the merit of imparting religious
instruction and moral advice ; (1 oy extolled true heroism.
and glory founded on Spreading true religion ; (I I) up.
held the imparting of religious instruction as the best of
all kinds of charity ; (12) proclaimed his wish to convert
all unbelievers on the principles of universal toleration
and moral persuasion ; (13) mentioned the conquest of
Kalinga and the naumes of five Greek kings, to whose
kingdoms, as well as to kingdoms in India, missionaries
had been sent ; and lastly, (14) summed up the foregoing
with some remarks on the engraving of the Edicts.
14 BUDDIIIST PIERIOD. [BOOK IV,
From a historical point of view the second Edict is
important as containing the names of Hindu kingdoms
and of Antiochus of Syria : the fifth Edict also con-
tains similar allusions ; and the thirteenth Edict alludes
to the conquest of Kalinga, which first brought Bengal
and Orissa into close political relations with Magadha
and Northern India. The same Edict names five Greek
kings, and the original text containing these names
deserves to be quoted. -
ANTIYOKA nama Yona Raja, param cha fema Anti-
yokena chatura A'ajani, TURAMAYE mama, ANTIKINA
nama, M.AKA ſtama, ALIKASANDARE mama.
These five names are those of ANTIOCHUs of Syria,
PTOLEMY of Egypt, ANTIGONAs of Macedon, MAGAs of
Cyrene, and ALEXANDER of Epiros. They were con-
temporaries of Asoka, and the latter made treaties with
them, and with their permission sent Buddhist mission-
aries to preach the religion in those countries. The same
Edict mentions names of kingdoms in India, or close to
India, where missionaries were similarly sent.
Besides the Fourteen Edicts spoken of above, and
which were published as one body of laws or moral rules,
separate Edicts were published by Asoka from time to
time, and some of them have been discovered.
An Edict published at Dhauli and Jaugada (south-west
of Cuttack) lays down humane rules for the administra-
tion of the town of Tosali, recommends religious conduct
to all subjects, and prescribes the quinquennial religious
celebration alluded to above. The same Edict lays down
that at Ujjayini and at Takshasila the celebration should
be held once every three years.
A second Edict was published also at Dhauli and
Jaugada, laying down rules for the administration of
Tosali and Samapa, and conveying instructions to frontier
officers. Two Edicts, one at Sahasaram (south-east of
Benares) and one at Rupnath (north-east of Jubbulpur),
have been translated by Dr. Buhler, and contain pious
cHAP. I.] CHAN D R A G UP'ſ A AN ID ASOKA. I 5
exhortations, and inform us that 256 missionaries
(Vivutha) had been appointed and sent in all directions
by the pious emperor. The inscription at Bairat (South-
west of Delhi) is a communication to the clergy of
Magadha, and contains Asoka's profession of faith in
Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha, – the Buddhist Trinity.
A pious Edict of the second queen of Asoka has been
discovered at Allahabad, and three new inscriptions of
Asoka have lately been discovered in Mysore.
We now turn to the inscriptions in Caves.
The Cave inscriptions known are those of the Barabar
and Nagarjuni caves, about sixteen miles north of Gaya ;
the Khandagiri caves, south of Cuttack ; and the Ramgarh
caves, in the Central Provinces. The inscriptions in the
Barabar caves declare that they were given by Asoka
(Piyadasi) to religious mendicants ; and those in the
Nagarjuni caves state that they were the gift of Asoka's
successor Dasaratha. The Khandagiri and Udayagiri
caves were mostly gifts of the kings of Kalinga (Orissa).
And, lastly, we turn to the inscriptions on Pillars.
The famous pillars of Delhi and Allahabad attracted the
attention and defied the skill of antiquarians from the
time of Sir William Jones, until the inscriptions on them
were first deciphered by Prinsep. Besides the two Delhi
pillars and the Allahabad pillar, there are two inscribed
pillars at Lauria, in Tirhoot, and one at Sanchi, in Bhopal.
The same six Edicts are published in nearly all the
pillars, while two more Edicts are found in the Delhi
pillar called the Lat of Feruz Shah. It will be remem-
bered that these Eight Edicts were proclaimed in the
27th and 28th years after Asoka's anointment ; they con-
tain little information about the emperor's politics, and
are replete with moral and religious instructions, and
accounts of works of public good and public utility.
Briefly, the pious emperor (1) directed his officers of
religion to work with zeal and pious anxiety ; (2) ex-
plained religion to be mercy, charity, truth, and purity ;
I 6 . - BU DDH IST PERIOD. - [BOOK IV.
(3) inculcated self-questioning and the avoidance of sins;
(4) entrusted the religious instruction of the people to
Rajjukas, and allowed prisoners condemned to death three
days’ grace ; (5) probibited the killing of various animals ;
(6) proclaimed his goodwill to his subjects and hoped for
the conversion of all sects ; (7) hoped that his Edicts and
religious exhortations would lead men to the right path ;
and (8) lastly, recounted his works of public utility and
his measures for the religious advancement of the people,
and enjoined the conversion of the people by moral per-
suasion. The following translation of the Eight Edicts
is based on the interpretation of Senart :—
EDICT I.
Thus spake King Piyadasi, beloved of the gods. 26 years after
my anointment, I caused this Edict to be engraved. Happiness
in this world and in the next is difficult to secure without an ex-
cessive zeal for religion, a rigorous supervision, a perſect obedience,
a lively sense of responsibility, and a constant activity (on the part
of my officers). But, thanks to my instruction, this anxiety and
zeal for religion increase and will increase day by day. And my
officers, superior, middling, and subaltern, conform themselves to
it and direct the people in the right path, and keep them in cheer-
ful spirits; and so too my frontier officers (Anta-mahamatra) work.
For the rule is this : government by religion, law by religion,
progress by religion, and security by religion.
EDICT II.
Thus spake King Piyadasi, beloved of the gods. Religion is
excellent. But it will be asked,—what is this religion ? Religion
consists in doing the least possible evil and the greatest possible
good, in mercy, charity, truth, and purity of life. Thus have I
bestowed gifts of all kinds to men and to quadrupeds, to birds,
and to animals that live in the waters. I have extended manifold
favours for their good, even to supplying them with water for drink ;
and have performed many other meritorious acts. To this purpose
have I caused this Edict to be engraved, so that men may con-
form to it and travel in the right path, and that it may endure for
ages. He who will act in conformity thereto, will do what is good
and meritorious.
z
CHAP. I. CHANDRAGU PTA AND ASOKA, 1 7
EDICT III,
Thus spake King Piyadasi, beloved of the gods. One sees
only his good acts, and says, I have done such a good act. But
one does not see his evil acts, and does not say,+I have committed
this evil act ; this act is a sin. Such examination is painful, it is
true, but nevertheless it is necessary to question one’s self and to
say,+Such things are sinful, as mischief, cruelty, anger, and pride.
It is necessary to examine one’s self carefully, and to say,+I will
not harbour envy, nor calumniate others. This will be beneficial
to me here below ; this will be in truth still more beneficial to me
in the life to come.
EDICT IV,
Thus spake King Piyadasi, beloved of the gods. 26 years aſter
my anointment, I caused this Edict to be engraved. I have
appointed Rajukas over the people among hundreds of thousands
of inhabitants. I have reserved to myself the power to prosecute
and to punish the Rajukas in order that they may in perfect
confidence and security perform their duties, and promote the
good of the people of my empire. They take account alike of
progress and of suffering, and with the faithful, they exhort the
people of my empire to secure to them happiness here below, and
salvation in the future. The Rajukas obey me ; the Purushas also
obey my wishes and my orders and spread my exhortations, so
that the Rajukas may work to my satisfaction. Even as one
confides his infant to a careful nurse and feels secure, and says, -
A careful nurse has charge of my infant, -even so I have appointed
the Rajukas for the good of my subjects. And in order that they
may with confidence and security, and free from anxiety, discharge
their duties, I have reserved to myself the power to prosecute and
punish them. It is desirable to maintain equality both in pro-
secution and in penalties. From this date therefore this rule is
ordained,—To prisoners, who have been judged and condemned
to death, I allow a grace of three days. They shall be informed
that they shall live for this period, neither more nor less. Thus
warned of the limit of their existence, they will bestow alms for
the benefit of their future existence, or will practice fasting. I
desire that even when confined in a prison, they shall be assured
of the future; and I ardently desire to see the advancement of
religious acts, the control of the senses, and the distribution of
alms.
VOL. II,
3
a 3 HUDI) HIST PER (OD. [BOOK I V.
EDICT V.
Thus spake King Piyadasi, beloved of the gods. 26 years aſler
my anointment, I have prohibited the killing of any of the follow.
ing kinds of living creatures, viz., the suka, the sarika, aruna, the
chakravaka, the hamsa (wild duck), the 7tandimukha, the gairata,
the gelata (bat), the ambaka pillika, the dadi, the anasthika fish,
the zedazeyaka, the patpºda of the Ganges, the sam/ttja fish,
1he Kaphatasayaka, the pamnasasa, the simala, the sandaka, the
okapinda, the palasata, the swetakapota (white pigeon), the grama-
Kapota (village pigeon), and all quadrupeds which are not of use
and are not eaten. The she-goat, the sheep, and the Sow should
not be killed when heavy with young or giving milk, or until their
young ones are six months old. One shall not make capons.
Living creatures shall not be burnt. Jungles shall not be burnt
either recklessly or to kill the creatures inhabiting them.' Animals
shall not be fed on other living animals. At the full moon of the
three Chaturmasyas (four-monthly celebrations), at the conjunction
of the full moon with the constellation Tishya, and with the con-
stellation Punarvasu, on the 14th and the 15th day of the moon
and the day following the full moon, and generally on each Užosatha
day, one should not kill or sell fish. On these days neither animals
kept in game-forests, nor fishes in tank, nor any other kind of
living beings shall be killed. On the 8th, the #4th, and the 15th
day of each lunar fortnight, and on the days following the full moon
of the Tishya, the Punarvasu, and the three Chattarmasyas, one
shall not mutilate the bull, the goat, the sheep, or the pig, or any
other animals which are mutilated. Neither the horse nor the
bull shall be branded on the full moon days of Tishya, Punarvasu,
and the Chaturmasyas, and on the first days of the fortnights suc
ceeding the full moon days of the Chaturmasyas. In the twenty
six years from my anointment, I have liberated twenty-six prisoners,
EDICT VI.
Thus spake King Piyadasi, beloved of the gods. 12 years after
my anointment, I caused Edicts to be engraved (for the first time)
for the good and the happiness of the people. I flatter myself that
they will profit by it, and will make progress in religion in manifold
ways ; and thus the Edicts will tend to the benefit and the happi-
mess of the people. I adopted means calculated to promote the
happiness of my subjects, –those who are far from me, as well As
tº Al'. I. J Cºll AND R A GUPTA AND ASOK A. *1 O
those who are near me, -and also of my own relations. IIence I
watch over all my bodies of officers. All sects receive from me
gifts in manifold ways. But it is their own conversion which I
consider the most important. I have caused this Edict to be en-
graved twenty-six years after my anointment.
EDICT VII.
Thus spake King Piyadasi, beloved of the gods. Kings who
ruled in past times desired that men should make progress in
religion. But men did not make any progress in religion accord-
ing to their desire. Then thus spake King Piyadasi, beloved of
the gods. I have reflected that kings who ruled in past times
desired that men should make progress in religion, and men made
no progress in religion according to their desire, by what means
can I lead them in the right path P. By what means can I cause
them to make progress in religion according to my desire 2 I3y
what means can I cause them to advance in religion ? Then thus
spake King Piyadasi, beloved of the gods. I have formed the
resolution of publishing religious exhortations and of promulgating
religious instructions, so that men on hearing these will enter on
the right path and will elevate themselves.
EDICT VIII.
I have promulgated religious exhortations and given manifold
instructions on religion, in order that religion may make rapid
progress. I have appointed numerous officers over the people,
each employed in his duty towards the people, in order that they
may spread instruction and promote goodness. Thus I have
appointed Rajukas on many thousands of men, and they have re-
ceived my order to instruct the faithful. Thus spake King Piyadasi,
beloved of the gods. It is with this single idea that I have raised
pillars with religious inscriptions, that I have appointed ministers
of religion (Dharma-mahamatra), that I have spread afar religious
exhortations. Thus spake King Piyadasi, beloved of the gods.
Along the highways I have planted Nyagrodha trees, that they
may give shade to men and to animals ; I have planted out
gardens with mangoes ; I have caused wells to be dug every half
Krosa ; and in numerous places I have erected resting houses for
the repose of men and of animals. But the truest enjoyment for
myself is this. Previous kings and myself have contributed to the
2 O 13 J D ID H IST PERIOD, [BOOK IV.
happiness of men by various beneficial acts ; but to make them
follow the path of religion, it is with this object that I regulate my
actions. Thus spake King Piyadasi, beloved of the gods. I have
also appointed ministers of religion in order that they may exert
in every way in works of charity, and that they may exert them-
selves among all sects, monks as well as worldly men. I have
also had in view the interest of the clergy, of Brahmans, of re.
ligious mendicants, of religious AWingranthas, and of various sects
among whom my officers work. The Mahamatras exert them.
selves, each in his corporation, and the ministers of religion work
generally among all sects. Thus spake King Piyadasi, beloved of
the gods. These and other officers are my instruments, and they
work to distribute my alms and those of the queens. Throughout
my palace they work in manifold ways, each in the apartments
entrusted to him. I learn also that both here and in the provinces
they distribute the alms of my children, and specially of the royal
princes, to favour acts of religion and the practice of religion. In
this way acts of religion are promoted in the world, as well the
practice of religion, viz., mercy and charity, truth and purity,
kindness and goodness. Thus spake King Piyadasi, beloved of
the gods. The manifold acts of goodness which I accomplish
serve as an example. Through them, mcn have advanced, and
will advance, in obedience to relations and to teachers, in kindly
consideration for the aged, and in regard towards Brahmans and
Sramans, towards the poor and the miserable, -yea, towards
servants and slaves. Thus spake King Piyadasi, beloved of the
gods. The progress of religion among men is secured in two
ways, -by positive rules,—and by religious sentiments which one
can inspire in them. Of these two methods, that of positive rules
is of poor value ; it is the inspiration in the heart which best pre-
vails. Positive rules consist in what I order, when, for instance,
I prohibit the slaughter of certain animals or lay down other
religious rules, as I have done to a large number. But it is solely
by a change in the sentiments of the heart that religion makes a
real advance in inspiring a respect for life and in the anxiety not
to kill living beings. It is with this view that I have promulgated
this inscription, in order that ; it may endure for my sons and my
grandsons, and as long as the sun and the moon endure, and in
order that they may follow my instructions. For by following this
path one secures happiness here below, and in the other world.
I have caused this Edict to be engraved twenty-seven years after
my anointment. . Thus spake King Piyadasi, beloved of the gods.
Wherever this Edict exists, on pillars of stone, let it endure unto
remote agcs.
CHAP, I, CHANDRAGUPTA AND ASOKA. 2 I
The Edict has endured unto remote ages; and within
the two thousand years which have succeeded, mankind
has discovered no nobler religion than to promote in this
earth “mercy and charity, truth and purity, kindness and
goodness,”
CHAPTER II.
LAAVGUAGE AAWD AL PAA/3A. T.
THE inscriptions of Asoka are invaluable to us for a study
of the language and alphabet of Northern India in the
third century B.C. The Edicts are undoubtedly in the
language which was spoken and understood by the people
in Asoka's time ; and the fact that the same Edicts are
recorded in dialects slightly differing from each other, in
the different parts of India, prove that the great emperor
desired to publish his laws in the dialect which was
spoken by the people in each separate portion of his
extensive empire. -
The inscriptions show that the spoken language of
Northern India was essentially the same, from the
Himalaya to the Vindhya mountains, and from the Indus
to the Ganges. There are slight variations, however, from
which antiquarians have made out three varieties of the
spoken tongue of the period. General Cunningham calls
them the Punjabi, or Western dialect, the Užjaini or
Middle dialect, and the Magadhi or Eastern dialect.
The Punjabi dialect is closer to Sanscrit than the
others. It retains the r in such words as Priyadarsi,
Sramana, &c.; it retains the three sibilants of the
Sanscrit; and it shows a nearer approach to Sanscrit
forms. The Ujjaini dialect has r as well as / ; while
the Magadhi dialect is marked by the entire absence of 7,
for which / has been substituted, Zaja for Raja, Dasalatha
for Dasaratha, &c.
Considering, then, the slightly varying dialects as one
spoken language, antiquarians have held that that lan-
guage is Pali. Prinsep called the language to be “in-
termediate between Sanscrit and Pali.” Wilson made
a careful and searching examination of four different
versions of the Rock Edicts, and stated his opinion that
“the language itself is a kind of Pali, offering for the
greater portion of the words forms analogous to those
which are modelled by the rules of the Pali grammar still
in use. There are, however, many differences, some of
which arise from a closer adherence to Sanscrit, others
from possible local peculiarities, indicating a yet unsettled
state of the language.”
Lassen agrees with Wilson in maintaining that the lan-
guage of Asoka's inscriptions is Pali, and he further main-
tains that the Pali is the eldest daughter of the Sanscrit,
the oldest spoken tongue in Northern India after Sanscrit
had ceased to be a spoken tongue. Muir supports this view
by a comparison of the language of the inscriptions with
the language of the Buddhist Scriptures taken to Ceylon
in the third century B.C., and proves that they are pretty
much the same language, Pali. In an “essai sur le Pali,”
written by Burnouf and Lassen, those learned authors
maintain that Pali stands “on the first step of the ladder
of departure from Sanscrit, and is the first of the series of
dialects which break up that rich and fertile language.”
This, then, is a sufficiently clear and definite fact, which
is invaluable to the historian of India. We know the
spoken tongue of the Vedic Age, which has been preserved
in the simplest and most beautiful hymns of the Rig
Veda. We know the spoken tongue of the Epic Age,
which has been preserved in the prose Brah manas and
Aranyakas. After Iooo B.C., there was a growing diver-
gence between the spoken and the written tongue.
Learned Sutras were composed in the old grammatical
Sanscrit, while the people spoke, and Gautama preached
in the sixth century B.C., in a somewhat simpler and
lmore fluent language. What that language was, we
24 BUDDHIST PERIOD. [BOOK IV,
know from the Edicts of Asoka; for the spoken tongue
could not have changed very much from 477 B.C., when
Gautama died, to 260 B.C., when Asoka reigned. The
spoken language then of the third or Rationalistic Period
was an early form of Pali, by whatever names (Magadhi,
&c.) we may choose to call it. And varieties of this
language continued to be the spoken tongue of Northern
India during the fourth or Buddhist period.
In the fifth or Puranic Period, the Pali had been
considerably altered and formed into the different Prakrit
dialects which we find in the dramas of this period. The
grammatical forms of the Prakrit depart more widely from
.the Sanscrit than those of the Pali, and historically too,
we know that the spoken language of Kalidasa's heroines
was later than the spoken tongue of Asoka. When the
Puranic Period closed, another change took place ; and
the Prakrits were further modified into the Hindi, in
Northern India, by 1 Ooo A.D.
It will thus be seen that the spoken tongue of Northern
India has undergone considerable changes within the last
'four thousand years. In the Vedic Period it was the
Sanscrit of the Rig Veda ; in the Epic Period it was the
Sanscrit of the Brahmanas ; in the Rationalistic and
Buddhist Periods it was Pali ; in the Puranic Period it
was the Prakrits ; and since the rise of the Rajputs in
the tenth century it has been the Hindi.
From the subject of the spoken language of India we
turn to the subject of alphabet, on which much has been
written, and many wild conjectures have been indulged in.
The Devanagari character, in which Sanskrit is now
written, is of comparatively recent origin. The oldest
Indian character known is that in which Asoka's inscrip-
tions were recorded in the third century before Christ.
It is necessary to mention that these inscriptions are
recorded in two distinct characters—one reading from
right to left, like the modern Arabic and Persian, and
the other reading from left to right, like the modern
CHAP. II.] LANGUAGE AND ALPHABET. 25
Devanagari and the European characters. The former is
confined to the Kapur da Giri inscription and to the coins
of the Greek and Scythian princes of Ariana ; and it has
been called the Ariano-Pali or AWorth Asoka character.
The latter is the character of all other texts of Asoka's
inscriptions, and has been called the Indo-Pali or Sout/.
Asoka character.
The Ariano-Pali or North Asoka character is not one
of Indian origin, and was never used in India except
in the extreme western frontier. Mr. Thomas rightly
concludes that it has no claim to an indigenous origiri
in India, based, as it manifestly is, upon an alphabet
cognate with the Phoenician. It died out after the first
century A.D.
On the other hand, the Indo-Pali or South Asoka
character was not only universally used in India, but
can claim to be of indigenous Indian origin. As we
have stated before, it reads from left to right, and it is
the mother of the Devanagari and other modern Indian
alphabets. Mr. Thomas has no hesitation in stating that
it is an “independently devised and locally matured
Scheme of writing ; ” and he insists pointedly to the
Indian origin of this alphabet, because it pleases many
antiquarians to conjecture that the Hindus borrowed
their alphabet from the Greeks or the Phoenicians.
General Cunningham maintains with Mr. Thomas the
Indian origin of the Indo-Pali character. His remarks
on the subject of the origin of alphabets generally, and
of the Indo-Pali alphabet in particular, are so thoughtful
that we make no hesitation in making some extracts.
“The first attempts of mankind at graphic representa-
tion must have been confined to pictures or direct imita-
tions of actual objects. This was the case with the
Mexican paintings, which depicted only such material
objects as could be seen by the eye. An improvement
on direct pictorial representation was made by the ancient
Egyptians in the substitution of a part for the whole, as
VOL. II. 4.
26. BUD DH IST PERIOD, [BOOK IV,
of a human head for a man, a bird's head for a bird, &c.
The system was still further extended by giving to
certain pictures indirect values or powers symbolical of
the objects represented. . Thus a jackal was made the
type of cunning, and an ape the type of rage. By a still
further application of this abbreviated symbolism, a pair
of human arms with spear and shield denoted fighting,
a pair of human legs meant walking, while a hoe was the
type of digging, an eye of Seeing, &c. But even with
this poetical addition, the means of expressing thoughts
and ideas by pictorial representations was still very
limited. . . . It seems certain, therefore, that at a very
early date the practice of pure picture writing must have
been found so complicated and inconvenient, that the
necessity for a simpler mode of expressing their ideas
was forced upon the Egyptian priesthood. The plan
which they invented was higly ingenious. . . .
“To the greater number of their pictorial symbols, the
Egyptians assigned the phonetic values of the particular
sounds or names, of which each symbol previously had
been only a simple picture. Thus to a mouth, ru, they
assigned the value r, and to a hand, ful, the value t. . . .
“A similar process would appear to have taken place
in India, as I will presently attempt to show by a separate
examination of the alphabetical letters of Asoka's age
with the pictures of various objects from which I believe
them to have been directly descended. . . . My own
conclusion is that the Indian alphabet is of purely Indian
origin, just as much as the Egyptian hieroglyphics were
the purely local invention of the people of Egypt. . . .
I admit that several of the letters have almost exactly the
same forms as those which are found amongst the
Egyptian hieroglyphics for the same things, but their
zalues are quite different, as they form different syllables
in the two languages. Thus a pair of legs separated as
in walking was the Egyptian symbol for walking or
motion, and the same form, like the two sides of a pair of
CIHAP. II. LANGUAGE AND ALPHABET. 27
compasses, is the Indian letter g, which as ga is the
commonest of all the Sanscrit roots for walking or motion
of any kind. But the value of the Egyptian symbol is s;
and I contend that iſ the symbol had been Öorrozwed by
the Indians, it would have retained its original value.
This, indeed, is the very thing that happened with the
Accadian cuneiform symbols when they were adopted by
the Assyrians.” ” - - . . . . :
General Cunningham conjectures that the Indo-Pali
letter Åh is derived from the Indian hoe or mattock
(Khan-to dig); that Y is derived from barley (Yava),
or from a member of the human frame; that A) is from the
tooth (/)anta), Dh from the bow (ZOhanus), P is from the
hand (Pani), M is from the mouth (Mukha), V is from
the lute (Vina), AV is from the nose (ZWasa), A is from a
rope (Rajju), H is from the hand (Hasta), Z is from the
plough (Zanga) or from a member of the human frame, S
is from the ear (Sravanta), and so on.
“In this brief examination of the letters of the old
Indian alphabet, I have compared their forms at the time
of Asoka, or 250 B.C., with the pictures of various objects
and of the different members of the human frame ; and
the result of my examination is the conviction that many
of the characters still preserved, even in their simpler
alphabetical forms, very strong and marked traces of
their pictorial origin. My comparison of the symbols
with the Egyptian hieroglyphics shows that many of
them are almost identical representations of the same
objects. But as the Indian symbols have totally different
values from those of Egypt, it seems almost certain that
the Indians must have worked out their system quite
independently, although they followed the same process,
They did not, therefore, borrow their alphabet from the
Egyptians. . . .
“Now, if the Indians did not borrow their alphabet
* Cunningham’s Coºſas /uscriptionu/, //dºcar/t/, vol. i. 1877,
Pp. 52 and 53.
$23 Bl] DD HIST PERIOD. [BOOK IV.
from the Egyptians, it must have been the local invention
of the people themselves, for the simple reason that there
was no other people from whom they could have obtained
it. Their nearest neighbours were the peoples of Ariana
and Persia, of whom the former used a Semetic character
of Phoenician origin, reading from right to left, and the
latter a cuneiform character formed of separate detached
strokes, which has nothing whatever in common with the
compact forms of the Indian alphabet.”
We have quoted the opinions of Mr. Thomas and
General Cunningham, as there are no higher authorities
than they on the subject of Indian alphabets. Our
readers will, however, feel interested in the opinions of
other scholars on this very important subject.
Weber maintains that the Hindus borrowed their
alphabet from the Phoenicians, but modified and expanded
it so much that the Indian alphabet may be called an
Indian invention. Max Muller holds that India had no
written alphabetic literature earlier than the fifth century
B.C., and that the Indian alphabet is borrowed from the
West. But Roth expresses his firm conviction, based or
prolonged Vedic studies, that the vast collections of Vedic
Hymns could not possibly have depended for existence
on oral transmission, and he considers it as a sine gua
nom that writing was known in Vedic times. Buhler
holds that the Indian alphabet with its five nasals and
three sibilants must have been developed in the gram.
matical schools of the Brahmans ; Goldstucker holds that
writing was known when the Vedic Hymns were com:
posed ; and Lassen maintains that the Indo-pali or South
Asoka alphabet is of purely indigenous Indian origin.
Corpus /nscriptionum. /ndicarum, vol. i. pp. 60 and 61.
CHAPTER III.
TAZAZ A ZAVGS OF AZA GA /O AE/A.
“I KNow the Rig Veda, sir,” says Narada in the Chhan-
dogya Upanishad (VII, 1, 2), “the Yajur Veda, the Sama
Veda, as the fourth the Atharvana, as the fifth the Itihasa-
Purana,” &c. This and other similar passages in the
literature of the Epic Period would lead to the conclusion
that some kind of annals of kings and dynasties existed,
even in that ancient period, which were known as Itihasa-
Puranas. If such annals existed, beyond what we find in
the Brahmanas themselves, they have long since been
lost. Probably such annals were preserved in the tradi-
tions of the people, and were altered and re-cast, and
mixed up with legends from century to century, and
from age to age, until, after about two thousand years,
they finally assumed the shape in which we find them
now, the modern Puranas. For the Puranas which
exist now were compiled in the Puranic Period, and
have since been altered and considerably enlarged dur-
ing many centuries after the Mahommedan conquest of
India.
When these Puranas were first discovered by Sir
William Jones and other European scholars, great hopes
were entertained that they would throw light on the
ancient history of India. A host of eminent scholars
turned their attention to this new field of inquiry, and
Dr. H. H. Wilson gave to English readers a trans-
lation of the Vishnu Purana, “in the hope of supplying
Some of the necessary means to a satisfactory elucidation
29
3O 3U DDHIST PIERIO D. [look IV.
of an important chapter in the history of the human
race.” ”
The royal race of the Kosalas is called in the Puranas
the race of the Sun, while that of the Kurus is called the
race of the Moon. According to the Puranas there were
no less than ninety-three kings of the solar line, and no
less than forty-five kings of the lunar line before the
Kuru-Panchala war was fought. Accepting B.C. 1250 as
the date of the war, as we have done, and giving a
modest average of fifteen years for each reign, it would
seem that the Aryans settled in the Gangetic valley and
founded kingdoms there, not about 14oo B.C. as we have
imagined, but at least a thousand years earlier. It would
seem that Indian antiquarians have been too modest in
their supposition about the limits of the 'Epic Age, and
that instead of fixing four centuries, from B C. 14oo to
1 ooo, for that age, we could extend it to fifteen centuries,
from B.C. 25oo to Iooo. And as the Vedic Period pre-
ceded the Epic Age, we could reckon the former from B.C.
3ooo, if not a still earlier date.
We have mentioned these facts to show that the dates
which are generally given for the first two epochs of
Indian history are merely tentative, and that further re-
searches may require their extension, as has been the case
in the instances of Egypt and Chaldea. We do not yet
feel justified in extending them, merely on the authority
of the lists preserved in the Puranas of the Solar and
lunar kings ; but nevertheless these lists are important
and suggestive. They remind us that the rise and fall of
nations and dynasties in India cannot always be limited
within the brief limits of a few centuries, but may have
occupied a thousand years and more. And they also
remind us that if we have accepted B.C. 2000 as the
commencement of the Vedic Period, it is only as a
tentative measure, and that future researches may justify
our extending it to B.C. 3, ooo, or to a yet remoter date.
* Preface to the Vishnu Purana.
**
CHAP. III.] TIH E KINGS OF MAGAID HA. 3 I
To return now to the Puranic lists. It is scarcely
necessary to mention that among the solar kings we find
the name of Rama, the hero of the Ramayana, and among
the lunar kings we find the names of the five Pandava
brothers, the heroes of the Mahabharata. Among the
lunar kings we also find the names of Anga, Vanga,
Kalinga, Sumbha, and Pundra, which are really local
names, being East Behar, East Bengal, Orissa, Tippera,
and North Bengal respectively. Legends connected with
the colonisation of Eastern India must have been mixed
up with the accounts of the royal race of the Kurus.
It will thus be seen that annals of the solar and lunar
dynasties preserved in the Puranas are partly historical
and partly legendary. In this respect they may be com-
pared with the chronicles of the world’s history written
and copied from century to century by European monks
in the Middle Ages. Each monk began with the creation
of the world, as each Purana begins with the founders of
the solar and the lunar dynasties; and, like the writers
of the Puranas, Christian monks wove together legends,
miracles, with episodes from Jewish history, and narrated
the discovery of Britain by the Trojans, and the fables
about Arthur and Roland, along with real historical facts
and incidents. Nevertheless, there was a portion in the
chronicle of each renowned monk which had its value for
the purposes of history. As the writer came nearer to
his time, he generally wrote an authentic account of his
country, its kings and its monasteries. And as if to
complete the parallel, we find something at the very
close of the Puranic annals, which is valuable for our
historical purpose.
The existing Puranas, as we have said before, were
compiled or recast in the Puranic Period, i.e., immediately
on the close of the Buddhist Period. And as throughout
the Rationalistic and Buddhist Periods the empire of
Magadha was the centre of civilisation and power in
India, the Puranas furnish us with something that is
32 - Bl] D Dº IIST PIERIOD, [Book I v.
valuable about this one kingdom, Magadha. According
to our custom, we will quote, the lists from the Vishnu
Purana which relates to this kingdom.
“I will now relate to you the descendants of Briha-
dratha who will be (the kings) of Magadha. There have
been several powerful princes of this dynasty, of whom
the most celebrated was Jarasandha." His son was
Sahadeva ; his son is Somapi; * his son will be Srutavat ;
his son will be Ayutayus; his son will be Niramitra ; his
son will be Sukshatra ; his son will be Brihatkarman ;
his son will be Senajit ; his son will be Srutanjaya; his
son will be Vipra ; his son will be Suchi; his son will
be Kshemya ; his son will be Suvrata; his son will be
Dharma; his son will be Susrama ; his son will be Dri-
dhasena; his son will be Sumati; his son will be Subala ;
his son will be Sunita ; his son will be Satyajit ; his son
will be Visvajit ; his son will be Ripunjaya. These are
Barhadrathas who will reign for a thousand years.”
Although the Vayu Purana, the Bhagavata Purana,
and the Matsya Purana agree with the Vishnu Purana
in giving the Barhadrathas a thousand years, yet we
will venture to correct these venerable authorities, and
will scarcely give 500 years to the twenty-two princes.
Indeed the Vishnu Purana corrects itself, as we shall find
further on.
“The last of the Brihadratha dynasty Ripunjava will
have a minister named Sunika, who, having killed his
sovereign, will place his own son Pradyotana upon the
throne, His son will be Palaka ; his son will be Visa-
khayupa ; his son will be Janaka ; and his son will be
Nandivardhana. These five kings of the house of
Pradyota will reign over the earth for a hundred and
thirty-eight years.
f
* The writer is supposed to be living at the time of Somapi, i.e.,
shortly after the Kuru-Panchala war, and therefore speaks in the
future tense of prophecy of the succeeding princes,
©HAP. III, J THE, KINGS OF MAGADHA. 33
“The next prince will be Sisunaga ; his son will be
Kakavarna ; his son will be Kshemadharman; his son will
be Kshatraujas; his son will be Vidmisara ; his son will
be Ajatasatru ; his son will be Darbhaka ; his son will be
Udayasva ; his son will also be Nandivardhana; and his
son will be Mahapandin. These ten Saisunagas will be
kings of the earth for three hundred and sixty-two years.”
Here we will pause, for we find in the list one or two
names with which we are already familiar. Vidmisara
is called Bimbisara in the Vayu Purana, and is the same
king of Rajagriha in whose reign Gautama Buddha was
born in Kapilavastu. And his son Ajatasatru is the
powerful king in the eighth year of whose reign Gautama
died. We have accepted 477 B.C. as the year of Buddha's
death, and allowing a hundred years for the remaining
portion of Ajatasatru’s reign and the reigns of his four
successors, we get about 370 B.C. as the date when
Mahanandin died, and the dynasty of the Sisunagas was
at an end. -
If now we accept the periods which have been given
for the different dynasties in the Vishnu Purana, we get
1,ooo years for the Brihadratha dynasty; ; 38 years for
the Pradyota dynasty; and 362 years for the Sisunaga
dynasty; Or, in other words, exactly 1,500 years from the
Kuru-Panchala war to the end of the Sisunaga dynasty.
Or, in other words, if the Sisunaga dynasty ended about
370 B.C., the Kuru-Panchala war took place about 1870 B.C.
But the Vishnu Purana's chronology is wrong, and the
Vishnu Purana’s astronomy corrects its chronology. For,
towards the close of the very chapter from which we have
made the above extracts (Book IV, Chapter XXIV), the
Vishnu Purana, says: “From the birth of Parikshit to the
coronation of Nanda, it is to be known that 1,015 years.
have elapsed. When the two first stars of the Seven
Rishis (the Great Bear) rise in the heavens and some
lunar asterism is seen at night at an equal distance be-,
tween them, then the Seven Rishis continue stationary in.
WOL. II. 5
34 , BUDD HIST PERIOD, [BOOK IV.
that conjunction, for a hundred years of men. At the
birth of Parikshit, they were on Magha ; when the Seven
Rishis are in Purvasadha, then Nanda will begin to reign.”
From Magha to Purvasadha both inclusive there are ten
asterisms, and hence, it is calculated, a thousand years
elapsed between Parikshit and Nanda. And if Nanda began
his reign (i.e., the Sisunaga dynasty ended) about 370 B.C.
Parikshit was born early in the fourteeth century, and
the Kuru-Panchala war was fought about 1,400 B.C.
Our readers will see that this is within a century and
a half of the date which we have assumed as the date of
the Kuru-Panchala war in an earlier portion of this work.
If, on the other hand, we leave aside the astronomical:
easons and assign an average period of 20 years” to
the 37 kings of the Brihadratha, Pradyota, and Sisunaga
dynasties, then we shall have for the Kuru-Panchala war
a date 740 years before Nanda, or in other words. 1 I Lo B.C.
And this date is also within a century and a half of the
year which we have fixed for that war. The date we have
fixed for the war must therefore be approximately correct,
From the above facts we will try to make out some-
thing like a probable list of dates for the Magadha kings.
We know that Ajatasatru began his reign in 485 B.C.,
and that his father Bimbisara commenced to reign in
537 B.C. If we allow a hundred years to the four prede-
cessors of Bimbisara, we arrive at the fact that the
Sisunaga dynasty began at 637 B.C.
The Pradyota dynasty of five kings reigned before the
Sisunaga dynasty, and these five reigns covered, we are
told, a period of exactly I 38 years. This gives a high
average of over 27 years for each reign ; but allowing for
One or two long reigns, we may accept this period of
138 years for the Pradyota dynasty.
The Brihadratha dynasty with its 22 kings are said to
* This is a high average. But we must make allowance for weak kings
with short reigns, whose names have been forgotten in later times, and
have therefore not been included in the Puranic lists. • 2
CHAP. Hf, J THE KINGS OF MAGADHA, 35
f
have reigned Iooo years. The figure is of course simply
a round number, and has no value;— 5oo years would
be nearer the mark, or rather let us say 484 years, to
make it divisible by 22, the number of kings. Even this
would give a high average of 22 years for each reign ;
but we may accept the average on the supposition that
some unimportant reigns have been omitted.
On these calculations we make out the following lists;
but each reader must decide for himself how much reliance
he will place on the lists of kings preceding the historic
dynasty of Bimbisara and Ajatasatru, called the Sisunaga
dynasty, which commenced in the seventh century B.C.:-
BRIHADRATHA DYNASTY. - - B. C.
B.C. | Visvajit e tº . . e. 819
Jarasandha . . . I28o Ripunjaya . . 797 to 775
Sahadeva (contempor-
ary of the Kuru-Pan- | I259
chala war)
Somapi º © . I237
PRADYOTA DYNASTY,
sº . . . . ." . . . ;
Ayutayus e o • ‘‘93 || Visakhayupa e . 7 I 9
Niramitra . . . . 1171 Janaka t º . 69 I
* . ; Nandivardhana . 664 to 637
Senajit e e . I IOS
Srutanjaya . . . . Io93 SISUNAGA DYNASTY.
Vipra © • . IO6 I
Suchi º e . IO39 Sisunaga er . . 637
Kshemya. e º . IOI7 Kakavarna . º , 612
Suvrata . º © 995 || Kshemadharman . . 587
Dharma • , s , e. 973 || Kshatraujas . . • 562
Susrama º º e 95 I | Bimbisara . o • 537
Dridhasena e . 929 || Ajatasatru . º • 485
Sumati o º . 907 | Darbhaka . º • 453
Subala © e & 885 Udayaswa . s • 432
Sunita & º . . 863 | Nandivardhana . . 4 II
Satyajit . . . 841 Mahanandin, , 390 to 370
We will now proceed with our extracts.
“The son of Mahanandin will be born of a woman of
the Sudra class : his name will be Nanda (called) Maha-
36 - BUDDHIST PERIOD. [BOOK IV,
padma ; for he will be exceedingly avaricious. Like
another Parasurama, he will be the annihilator of the
Kshatriya race ; for after him the kings of the earth will
(be Sudras), He will bring the whole earth under one
umbrella ; he will have eight sons—Sumalya and others—
who will reign after Mahapadma, and he and his sons
will govern for a hundred years. The Brahman Kautilya
will root out the nine Nandas.”
We find in the above extract mention of low-caste
kings ascending the throne of Kshatriyas, and of the
growing power and Supremacy of these kings of Magadha
among the kingdoms of Northern India. We also find
mention of Kautilya, the renowned Chanakya who vowed
vengeance against the house of the Nandas (see the
drama called Mudra Rakshasa) and helped Chandragupta
to ascend the throne of Magadha. The period of one
hundred years assigned to Nanda and his eight sons is
merely a round number, and has no value. We allow
ample time to Nanda and his eight sons if we give them
fifty years; and this brings us to B. C. 320 as the date
of Chandragupta’s accession to the throne of Magadha.
“Upon the cessation of the race of Nanda, the Mauryas”
wiłł possess the earth ; for Kautilya will place Chandra-
gupta on the throne. His son will be Bindusara ; his
son will be Asoka Vardhana ; his son will be Suyasas ;
his son will be Dasaratha ; his son will be Sangata; his
son will be Salisuka ; his son will be Somasraman ; and
his successor will be Brihadratha. These are the ten
Mauryas who will reign over the earth for a hundred and
thirty-seven years.”. * >
The writer of the Vishnu Purana here tells us of
Asokavardhana, but does not vouchsafe to make any
mention of the religious revolution which took place in
his reign, the greatest which the world has ever seen.
To the Brahman narrator, the deeds of the scheming
* The commentator says that Chandragupta was the son of Nanda
by a wife named Mura, whence the race was callód Maurya.
CHAP. III.] THE KENGS OF MAGADHA. 37
Chanakya, who helped Chandragupta to the throne, are
more worthy of mention than those of the imperial Asoka,
who spread the name and religion of India from Antioch
and Macedon to Cape Comorin and Ceylon ] But to
return to our story. Accepting the period of 137 years
given, for the Maurya dynasty, that dynasty came to an
end in 183 B. C.
“The dynasty of the Sungas will next become pos-
sessed of the sovereignty; for Pushpa Mitra the general
(of the last Maurya prince) will put his master to death.
and ascend the throne. His son will be Agnimitra; his
son will be Sujyeshtha ; his son will be Vasumitra ; his
son will be Ardraka ; his son will be Pulindaka ; his son
will be Ghoshavasu ; his son will be Vajramitra ; his son
will be Bhagavata ; his son will be Devabhuti. These
are the ten Sungas, who will govern the kingdom for a
hundred and twelve years.” r t
The genius of Kalidasa has immortalised the name of
the second prince of this line in the celebrated play
Malawika-Agnimitra.” But Agnimitra is there named
the king of Vidisa, not of Magadha. And his father,
Pushpamitra the general, is represented as fighting with
the Yavanas (Bactrian Greeks) on the Indus. This
statement has probably some foundation in fact, for, after
the time of Alexander the Great, the western frontier
of India was the scene of continuous warfare between
the Bactrians and the Hindus, and Magadha, as the
central power in India, had to take its share in the wars.
Accepting the period of I 2 given to the Sunga dynasty,
that dynasty came to its end in 7 I B. C.
“Devabhuti the (last) Sunga prince being addicted
to immoral indulgences, his minister, the Kanva, named
Vasudeva, will murder him and usurp the kingdom. His
son will be Bhumimitra ; his son will be Narayana ; his
son will be Susarman, These four Kanvayanas will be
kings of the earth for forty-five years.”
* It is doubtful, however, if Kalidasa is the real author of that play.
38 BU 1) 1) H IST || || |R 1 () l ). [BOOK IV.
We will now assign dates to the kings of these dynas.
ties, according to the periods fixed for the dynasties in
the Vishnu Purana. -
NAND A DYNASTY. SUNGA DYNASTY.
B. C. B, C,
Nanda and his \ 370 to 32O Pushpamitia e • 183
eight Sons ſ Agnimitra . & . I 70
- Sujyeshtha . te • I 59
MAURYA DYNASTY. Vasumitra . ſº . I48
Ardraka e º . I 37
Chandragupta tº • 320 | Pulindaka . e . I26
Bindusara . º • 291 Ghoshavasu . º • II 5
Asoka . e º . 260 Vajramitra . . • IO4
Suyasas . º - • 222 | Bhagavata . * º 93
Dasaratha º - • 215 Devabhuti . & 82 to 71
Sangata . e . 208 w
Salisuka e * • 20 I KANVA DYNASTY.
Somasramam . © • I 94
Brihadratha . . 187 to 183 || Yasudeva Kanva : 71
Bhumimitra , e º 59
Narayana . º © 48
Susarman . º 37 to 26
The short reigns of the most of these kings, the
frequent change in dynasties, and the displacement of
royal houses by generals or ministers, show that the
glory of Magadha had passed, and a period of weakness
and senile decay had set in. The empire which had laid
down the law for all India in the days of Chandragupta
and Asoka was in the last stage of feebleness, and was
ready to welcome any strong invader or line of invaders
who might choose to rule its destinies. Such invaders
came from the south. The Andhra kingdom had already
risen to power and distinction in the Deccan in the
Rationalistic Period ; and an Andhra chief (described as
a “powerful servant”) now conquered Magadha, and his
dynasty ruled for four centuries and a half. Our last
extract from the lists of the Vishnu Purana will give the
names of these Andhra kings.
“Susarman the Kanva will be killed by a powerful
*A
CHAP. III.] THE KINGS OF MAGADHA. 39
servant named Sipraka of the Andhra tribe, who will
become king (and found the Andhra-bhritya dynasty).
He will be succeeded by his brother Krishna ; his son
will be Sri Satakarni; his son will be Purnotsanga ; his
son will be Satakarni; his son will be Lambodara ; his
son will be Ivilaka ; his son will be Meghasvati ; his son
son will be Patumat; his son will be Arishtakarman ; his
son will be Hala ; his son will be Puttalaka ; his son
will be Pravilasena ; his son will be Sundara Satakarni;
his son will be Chakora Satakarni ; his son will be
Sivaswati ; his son will be Gautamiputra ; his son will be
Pulimat; his son will be Sivasri Satakarni ; his son will
be Sivaskandha ; his son will be Yajnasri; his son will
be Vijaya ; his son will be Chandrasri; his son will be
Pulomarchis. These thirty Andhrabhritya kings will
reign four hundred and fifty-six years.”
Only twenty-four names, however, are given in the above
list, but, along with the Vayu and the Bhagavata Puranas,
the Vishnu Purana says there were thirty kings of this
line. And if the line began about 26 B. C., the period
given above brings us down to 430 A. B.
If we divide this period of 456 years among the 24
princes named above, we get an average of exactly 19
years for each reign, as shown below :-
ANDHRA DYNASTY.
B. C. A. D.
Sipraka e o • 26 | Puttalaka . o o IS3
Krishna 9 o º 7 | Pravilasena . º • 202
Satakarni III. tº te 22 I
A. D. | Satakarni IV. º º 24O
Satakarni I. . gº e I2 | Sivaswati ſº sº 0. 259
Purnotsanga • . 3I | Gautamiputra I. . © 278
Salakarni II. e e 5O | Pulimat te e tº 297
Lambodara . e - 69 | Satakarni V. . º º 316
Ivilaka º o tº 88 Sivaskandha . º • 335
Meghaswati. e º 107 || Yajnasri Gautamiputra II, 354
Patumat . e cº I26 Vijaya . te º (e. 373
Arishtakarman . tº I45 | Chandrasri , tº º 392
Ilala . O o º I64 l’ulomarchis . . 4 II to 43O
4C EU DD H IST PERIOD, [BOOR ºw.
These dates, however, do not coincide with the dates
of the five sovereigns, from Gautamiputra I. to Gautami.
putra II., as ascertained by scholars from inscriptions.
It has been ascertained with tolerable certainty that these
five kings reigned for nearly a hundred years, from 113
to 2 II A. D. -
It is needless to remark that the power of the Andhra
kings varied from time to time, and we will see in the
inext chapter that the distant country of Saurashtra was
lost in the first century after Christ, but was recon-
quered by Gautamiputra II. The dynasty declined in
the fifth century, and the empire of Magadha was then
at an end ; for, after the Andhras, various foreign tribes
overran the country and brought ruin and disorder. The
Vishnu Purana says that, after the Andhras, “various
races will reign as seven Abhiras, ten Gardhabhilas ; six-
teen Sakas; eight Yavanas ; fourteen Tusharas; thirteen
Mundas ; eleven Mounas, who will be sovereigns of the
earth.”
CHAPTER IV.
AASH////& AAVZ) GC/A&A 7.
WE have in the last Chapter confined our remarks to the
main story of the central political power in India. We
have seen that from the time of Sisunaga, in the seventh
century B. C., the Supreme power in India was held by the
kings of Magadha. We have seen that after the destruc-
tion of several dynasties, the supreme power passed away
to the hands of the Andhras, who held it from the first
century B. C. to the fifth century A. D.
While the Andhras were wielding supreme power in
the centre of India, the western provinces suffered from
a series of foreign invasions, of which some account
should be given. -
After the retreat of Alexander the Great, Chandragupta
expelled the Greeks out of India, defeating Seleucus, the
Greek ruler of the Indus provinces. The Greeks, how-
ever, had an independent kingdom in Bactria, and there
was frequent intercourse, sometimes friendly and some-
times hostile, between the Hindus and the Bactrian
Greeks. The Bactrian Greeks were great coiners, and
it is from their coins that complete lists of their kings
down to 130 B.C. have been compiled. Occasionally
these kings extended their supremacy beyond, the Indus,”
and it is certain that their civilization had considerable
influence over the civilization and the arts of the
Buddhist Hindus. Greek sculptures are found among
Buddhist ruins, and Greek inscriptions stamped on Hindu
CO11) S. -
Our readers will remember, for instance, that Menander, the
Bactrian king, conquered Western India as far as the Ganges.
4 I
WOL, II, 6
42 , BUIDE) HEST PERRORO. [Book iv.
About 1 26 B. c., the little civilised kingdom of Bactria
came to an untimely end through the invasions of the
Yu-Chi and other cognate Turanian tribes, who swept
through Central Asia, and subsequently conquered Kabul
and occupied the country as far as the Indus.* Havishka,
a king of this race, ruled in Kabul. He seems to have
been driven out thence, and conquered Kashmir, where his
successors Hushka and the great Kanishka ruled after
him, in the first century after Christ. - -
Kanishka was a great conqueror, and his empire ex-
tended from Kabul and Yarkand as far as Agra and
Gujrat. Nothing like this had been witnessed in India
since the time of Asoka the Great. Houen Tsang tells
us that tributary princes from China sent hostages to him,
and the town where these hostages lived was called China-
pati. Kanishka was also a staunch Buddhist; he held the
Great Council of the Northern Buddhists, and emissaries
were sent to introduce Buddhism in the neighbouring king-
doms. We have already said before that the era known
as the Sakabda was established from Kanishka's reign.
Dr. Oldenberg maintains that the Saka Era is reckoned
from the date of Kanishka's coronation, and this con-
clusion seems to be well founded.
On Kanishka's death his empire fell to pieces, and
Kashmir sank into the insignificance from which it had
risen. This kingdom has a history of its own, called the
Raja Tarangini,i by Kahlana Pandita, who lived in the
twelfth century after Christ, and we shall pause here to
notice a few facts from this history.
Little of any importance is noted before the time of
* Our readers will remember that this troublesome tribe had
penetrated into India 350 years before through the Himalayas, and
was checked by Ajatasatru about the time of Gautama Buddha’s
death. -
† An English translation of this work has been completed by
my esteemed brother, Mr. Jogesh Chunder Dutt. Three volumes,
Elm Press, 29, Beadon Street, Calcutta, London, Trubner & Co.
GHAP. IV.] KASH MI R ANL) GUJRAT. 4 3
Kanishka. We are told that fifty-two kings reigned for a
period of 1266 years from the time of the Kuru-Panchala
war to Abhimanyu, the successor of Kanishka. And
this would place the Kuru-Panchala war in the twelfth
century before Christ. We are also told that Asoka, the
third king before Kanishka, was a Buddhist and “a
truthful and spotless king, and built many Stupas on
the banks of the Vitasta.” His successor Jaloka was an
orthodox Hindu king, and drove back the Mlechchas,
who were pouring in from the west. This horde must
have been the Turanians who conquered Kashmir so
soon after. Jaloka was succeeded by Damodara II, and
their came the foreign conquerors, and “during their long
reign Buddhist hermits were all-powerful in the country,
and the Buddhist religion prevailed without opposition.”
We subjoin a list of the thirty-one kings from Kanishka,
and up to the time of Matrigupta, the contemporary of
Vikramaditya of Ujjayini. If we accept 78 A.D. as the
date of Kanishka's coronation, and 55o A. D. as the date
of Matrigupta, then we get the intervening 472 years for
31 reigns, giving a not improbable average of over 15
years for each reign.
- A.D. - A. D.
Kanishka e • * 78 Aksha . * e º . 34C.
Abhimanyu . . . . IOO Gopaditya . º . 355
Gonanda º • • II.5 | Gokarna º * , 370
Ribhisana I. º . 130 Narendraditya - . 385
Indrajit e tº 4- #45 Yudhisthira . • . 4OO
Ravana . . • • o 16o Pratapaditya . e 4 IS
Bibhisana II. º 175 Jalauka '• * . 43O
Nara I. . . . 190 Tunjina º º . 445
Siddha • • • 205 || Vijaya . . . . . 460
Utpalaksha . . . • 22O Jayendra º • 475
Hiranyaksha . . . 235 | Sandhimati . . o , 40O
Mukula . . . . • 259 || Meghavahana . . 505
Mihirakula . • - 265 | Shreshta Sena 52O
Vaka . . . . • 280 | Hiranya . , 535 to 550
Kshitinanda. . . . . .295 || And Hiranya was succeeded by
Yasunanda . . . . . . 310 || Matrigupta. t
Nara II. º tº • 325
44 IBUDDH IST PERIOD. [nook iv.
A few of the kings deserve a passing notice. Nara I.
is Said to have been a violent persecutor of Buddhists,
and burnt numerous monasteries, and gave the villages
which supported them to Brahmans. In the reign of
Mukula the Mlechchas once more overran Kashmir, but
his successor Mihirakula was a great conqueror, and is
said to have spread his conquests as far as Karnata and
Ceylon. He was also a persecutor of Buddhists. Prata-
paditya began a new dynasty. A severe famine visited
Kashmir in the reign of his grandson Tunjina, in conse-
quence of the sali grain being blighted by a sudden and
heavy frost. Meghavahana seems to have been favourably
disposed towards Buddhism ; he is said to have carried
his conquering arms as far as Ceylon, and he prohibited
the slaughter of animals in his own kingdom and in all
the kingdoms he conquered. His queens built numerous
Buddhist monasteries. His son Shreshta Sena and then
his grandson Hiranya succeeded ; and then a stranger
Matrigupta was helped to the throne of Kashmir by
Vikramaditya of Ujjayini, then all-powerful in India.
From this brief account of Kashmir we now turn to
Gujrat. We have stated before that the great Kanishka
extended his conquests southwards as far as Gujrat. A
race of rulers known as the Kshaharatas held sway in
Gujrat as the vassaſs of Kanishka's successors. But after
the time of Nahapana, these rulers became independent
kings, and maintained their independence against the
Andhras of Magadha, who claimed suzerainty over
Saurashtra. These rulers, generally known as the
“Shah kings,” or the Kshatrapas, are known to us only
by their coins and inscriptions, and it has now been
settled after much controversy that they adopted the
Saka Era, and all their coins and inscriptions are dated
according to this era. A list of the Shah kings is given
below, in the order in which they are placed by the in-
dustrious and able scholar Bhagvanlal Indraji. We give
only one coin date for each king. * -
CHAP. iv. KASHMIR AND GUJRAT, A §
SIIA II KINGS OF SAURASHTRA.
Coin Dates. A. D. Coin dates. A. D.
Nahapana . . 4 I I 19 Vijayasena . . 160 238
Chashtana . . — - | Isvaradatta . . — -
Jayadaman . . — -- Damajadasri - 176 254
Rudradaman . 72 . I 50 | Rudrasena . . 18O 258
Damazada . . — - || Bhartridaman . 200, 278
Jivadaman . . IOO I78 || Visvasinha . . 198 276
Rudrasinha . . Io9 181 | Sinhasena. . . — -
Rudrasena . . I 25 2O3 | Visvasena . . 216 294
Sanghadaman . I44 222 || Rudrasinha . . 231 309
Prithivisena . I44 222 || Yasodaman . . 240 3.18
Damasena . . I 48 226 Sinhasena . . - -*
Damajadasri . I 54 232 Rudrasena . . 27O 348
Viradaman . . 158 236 Rudrasinha . . 3 IO 388
Yasodaman . . 160 238 -
Among the many inscriptions of this dynasty which
have been found in different places in Western India,
we will only quote one, which is perhaps the earliest,
and which will give our readers a fair idea of these inscrip-
tions. The following inscription, found in the Nasik caves,
belongs to Nahapana, who heads the list given above —
To the Perfect One ! This cave and these small tanks were
caused to be constructed on the mounts Trirasmi in Govardhana
by the beloved Usavadata, the son-in-law of King Kshaharata
Satrap Nahapana, son of Dinika, who gave three hundred
thousand cows, presented gold, and constructed flights of steps
On the river Barnasaya ; gave sixteen villages to gods and Brah-
mans; fed a hundred thousand Brahmans every year ; provided
eight wives for Brahmans at Prabhasu the holy place ; constructed
quadrangles, houses, and halting-places at Bharukachchha, Da-
Sapura, Govardhana, and Sorparaga ; made gardens, tanks, and
wells ; charitably enabled men to cross Iba, Parada, Damana,
Tapi, Karabina, and Dahunuka, by placing boats on them ; con-
structed Dharmasalas and endowed places for the distribution
of water, and gave capital worth a thousand for thirty-two
Nadhigeras for the Charanas and Parishads in Pinditakavada,
Govardhana, Suvarnamukha, Sorparaga, Ramatirtha, and in the
village of Namagola. By the command of the lord, I went in
the rainy season to Malaya to release Hirudha the Uttamabhadra.
46 BUDR) H RST PIERIOD. [BOOK IV.
The Malayas fled away at the sound (of our war music), and
were all made subjects of the Kshatriyas, the Uttamabhadras.
Thence I went to Poksharani, and there performed ablutions and
gave three thousand cows and a village. t
The above inscription of Nahapana found in the Nasak
caves is of great importance, as it shows how even a
vassal of the Buddhist kings of Kashmir delighted in
doing honour and making gifts to Brahmans, and how
Hinduism and Buddhism flourished side by side in the
centuries immediately succeeding the Christian Era, ex-
cept when some intolerant prince occasionally filled the
throne. To bestow gold and cattle and villages to Brah-
mans ; to construct bathing ghats, halting-places, dharma-
salas, gardens, tanks, and wells ; to establish free ferries,
and to endow institutions for charitable purposes, were
acts which were deemed worthy of royal charity and
benevolence. And lastly, we learn from this inscription
that the Saurashtras undertook an expedition against the
Malayas in order to help a race of friendly Kshatriyas, the
Uttamabhadras. -
The most remarkable inscription of the Shah kings,
however, is that on a bridge near Girnar, known as Rudra
Daman's bridge, which was first read by James Prinsep,
and revised and more correct readings have since been
published. By referring to the list of kings given above,
our readers will see that Rudra Daman was the third
king after Nahapana, and reigned in the middle of the
second century A.D. The inscription is remarkable on
account of its reference to Asoka thie Great, and his
grandfather Chandragupta. We are told in the inscrip-
tion that the ancient bridge was swept away by an
inundation ; that it was repaired by Puspagupta, the
chief artificer of the Maurya king Chandragupta, and
then by Tushaspa the Yavana Raja of Asoka ; that
it was then constructed by the great Satrap (Maha-
kshatrapa) Rudra Daman in the year 72 (Saka Era, i.e.,
150 A.D.). In this inscription Rudra Daman boasts that
CHAP. IV.] K.ASHMIR AND CUJ R.A.T. 47
having repeatedly overcome Satakarni, the lord of Dak-
shinapatha, he concluded an alliance with him. And he
also boasts of having conquered Saurashtra, Kutch, and
other places. The above inscription of Rudra Daman
would show that the Shah kings of Saurashtra were
often the rivals of the great Andhra kings.
On the other hand, Gautamiputra of the Andhra line
boasts, in an inscription in a cave at Nassik, that he had
conquered Saurashtra, Kutch, and other countries, and
destroyed the race of the Kshaharata. This was Gautami-
putra II., who ruled at the close of the second century
after the Christian Era.
We have spoken of the invasions and conquests of
three distinct races, viz., of the Bactrian Greeks in the
second century before Christ, of the Yu-Chi and other
cognate Turanians in the first century after Christ, and
lastly, of their vassals the Shah kings, who ruled in
Saurashtra for three centuries. Other invasions followed
in the wake, of which history scarcely keeps any note.
At last, the great White Huns appeared on the scene
in the fourth and fifth century of the Christian Era.
Their locust hordes spread over Persia, and compelled
Bahram Gaur, king of Persia, to seek an asylum in India
and an alliance with the king of Kanouj, whose daughter
he married. It is probable that this royal maiden who,
espoused a Persian husband was a daughter of the Gupta
line, for the Gupta emperors were then ruling in Kanouj,
and were the paramount power in India. We will speak
of them in the next chapter.
CHAPTER V.
GU/PT4 ATVAVG.S.
HALF a century ago, James Prinsep indicated the necessity
of arranging all inscriptions found in India for the study
of the ancient history of India, and he also suggested that
the collective publication should bear the name of Corpus
Anscriptionum Zndicarum. *
In 1877 General Sir Alexander Cunningham brought
out the first volume of this proposed work, and this
volume contains the inscriptions of Asoka which we have
spoken of in the first chapter of this book.
In 1888 Mr. Fleet of the Bombay Civil Service brought
out the third volume of this work, containing the inscrip-
tions of the Gupta kings, and giving a history of the
controversy about the date of the Guptas, which has been
carried on during the last forty years in India and in
Europe.
The second volume of the proposed work, which would
contain the inscriptions of the Shah kings of Saurashtra,
has not yet been commenced. It is to be hoped that
some able scholar and experienced archaeologist will yet
be employed on this work, and will complete the collection
of Indian inscriptions which are invaluable for the eluci-
dation of the Buddhist Period of Indian History.
We have seen that the controversy relating to the date
of the Guptas has gone on for well-nigh forty years, and
many of the ablest Oriental scholars have engaged them-
selves in this controversy. The history of this remarkable
controversy occupies over thirty folio pages of Mr. Fleet's
48
CHAP. V.] GTJPTA KINGS. 49
valuable work | Happily it is a controversy which is
now at an end, and the conclusion arrived at is beyond
reasonable doubt. Alberuni wrote in the eleventh century
that the Gupta Era was posterior to the Saka Era by
241 years, or in other words, the Gupta Era begins with
319 A.D. All the facts collected during recent years
confirm this statement, and we can now read the dates
in the Gupta coins and inscriptions, remembering that we
have to add 319 to them to find out the dates of the
Christian Era. Mr. Fleet, with a pardonable partiality
for his own labours, maintains that the Mandasor in-
scription which he has discovered finally settles the
controversy. Scholars are pretty well agreed on this
point, and the Mandasor inscription probably confirms
the conclusion,
We give below a list of the Gupta kings, with their
coin and inscription dates, and the corresponding years
of the Christian Era :-
Coin and Inscription Dates. A. D.
(Maharaja) Gupta . . . . . . . About 300.
Ghatotkacha & e º s º e º ” 3 Io.
Chandra Gupta I. - 22
(or Vikramaditya) } • e o e o " 3I9.
Samudra Gupta ” 350.
Chandra Gupta II. 4OI, 4O7,
(or Vikramaditya) } 82, 88, 93, 95. (i. 4I4.
Kumara Gupta t --- ſ415, 417,
(or Mahendraditya) } 96, 98, I29, 130. 448, 449.
136, 137, 138, I4I, (455, 456, 457, 460,
Skanda Gupta . I44, I45, T46, I48, § 463,464, 465, 467,
'C I49. U 68.
Dr. Buhler supports the plausible view that the Gupta
Era was in fact established by Chandragupta I. His
successor, Samudra Gupta, reigned during the latter half
of the fourth century. The famous Gupta inscription on
the Allahabad Zat of Asoka throws much light on the
extent of this great king's power and influence.
VOI, II. 7
50 BUIDDHIST PERIOD. [BOOK. Iv.
Whose great good fortune was mixed with, so as to be
increased by, his glory produced by the favour shown in capturing
and then liberating Mahendra of Kosaſa, Vyaghraraja Mahakazz.
tara, Mantaraja of Kerala, Mahendra of Pishtapura, Swamidatta
of Kołłura on the hill, Damana of Erandapal/a, Vishnugopa of
Aanchi, Nilaraja of Azamukta, Hastivarman of Vengi, Ugrasena
of Palakka, Kuvera of Devarashtra, Dhananjaya of Kusthalapura,
and all other kings of the reign of the South ;
Who abounded in majesty which had been increased by
violently exterminating Rudradeva, Matela, Nagadatta, Chandra-
varman, Ganapatinaga, Nagasena, Achyuta, Nandin, Balavarman
and many other kings of 47 yavarta, who made all the kings of
the forest countries to become his servants;
Whose imperious commands were fully gratified by the payment
of taxes and the execution of his orders by the frontier kings
(Pratyanta Nripati) of Samatata, Davaka, Kamarupa, Mepala,
Kartripura, and other countries; and by the Malavas, Arjuna-
yamas, Yaudheyas, Madrakas, Abhiras, Fraſunas, Samakamikas
Aakas, Kharafarikas, and other tribes ;
Whose tranquil fame pervading the whole world was generated
by establishing again many royal families fallen and deprived of
sovereignty, whose binding together of the whole world, by
means of the ample vigour of his arm, was effected by acts of
respectful service,—such as offering themselves as sacrifices,
bringing presents of maidens, giving Garuda tokens, surrendering
the enjoyment of their own territories, soliciting his commands,
&c.—rendered by the Začvaptetras, Shahi’s, Shahazzshaft,
Sakas, Mzurundas, and by the people of Sinhala, and all other
dwellers in islands.
Here we have an elaborate and perhaps somewhat
exaggerated account of the immense power of one of the
early Gupta emperors. We learn that he conquered the
kings of Kanchi, Keralá, and other countries in Southern
India; that he exterminated the kings of Aryavarta or
AVorthern India ; that frontier kings of Samatata (East
Bengal), Kamarupa (Assam), Nepal, and other places,
and nations like the Malavas, Madrakas, and Abhiras
obeyed his orders and paid him tribute ; and that even
the Shahs and Shahinshahs of western countries, and the
people of Ceylon sent him tribute in offerings and gifts,
and handsome maidens from their lands. We are told,
CHAP. V.] GUIPTA KINGS. 57
towards the close of this inscription, that this great king
was “the son of the son's son of the Maharaja the
illustrious Gupta,”—“the son's son of the Maharaja the
illustrious Ghatotkacha,”—“the son of Maharajadhiraja
the glorious Chandragupta”—“begotten on the Mahadevi
Kumaradevi,” a daughter of the Lichchavi royal house.
Samudragupta was succeeded by his son Chandra-
gupta II. and among his inscriptions there is a short
one found at Sanchi, which makes a grant of a village
to Buddhist monks,—the “Arya Sangha in the holy great
Vihara of Kakanadabota.” Elsewhere, in an inscription
on a stone found in Mathura, Chandragupta gives us
his mother's name, describing himself as the son of
the Maharajadhiraja Samudragupta “begotten on the
Mahadevi Dattadevi.”
Chandragupta II, was succeeded by his son Kumara-
gupta, who, in an inscription found in Bilsad, in the North-
Western Provinces, gives us the entire genealogy of the
family from the first Gupta. And he describes himself
as “begotten on Mahadevi Druvadevi of the Maharaja-
dhiraja the glorious Chandragupta.”
Another inscription of Kumaragupta in Mankuwar, in
Allahabad District, was discovered by Dr. Bhagvanlal
Indraji in 1870. The inscription is under an image of
Buddha seated, and we are informed that the image was
installed by Kumaragupta in the year 129 (448 A.D.)
The celebrated Mandasor inscription discovered by Mr.
Fleet was not engraved by order of the Gupta kings,
but has reference to Kumaragupta, and may therefore be
spoken of here. It is on a stone slab in front of a temple
of Mahadeva in the village of Dasapura, in Scindia's
dominions. The inscription informs us that some silk
weavers immigrated to this place from Gujrat, and that
a portion of them formed a flourishing guild. At the
time “when Kumaragupta was reigning over the whole
earth,” there was a ruler named Visvavarman, and his
son Bandhuvarman was ruling in Dasapura when the
52 BTJ DDHIST PIERIOD. [OBOK. IV.
guild of weavers built a temple there, which was com-
pleted “in the season when the sound of thunder is
pleasing, when 493 years had elapsed from the tribal
constitution of the Malavas.”
“Malavanam gana-sthitya yate sata chatushtaye
Trinavatya-dhikabdanam ritau Sevya-ghana-Svane.”
And we are further informed in this inscription that
the temple was repaired in the year when 529 years of
the same Era had elapsed.
Mr. Fleet maintains that the particular Kumaragupta
alluded to in this inscription of the Dasapura weavers is
Kumaragupta of the Gupta line, and that the Era alluded
to in this inscription is the Era of the Malavas, now
known as Vikramadiya’s Samvat Era beginning with 56
B.C. The temple was therefore built in (493 – 56)=437
A.D., and repaired in (529 - 56) 473 A.D.
This is a startling discovery ; for if Mr. Fleet's sup-
position be correct, then the true origin of the Samvat
Fra is discovered. The Era was not founded by a
Vikramaditya who reigned in 56 B.C., as was suppposed
by earlier scholars. The Era was originally a national
Era of the Malava tribe, and came subsequently to be
connected with the name of Pikramaditya, who about the
sixth century A.D. raised the Malavas to the rank of the
first nation in India.
Kumaragupta's son Skandagupta succeeded him ; and
his inscription on the pillar discoverd in Ghazipur
District, and known as the Bhitari Lat, gives us the
genealogy of the Gupta kings given before, and continues
it to Skandagupta. More important is the inscription
found in Junagarh, in the Bombay Presidency. After an
invocation to Vishnu, it tells us that Skandagupta,--who
had subdued the whole earth as far as the seas, and
whose fame was acknowledged even by his enemies “in
the countries of the Mlechchhas,”—appointed Parnadatta
to govern his kingdom of the Saurashtras. Parnadatta
cIIAP. V.] (; U P'UA KINGS, 53
appointed his son Chakrapalita. In the year 136 (Gupta
Era, i.e., 455 A.D.), the lake at the foot of Girnar burst
its embankment in consequence of excessive rain, and
the restoration of the breach after two months’ work was
effected in 137, and is the cause of the inscription.
Skandagupta appears to have been the last great king of
the Gupta line, and some weak kings succeeded. There
is an tº of Buddhagupta in Eran, in the Central
Provinces, and dated 165, i.e., 484 A.D. It informs us that
Surasmichandra, the feudatory of Buddhagupta, governed
the country between the Kalindi and the Narmada. The
obect of the inscription is to record the erection of a column
to the god Vishnu under the name of Janardana.
Another inscription in Eran alludes to Bhanugupta, and
informs us that a chieftain or noble Goparaja accompanied
him, and fought a battle and was killed. Goparaja's
“devoted, attached, beloved, and beauteous wife, in close
companionship, accompanied him into the funeral pyre.”
The destruction of the powerful dynasty of the Guptas,
which held the supreme power in India for over a
century, has formed the subject of much controversy.
Dr. Fergusson holds that the locust hordes of the White
Huns which extended their invasions far and wide in
Asia, weakened Persia, and dealt the death-blow to the
Guptas in India. Mr. Fleet shows some reasons” for
believing that the great and relentless Mihirakula of
the Punjab and his father Toramana were Huns; that
after the death of Skandagupta (who had once repelled
the Huns) Toramana wrested Eastern Malwa from the
Guptas about 466 A.D. ; that Mihirakula began his career
of conquest and destruction about 515 A.D. ; and that
he was at last quelled by Yasadharman, the powerful
king of Northern India, The sway of the Huns in
Central India was thus of short duration, but Cosma
Indico Pleustes, writing in the sixth century, tells us that
* Indian Antiquary, vol. xv. p. 245, &c.; Corpus Inscriptionum
Indicarum, vol. iii. p. 11, &c.
54 BU DDHHST PERHOD, [BOOK iv.
the Huns in his day were still a powerful nation settled
and holding sway in the Punjab. *
- These and other foreign invaders, of whom we have
spoken before, settled down among the people, adopted
the language, the religion, and the civilisation of India,
and thus formed new Hindu races, destined to play an
important part in the political revolution which ensued
at the close of the Puranic Period, in the ninth and tenth
centuries.
CHAPTER VI.
FA &AW's AccovvZ OF INDIA.
IN the last three chapters we have attempted to give our
readers an account, unfortunately scanty and meagre, of
some of the principal ruling dynasties in India in the
Buddhist Period. But an account of ruling dynasties
is not a History of India, and it is necessary that we
should try to form a more distinct notion of the numerous
races which inhabited India, their chief towns, their arts,
and their civilisation. Happily we have some material
at our disposal to help us in this undertaking, in the
records of a Chinese traveller who visited India about the
close of the period of which we are speaking.
Fa Hian came to India about 4oo A.D., and begins his
account of it with UDYANA, or the country round Kabul,
with which he says North India commenced. The lan-
guage then spoken here was the language of Mid-India,
and the dress and food and drink of the people were
the same.* Buddhism was then flourishing, and there
were five hundred Samgha-aramas or abodes of monks.
He passed through SVAT, GANDHARA, TAXASILA, and
PESHAwar, in which last place he saw a Buddhist tower
of remarkable strength, beauty of construction, and height.
Travelling through Nagarahara and other countries,
and after crossing the Indus, Fa Hian at last reached
the MATHURA country on the Jumna river. On the
sides of the river, both right and left, there were twenty
*Throughout this chapter we rely on Beal’s translation, Buddhist
A'ecords of the Western World, 2 vols., 1884.
55
50 {}U 1))} HIST PIE IN I())). [BOOK V.
Sangharamas, with perhaps 3000 priests. The religion
of Buddha was progressing and flourishing. “Beyond
the deserts are the countries of Western India. The
kings of these countries (Rajputana) are all firm believers
in the law of Buddha. . . . Southward from this is the
so-called middle country (Madhyadesa). The climate of
this country is warm and equable, without frost or snow.
The people are very well off, without poll tax or official
restrictions; only those who till the royal lands return
a portion of profit of the land. If they desire to go, they
go; if they like to stop, they stop.” The kings govern
without corporal punishment; criminals are fined accord-
ing to circumstances, lightly or heavily. Even in cases of
repeated rebellion, they only cut off the right hand. The
king's personal attendants who guard him on the right
and left have fixed salaries. Throughout the country the
people kill no living thing, nor drink wine, nor do they
eat garlic or onions, with the exception of Chandalas
only. . . . . In this country they do not keep swine nor
fowls, and do not deal in cattle ; they have no shambles
Or wine shops in their market-places. In selling they use
cowrie-shells. The Chandalas only hunt and sell flesh.
l)own from the time of Buddha's Nirvana, the kings of
these countries, the chief men and householders have
raised Viharas, and provided for their support by bestow.
ing on them fields, houses, and gardens, with men and
oxen. Engraved title-deeds were prepared and handed
down from one reign to another ; no one has ventured
to withdraw them, so that till now there has been no
interruption. All the resident priests having chambers
(in these Viharas), have their beds, mats, food, drink,
and clothes provided without stint; in all places this is
the case.”
* It is abundantly proved by the literature of the II indus, and by
the testimony of Greek and Chinese travellers, that the system of
agricultural slavery, which prevailed in Europe in the Middle Ages,
was never known in India.
ſcº AP. VI.] TA HIAN's ACCOUNT, 57
Our traveller passed through Sankasya and came to
KANOUJ, Our readers will remember that Kanouj was
at this time the flourishing capital of the Gupta emperors,
but unfortunately Fa Hian has little to say about the city.
except its two Sangharamas - - -
Passing through Shachi, Fa Hian came to Kosa LA
and its ancient capital Sravasti. But that great city had:
declined since the days of Buddha, and the Chinese
pilgrim saw very few inhabitants in the city, altogether
about 2 oo families. But Jetavana, in which Buddha
had often preached, had not lost its natural beauty,
and the Vihara there was now oriaatmented with clear
tanks, luxuriant groves, and numberless flowers of varie-
gated, hues. The monks of the Vihara, on learning
that Fa Hſian and his companion had travelled from
China, exclaimed, “Wonderfull to think that men from
the frontiers of the earth should come so far as this
from a desire to search for the law.” -
KAPILAVASTU, the birth-place of Gautama, was no
ºmore in its glory. “In this city there is neither king
nor people; it is like a great desert. There is simply
a congregation of priests, and about ten families of lay
people.” KUSHINAGARA, too, where Gautama had died,
was no longer a town. There were but few inhabitants,
and such families as there were, were connected with
the resident congregation of priests. -
Fa Hian then came to WAISALI, once the proud capital
of the Lichéhavis, and the spot where Gautama had
accepted the hospitality of the courtesan Ambapali. Here,
too, was held the Second Council, and Fa Hian alludes
to it “One hundred years after the Nirvana of Buddha.
there were at Vaisali, certain Bhikshus who broke the
rules of the Vinaya in ten particulars, saying that Buddha
had said it was so; at which time the Arhats and the
orthodox Bhikshus, making an assembly of 7oo ecclesi-
astics, compared and collected the Vinaya Pitaka afresh.”
Crossing the Ganges, our traveller came to PATALI-.
VOL. I.I. $
53 BUDDHIST PIERIC)I). [BOOK TV,
PUTRA or 'Patna, first built by Ajatasatru to check his
northern foes, and afterwards the capital of Asoka the
Great, “In the city is the royal palace, the different
parts of which he (Asoka) commissioned the genii to
construct by piling up the stones. The walls, doorways,
and the sculptured designs are no human work. The
ruins still exist.” By the tower of Asoka was an im-
posing, and elegant Sangharama and temple with 6oo or
7oo monks. The great Brahman teacher Manjusri him-
self lived in the Buddhist Sangharama, and was esteemed
by Buddhist Sramans. . We have also here an account off
the pomp and circumstance with which Buddhist rites
were then celebrated. “Every year on the eighth day of
the second month there is a procession of images. On
this occasion they construct a four-wheeled car and erect
upon ; it a tower of five stages, composed of bamboos
lashed together, the whole being supported by a centre
post, resembling a spear with three points, in height
22 feet and more. So it looks like a pagoda. They
then cover it over with fine white linen, which they after.
wards paint with gaudy colours. Having made figures
of the Devas, and decorated them with gold, silver, and
glass, they place them under canopies of embroidered
silk. Then at the four corners (of the car) they construct
niches (shrines) in which they place figures of Buddha
in a sitting posture, with a Bodhisattva standing in
attendance. There are perhaps twenty cars thus pre-
pared, and differently decorated. During the day of the
procession, both priests and laymen assemble in great
numbers. There are games and music, whilst they offer
flowers and incense. The Brahmacharis come forth to
offer their invitations. The Buddhas then one after the
other enter the city. After coming into the town again
they halt. Then all night long they burn lamps, indulge
in games and music, and make religious offerings. Such
is the custom of all those who assemble on this occasion
from the different countries round about,” This is a
CHAP. vi.] EA HIAN's ACCOUNT. ‘5t,
valuable account from an eye-witness of the system of
idolatry to which Buddhism had declined by the fifth
century A.D. - . . . . -
More interesting to us is the account of the charitable
dispensaries of the town of Pataliputra. “The nobles
and householders of this country have founded hospitals
'within the city to which the poor of all countries, the
destitute, cripple, and the diseased may repair. They
receive every kind of requisite help gratuitously. Physi-
cians inspect their diseases, and according to their cases
order them ſood athd drink, medicine or decoctions, every-
thing in fact that may contribute to their ease. When
cured, they depart at their convenience.”
Fa Hian then visited RAJAGRIHA, the new town built
by Ajatasatru, as well as the old town of Bimbisara.
The traveller here alludes to the first Buddhist Council,
which was held immediately after the death of Buddha
to compile the sacred texts. “There is a stone cave
situated in the northern shade of the mountain, and called
Cheti. This is the place where 5oo Arhats assembled
after the Nirvana of Buddha to arrange the collection of
sacred books.” - -
At GAyA, Fa Hian found everything desolate and like
a desert. He visited the famous Bo-tree and all the
other places connected with Buddha's penances and at-
taining supreme wisdom, and tells legends which had
grown up since Gautama’s time. He then arrived at the
country of Kasi and the city of Benares, where he visited
the deer park where Gautama had first proclaimed the
"truth. Two Sangharamas had been built here. Thence
"he went to the ancient town of Kausambi, where Gautama
had often preached. • . . . . . .
" . From Benares, Fa Hian returned to Pataliputra. The
purpose of Fa Hian was to seek for copies of the Viñaya
Pitaka; but “throughout, the whole of Northern India
“the various masters trusted to tradition only for their
knowledge of the precepts, and had no originals to copy
f
fjoy BUDDHTST PERIOD. [BOOK TV,
from. Wherefore Fa Hſian had come even so far as
Mid-India.” But here in the Sangharama of the great
vehicle he obtained one collection of the precepts.”
Proceeding down the course of the river Ganges, the
pilgrim came to CHAMPA, on the Southern shore of the
river. We have already said before, that Champa was
the capital of Anga or East, Behar, and was sittiated near
modern Bhagalpur. Going further eastward and south-
ward, Fa Hsian came to TAMIRALRPT1, which was then the
great seaport at the mouth of the Ganges. There were
twenty-four Sangharamas in this country ; all of them had
resident priests, and the law of Buddha was generally
respected. Fa Hſian remained here for two years, writing
out copies of the Sacred books, and drawing image-
pictures. He then shipped himself on board a great
merchant vessel, Putting to sea, they proceeded in a
south-westerly direction, catching the first fair wind of
the winter season. They sailed for fourteen days and
nights, and arrived at the “country of the lions” (Sinhala,
Ceylon). - - . . . . .
Ceylon, our traveller says, had originally, no in-
habitants, but merchants came in great numbers and
gradually settled here, and so a great kingdom rose.
Then the Buddhists came (Fa Hian says, Bhuddha came),
and converted the people. The climate of Ceylon was
agreeable and the vegetation verdant, and to the north of
the royal city was a great tower 479 feet in height, with
a Sangharama containing 5ooo monks. But amid these
pleasing scenes, the heart of the traveller sickened for
his home, from which he was now separated for many
years, and when on one occasion the present of a fan
of Chinese manufacture by a merchant, to a jasper figure
of Buddha 22 feet high, reminded Fa Hian of his native
country, he “gave way to his sorrowful feelings, and the
tears flowing down filled his eyes.”
* The whole tract of country from Mathura to Magadha was
ealled Middle India. - -
CHAP. W. P. J. FA PFWAN's ACCOUNT, 6 :
After a residence of two years in Ceylon, and after
obtaining copies of the Vinaya Pitaka and other works
“hitherto unknown” in China, Fa Hian shipped himself
on board a great merchant vessel which carried about
200 men. A great tempest arose, and the ship sprung
a leak, and much cargo had to be thrown overboard.
Fa Hian threw overboard his pitcher and his basin,
“and was only afraid Fest the merchants should fling into
the sea his sacred books and images.” The hurricane
abated after thirteen days, the passengers came to a little
island where they stopped the leak, and then put to Sea
again. “In this ocean there are many pirates, who,
coming on you suddenly, destroy everything. The sea
itself is boundless in extent; it is impossible to know
'east or west, except by observing the sun, moon, or stars,
and so progress. . . At length, the weather clearing up,
they got their right bearings, and once more shaped a
correct course and proceeded onwards,” and after over
ninety days they reached Ye-po-ti (Java, or Sumatra).
“In this country heretics and Brahmans flourish.”
Stopping here for nearly five months, Fa Hian em-
barked on board another merchant vessel with a crew of
about 2 oo men, who took fifty days’ provisions with
them. After they had sailed for over a month, a storm
again arose, and the superstitious Brahmans said to one
another, “It is because we have got this Sraman (Fa
Hian) on board we have no luck, and have incurred this
great mischief. Comé let us land this Bhikshu on any
-island we may meet, and let us not all perish for the sake
of one man.” But Fa Hian's patron boldly stood by him
and saved him from a miserable death in some lonely
island. After sailing for eighty-two days, they arrived at
the southern coast of China,
- - CHAPTER VII.
BUDDHisz Arch/7′Ecz URE Awd sculpzvre.
THE Hindus first came in contact with a nation as civi-
lised as themselves in the fourth and third centuries B.C.,
and a great deal has been written as to the indebtedness
of the Hindus to the Greeks in the cultivation of their
arts and sciences. As usual, some writers on the subject
have rushed to hasty conclusions, and it has been asserted
that in architecture and sculpture, and even in the art
of writing and in their alphabet, the Hindus received
their first lessons from the Greeks. -
A cultured nation cannot come in contact with a great
and civilised nation without deriving immense advantages
in arts and civilisation. The gifted Greeks were certainly
the most civilised nation in the earth in the fourth and
third centuries before Christ, and what is more, they
spread their wonderful civilisation over all, the regions
conquered by Alexander, until the whole of Western Asia
from Antioch to Bactria presented the Greek type of
civilisation, arts, and manners. That the Hindus were
greatly indebted to the Greeks not only in the develop-
ment of many arts, but also in the cultivation of some of
the abstrusest sciences like astronomy, will be conceded
by all historians of India; and it will be our pleasing duty
to acknowledge such friendly services rendered by one
cultured nation to another, wherever we find facts justify-
ing us in acknowledging such indebtedness, or even in
presuming it. But it is necessary to warn our readers
against hasty assumptions where facts are absolutely
- 62
CIIAP. VII.] BUDI) || |ST ARC) IITECTURE, ETC. 63
wanting, or where facts go directly against such assump-
tions. - t
In architecture the Hindus were not indebted to the
Greeks. Buddhist Hindus developed their school of archi-
tecture themselves from the very commencement ; they
created their own style, which is purely Indian ; they
borrowed from no foreign school of architecture or build-
ing. In Gandhara and in the Punjab columns have been
found distinctly belonging to the Ionic order, and the
general architecture, too, bears a Greek character. But in
the vast continent of India itself, from Bombay to Cuttack,
the architecture immediately before and immediately after
the Christian Era is purely Indian in character. This
would not have been the case if the Hindus had learnt
their first lessons in architecture from the Greeks.
In sculpture, too, the Hindus (except in the Punjab) were
not indebted to the Greeks. Dr. Fergusson, speaking of
the rail of Bharut (200 B.C.), says: “It cannot be too
strongly insisted upon that the art here displayed is purely
indigenous. There is absolutely no trace of Egyptian
influence. It is in every detail antagonistic to that art.
Nor is there any trace of classical art ; nor can it be
affirmed that anything here established could have been
borrowed directly from Babylonia or Assyria. The capitals
of the pillars do resemble somewhat those at Persepolis,
and the honeysuckle ornaments point in the same direc-
tion ; but barring that the art, specially the figure sculpture
belonging to the rail, seems an art elaborated on the spot,
by Indians, and by Indians only.” " . .
Having thus cleared our ground, we will now proceed
to give a very brief account of some of the most striking
Specimens which still exist of the architecture and sculpture
of the Hindus of the centuries immediately before and
after the Christian Era, and Dr. Fergusson will be our
guide on this subject. Such specimens are nearly all the
work of Buddhists, Architecture in stone, previous to the
" Indian and Eastern Architecture, London, 1876, p. 89.
/*
O 4 #3U l? L) HHS't I? I R iſ Ol's, |BOOK IV,
Buddhist movement, was confined mostly to engineering
works, such as city walls, gates, bridges, and embank-
ments; and if palaces and religious and civil edifices were
also sometimes built of stone, no specimens of such have
come down to us. On the other hand, the Hindu and
Jaina edifices of stone which abound in all parts of India
belong to the period subsequent to the fifth century of
the Christian Era, and will therefore be treated of when
we come to the Puranic Period. In the present chapter,
therefore, we will speak of works constructed in the
Buddhist Period, and such works are all Buddhist,
Dr. Fergusson classifies the works under five heads,
viz.:- .
(I) /ais, or stone pillars, generally bearing inscriptions;
(2) Stupas, or topes, erected to mark some sacred event
or site, or to preserve some supposed relic of Buddha ;
(3) Rails, often of elaborate workmanship ; often erected
to surround topes; f
(4) Chaityas, or churches ; and
(5) Viharas, or monasteries.
The oldest LATs are those which were erected by
Asoka in different parts of India, and bearing inscrip-
tions conveying to his subjects the doctrines and moral
rules of the Buddhist religion. The best known Lats
are those of Delhi and Allahabad, the inscriptions on
which were first deciphered by James Prinsep. Both of
these bore the inscriptions of Asoka, while the Allahabad
Lat also bore a subsequent inscription of Samudragupta
of the Gupta dynasty of kings, as we have stated before,
and details the glories of his reign and the names of his
ancestors. The Lat seems to have been thrown down.
and , was re-erected by Emperor Jahangir in 1605 A.D.,
with a Persian inscription to commemorate the commence-
ment of his reign. Like most other Lats this has lost
its crowning ornament, but a Lat in Tirhoot bears the
figure of a lion on the top and the Lat of Sankasya, be:
tween Mathura and Kanouj, bears the mutilated figure of
cHAP. vii.] BUDDHIST ARCHITECTURE, ETC.
an elephant so mutilated that Houen Tsang
thistook it for a lion. At Karli, between
Bombay and Poona, a Lat stands in front
of the cave of Karli surmounted by four
lions. The two Lats at Eran are said to
belong to the era of the Gupta kings.
The remarkable iron pillar near the Kutab
Aſinar has been seen by every tourist and
traveller who has been to Delhi. It is 22 feet
above , ground and 20 inches under ground,
and its diameter is 16 inches at the base
and 12 inches at the capital. There is an
inscription on it, as on other Lats, but un-
fortunately the inscription bears no date.
James Prinsep ascribed it to the fourth or
fifth century, Dr. Bhau Daji to the fifth
or sixth century. Admitting the fifth cen-
tury to be its date, “it opens our eyes,” as
Dr. Fergusson states, “to an unsuspected
state of affairs to find the Hindus at that
age forging a bar of iron larger than any
that have been forged even in Europe to a
very late date, and not frequently even now.
As we find them, however, a few centuries
afterwards using bars as long as this Lat in
roofing the porch of the temple at Kanarak,
we must believe that they were much more
familiar with the use of this metal than they
afterwards became. It is almost equally
startling to find that after an exposure to
wind and rain for fourteen centuries, it is
unrusted, and the capital and inscription are
3.
"uviº.tv
Allahabad Lat.
as clear and as sharp now as when put up fourteen
centuries ago.”
Of the STUPAS, the Bhilsa topes are the most famous.
Within an area ten miles east and west and six north and
south, near the village of Bhilsa, in the kingdom of
WOL. II.
9


Ö6 * * EUDDHIST PERFOI), [BOOK ly,
Bhopal, there are no less than five or six groups of
topes containing about twenty-five or thirty individual
examples. General Cunningham first published an
account of them in 1854, and since then they have been
repeatedly described. The principal of these topes is
known as the Great Tope of Sanchi, and has a base
14 feet high and a dome 42 feet high, and I oG feet in
diameter at the point just above the base, The rails
are I I ſeet in height, and the gateway, covered with the
most elaborated sculpture, which will be subsequently
described, is 33 feet in height. - -
GREAT TOPT, SANCIII.
The centre of this great mound is quite solid; being
composed of bricks laid in mud, but the exterior is faced
with dressed stones. Over this there was a coat of cement
which was no doubt adorned with painting and figures in
relief.
There are many other groups near Sanchi, viz., one at
Sonari, six miles away, one at Satdhara, three miles further
on, and a numerous group at Bhojpur, seven miles from
Sanchi. Another group is at Audhar, five miles from
Bhojpur. Altogether there are no less than sixty topes
within one small district, - - -
Most of our readers who have visited Benares have
seen the tope at Sarnath, erected in the old deer park,

on Ap, vii.] BUDDHIST ARCHITECTURE, ETC. ()'ſ
where Gautama first preached his new religion. It con-
sists of a stone basement 93 feet in diameter, solidly built
to the height of 43 feet. Above it is brickwork, rising to a
height of 128 feet above the surrounding plain. The lower
part is relieved by eight projecting faces elegantly carved,
and with a niche in each. General Cunningham believes
the date of this to be the sixth or seventh century A. D.
Another Bengal tope is known as Jarasandha-ka-
Baithak, 28 feet in diameter and 2 I feet in height, resting
on a base of 14 feet. It is mentioned by Houen Tsang,
and its date is probably 500 A.D.
The central Stupa or Dagoba at Amaravati which
Houen Tsang saw no longer exists. In the Gandhara
country there are numerous examples. The great Dagoba,
however, of Kanishka, over 470 feet in height, which
Fa Hian and Houen Tsang saw, is no more. The most
important group of the Gandhara topes is that of Mani-
kyala in the Punjab, between the Indus and the Jhelum.
Fifteen or twenty were found in the spot, some of which
were first opened by Ranjit Sinha's French generals,
Ventura and Court, in 1830. The principal tope, has a
dome which is an exact hemisphere, 127 feet in diameter,
and therefore about 4oo feet in circumference.
The most elaborately ornamented architectural works
of ; the Buddhist period are the RAILS and gateways
generally found round Stupas, The two oldest rails are
those of Buddha Gaya and of Bharhut ; Dr. Fergusson
assigns 250 B.C. for the former and 200 B.C. for the latter.
The former formed a rectangle I 3 I feet by 98 feet, and
the pillars were 5 feet II inches, in height.
Bharhut is situated between Allahabad and Jubbulpore.
The tope enclosed here has entirely disappeared, having
been utilised for building villages, but about one-half of
the rail remains. It was originally 88 feet in diameter,
and therefore about 275 feet in length. It had four
entrances, guarded by statues 44 feet high. From General
Cunningham's restoration, it appears that the pillars of
63 ... . . . . . BUDDHIST PERIOD. [BOOK iv.
the eastern gateway were 22 feet 6 inches in height.
The beams had no human figures on them. The lower
beam had a procession of elephants, the middle beam
of lions, and the upper probably of crocodiles. The rail
was 9 feet high, and the inner side was ornamented by a
continuous series of bas-reliefs, divided from each other
by a beautiful flowing scroll, About a hundred bas-reliefs
have been recovered, all representing scenes or legends,
and nearly all inscribed with the title of the Jataka repre-
sented. It is the only monument in India which is so
inscribed, and this gives the Bharhut rails a unique
value. r * i
We make no apology for quoting the following remarks
of Dr. Fergusson's about the state of Indian sculpture as
disclosed by these rails :—When Hindu sculpture first
'dawns upon us in the rails of Buddha Gaya and Bhar-
hut, B.C. 200 to 250, it is thoroughly original, absolutely
without a trace of foreign influence, but quite capable of
expressing its ideas, and of telling its story with a dis-
tinctness that never was surpassed, at least in India.
Some animals, such as elephants, deer, and monkeys, are
better represented there than in any sculptures known in
any part of the world ; so, too, are sonne trees, and the
architectural details are cut with an elegance and preci.
sion which are very admirable. The human figures, too,
though very different from our standard of beauty and
grace, are truthful to nature, and where grouped together
combine to express the action intended with singular
felicity. For an honest, purpose-like-pre Raphaelite kind
of art, there is probably nothing much better to be found
anywhere.” t ... •
The rail surrounding the great tope of Sanchi, in the
kingdom of Bhopal, is a circular enclosure 14o feet in
diameter, and consists of octagonal pillars 8 feet in height
and two feet apart. They are joined together at the top
by a rail 2 feet 3 inches deep, and between the pillars.
This is, however about the simple strail arrangement,
GATEWAY AND RAIL AT SANCH1.

cIIAP. v11.1 BUDOHIST ARCHITECTURE, ETC. 7
and the ornamentation on the rails increases in other
places, until the scrolls and discs and figures become so
elaborate and profuse as to completely hide the pillars and
bars from the sight, and to entirely change the character.
of the original design. - a -
The great tope of Sanchi, of which we have spoken
before, was probably constructed in Asoka's time. Each
rail is shown, by the inscription on it, to be the gift of a
different individual. The four gateways were then added
to the rail, probably during the first century of the
Christian Era. Dr. Fergusson thus describes them :—
“All these four gateways, or toranas, as they are
properly called, were covered with the most elaborate
sculptures both in front and in rear, wherever in fact
their surface was not hidden by being attached to the rail
behind them. Generally the sculptures represent scenes
from the life of Buddha. . . . In addition to these are
scenes from the Jatakas or legends, narrating events or
actions that took place during five hundred births through
which Sakya Muni had passed before he became so puri-
fied as to reach perfect Buddhahood. One of these, the
Wessantara or the “alms-giving” Jataka, occupies the
whole of the lower beam of the northern gateway, and
reproduces all the events of that wonderful tale, exactly as
it is narrated in Ceylonese books at the present day. . . .
Other sculptures represent sieges and fighting and conse-
quent triumphs, but, so far as can be seen, for the acquisi-
tion of relics or subjects connected with the faith. Others
pourtray men and women eating and drinking and making
love. . . . The sculptures of these gateways from a
perfect Picture Bible of Buddhism, as it existed in India
in the first century of the Christian Era.” .
The date of the Sanchi rail is said to be three centuries
after that of Buddha Gaya and Bharbut rails; and the
Amaravati rail is again three centuries posterior to the
Sanchi rail. The date of the Amaravati rail is said to
be the fourth or fifth century A.D.
72 - - BU IDID H IST PIElv I () D. [Book IV,
Amaravati is situated on the southern bank of the
Krishna river near its mouth, and was long the capital
of the Andhra empire of Southern India. The Amaravati
rail is leaded with ornament and sculptures. The great
rail is 195 feet in diameter and the inner 165 feet, and
between these two was the procession path. Externally
the great rail was 14 feet and internally 12 feet, while
the inner rail was solid and 6 feet high. The plinth of
the great rail was ornamented by a frieze of animals and
boys, and the pillars as usual were octagonal and orna-
mented with discs. The inside of the great rail was
more richly ornamented than the outside, and the upper
rail was one continuous bas-relief 6oo feet in length.
The inner rail was even more richly ornamented than the
great rail, with figures most elaborately carved with scenes
from the life of Buddha, or from legends.
Two woodcuts given in Dr. Fergusson’s work, one
from the great rail, and one from the inner rail, are
interesting. The former represents a king seated on his
throne and receiving a messenger, while his army in front
defends the walls. Lower down the infantry, cavalry,
and elephants sally forth in battle array, while one of
the enemy sues for peace. The latter, i.e., the woodcut
from the inner rail, represents three objects of worship,
viz., a Stupa with its rails, a Chakra or wheel of religion,
and a congregation worshipping a relic or sacred tree.
We now come to the important subject of CHAITYAS,
i.e., assembly halls or churches. The great distinguish-
ing feature of these Buddhist churches is that they are
not constructed but excavated. Twenty or thirty churches
are known to exist, and all of them with one exception
are excavated rocks. The external view of European
churches and of Hindu temples forms their most dis-
tinguishing and noble feature; but of the Buddhist
churches, excavated in rocks,—there is no external
view except the frontage, which is often ornamented.
Nine-tenths of the Buddhist churches which exist
casp. vii. 1 BUDDHIST ARCHITECTURE, ETC. 73
belong to the Bombay Presidency, and this is explained
by the fact that the Western Presidency is the great
cave district of India, with rocks peculiarly fitted for
excavation. -
There is a cave in Behar which is believed to be the
identical Satapanni cave of Rajagriha, in which, or in
front of which, the First Council was held immediately
after the death of Gautama to fix the cannon. It is a
natural cave slightly improved by art, and it was seen
by Houen Tsang when he resided in Magadha.
There is an interesting group of caves sixteen miles
north of Gaya, of which the most interesting is the one
known as Lomasa Rishi’s cave. The form of the roof is
a pointed arch, and the frontage is ornamented with
simple sculpture. The interior is a hall 33 feet by 19
feet, beyond which there is a nearly circular apartment.
All the caves of this group are said to have been ex-
cavated in the third century B.C. .
There are five or six Chaitya caves in the Western
Ghats, all of which are said to have been excavated
before the Christian Pra, and of which the cave at Bhaja
is said to be the most ancient. As in the Buddhist rails,
so in the Chaityas, we find architecture in stone slowly
evolving itself out of wooden forms. The pillars of the
Bhaja cave slope inwards at a considerable angle, as
wooden posts would slope, to give strength to a struc.
ture ; and the rafters of the cave are still of wood, many
of which remain to this day. The date of this cave is
said to be the third century B.C.
In the next group of caves, at Bedsor, considerable
progress is manifested. The pillars are more upright,
though still sloping inwards. The frontage is ornamented
with rail decoration, the design being taken from actual
rails as described before, but represented here merely as
ornament. The date of the caves is said to be the first
half of the second century.
The next cave is at Nassik. The pillars are so nearly
WOI, II, IO
74 I3UI) DHIST PIERIOD [BOOK IV.
perpendicular that the inclination escapes detection,
and the facade, though still exhibiting the rail decora-
tion, shows a great advance in design. The date of
the cave is said to be the last hałf of the second
century.
And when we come at last to the cave at Karli, on the
road between Poona and Bombay, we find the architecture
of this class in its state of perfection. The pillars are
Quite perpendicular, the screen is ornamented with sculp-
ture, and the style of architecture both inside and in
front is chaste and pure. The Chaitya is said to have
been excavated in the first century after Christ, and it
is the largest and the most perfect Chaitya yet discovered
in India; and the style of architecture was never sur-
passed in succeeding centuries.
The following account will interest our readers —
“The building, as will be seen from the annexed illus-
tration, resembles to a great extent an early Christian
church in its arrangements, consisting of a nave and side
aisles, terminating in an apse or semi-dome, round which
the aisle is carried. The general dimensions of the in-
terior are 126 feet from the entrance to the back wall, by
45 feet 7 inches in width ; the side aisles, however, are
very much narrower than in Christian churches, the
central one being 25 feet 7 inches, so that the others are
only 1o feet wide, including the thickness of the pillars.
. . . Fifteen on each side separate the vane from the
aisles ; each pillar has a tall base, an octagonal shaft, and
richly ornamented capital, on which kneel two elephants,
each bearing two figures, generally a man and a woman,
but sometimes two females, all very much better executed
than such ornaments usually are, The seven pillars
behind the altar are plain octagonal piers without either
base or capital. . . . Above this springs the roof, semi-
circular in general section, but somewhat stilted at the
sides, so as to make its height greater than the semi-
diameter. . . . Immediately under the semi-dome of the
cHAP. VII.] BUDDHIST ARCHITECTURE, ETC. 75
apse, and nearly where the altar stands in Christian
churches, is placed the Dagoba. . . .
“Of the interior we can judge perfectly, and it certainly
is as solemn and grand as any interior can well be. And
the mode of lighting is the most perfect, one undivided
volume of light coming through a single opening over-
head at a favourable angle, and falling directly on the
KARLI CHAITYA.
altar or principal object in the building, leaving the rest
in comparative obscurity. The effect is considerably
heightened by the closely set thick columns that divide
the three aisles from one another.”—Fergusson.
There are four Chaityas at Ajanta, dating probably
from the first century to the sixth century A.D. Statues
of Buddha appear in the later Chaityas ; and Buddhism,











76 Bl] D DIIIST PERIOD. [BOOK Iv.
as represented on the latest of these Chaityas, is very
akin to the Hinduism of the sixth and subsequent cen-
turies.
The Visvakarma cave of Ellora is a Chaitya belonging
to the latter part of the Buddhist Period. The dimen.
sions of the ball are 85 feet by 43 feet, and in the roof all
the ribs and ornaments are cut in the rock, though still
copied from wooden prototypes. In the facade we miss
for the first time the horse-shoe opening which is the
most marked feature in all previous examples. The
facade of Ellora Chaitya looks like that of an ordinary
two-storeyed house, with verandas richly sculptured.
The cave of Kenheri, on the island of Salsette in
Bombay harbour, is well known. It was excavated in the
early part of the fifth century A.D. It is a copy of the
great cave at Karli, but very inferior in style.
Lastly, we come to VIHARAS or monasteries. Fore.
most among the Buddhist Viharas was the celebrated
monastery of Nalanda (south of Patna), visited by Houen
Tsang in the seventh century. Successive kings had
built here, and one of them surrounded all the Viharas
with a high wall which can still be traced, measuring
16oo feet by 4oo feet. Outside this enclosure, again,
Stupas and towers were built, ten or twelve of which
have been identified by General Cunningham.
The architecture of this great monastery, however, has
not been properly restored, nor the arrangements made
clear. There are some reasons to suspect that the super-
structure was of wood, and if that be so, scarcely a trace
of it can now be left.
Many of our readers who have visited Cuttack and
Bhuvanesvara must also have seen the caves in the two
hills, Udayagiri and Khandagiri, about twenty miles from
Cuttack. There is an inscription on the Hathi Gumpha,
or the Elephant Cave, to the effect that it was engraved
by Aira, king of Kalinga, who subdued neighbouring
kings. : r - f
cIIAP. VII.] BUDDHIST ARCHITECTURE, ETC. 77
The Ganesa Gumpha and the Rajrani Gumpha are
both said to have been excavated before the Christian
Era, and a curious story is sculptured on them both.
A man sleeps under a tree, and a woman, apparently his
wife, introduces a lover. A fight ensues, and the victor
carries away the female in his arms.
Older than these caves are smaller and simpler ones,
among which the Tiger Cave in Udayagiri is the best
known. $
Turning now to Western India, the Nassik group con-
tains three principal Viharas known under the names of
Nahapana, Gautamiputra, and Yaduyasri. The first two
are on the same plan, being halls 40 feet square, with
sixteen small cells for monks on three sides, and a six-
pillared veranda on the fourth side. An inscription in
the Nahapana Vihara shows that it was excavated by the
Son-in-law of that chief, who, we have seen elsewhere,
heads the list of Shah kings; and the date of this Vihara
is therefore about Loo A.D. The Gatitamiputra Vihara is
Supposed to be two or three centuries later. The Yadu-
yasri Vihara has a hall 60 feet by 40 to 45 feet, and
twenty-one cells for monks. It has also a sanctuary with
two richly carved pillars and a colossal figure of Buddha
with many attendants. The date of this Vihara appears
from an inscription to be the fifth century.
Perhaps the most interesting Viharas in India are
Nos. 16 and 17 of the Ajanta Viharas. They are
beautiful specimens of Buddhist monasteries, and possess
a unique value, as they still contain fresco paintings with
a degree of distinctness unequalled in any other Vihara
in India. Their date has been ascertained ; they were
excavated early in the fifth century, when the Guptas
were the emperors of India.
Vihara No. 16 measures 65 feet each way, and has
twenty pillars. It has sixteen cells for monks on
two sides, a great hall in the centre, a veranda in the
front, and a sanctuary in the back. All the walls are
78 BUI) D H IST PERIOD. [BOOR 1 v.
covered with frescoes representing scenes from the life
of Buddha or from the legends of Saints, and the roofs
and pillars have arabesques and ornaments, and all this
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tible. The figures are natural and elegant, the human
















cHAP. vii.] BUDDHIST ARCHITECTURE, ETC. 79
faces are pleasant and expressive, and convey the feelings
which they are meant to convey, and the female figures
are supple, light, and elegant, and have an air of softness
and mild grace which mark them peculiarly Indian in
style. The decorations are chaste and correct in style
and singularly effective. It is to be hoped that a fairly
complete representation of these curious paintings will
yet be published for the elucidation of the art of painting
in Ancient India ; and such a work will be as valuable, to
the historian of Indian Art as the paintings recovered
from Pompeii, and preserved in the Museum of Naples,
are valuable to the historian of ancient European Art.
T}r. Fergusson, however, apprehends that the means
adopted to heighten the colour of the Ajanta paintings in
order to copy them, and the “destructive tendencies
of British tourists,” have already spoilt these invaluable
treaSureS.
Ajanta Vihara No. 17 is similar in plan to No. 16, and
is known as the Zodiac cave, because a figure of the
Buddhist Chakra or wheel was mistaken for the signs of
the Zodiac. , * - -
Eight or nine Viharas exist at Bogh, a place about
thirty miles west of Mandu. The great Vihara here has
a hall 96 feet square and a shala or schoolroom attached to
it 94 feet by 44 feet ; while a veranda 220 feet in length
runs in front of the hall and the shala, 28 pillars
beautify the hall, 16 pillars are in the schoolroom, while
20 pillars all in a row adorn the veranda. At one time
the whole of the back wall of the gallery was adorned
with a series of fresco paintings, equalling the Ajanta
paintings in beauty. The principal subjects are proces-
sions on horseback and on elephants. Women exceed
men in number, and dancing and love-making are promi-
nently introduced. *
At Ellora there are numerous Viharas attached to the
Visvakarma Chaitya, of which we have spoken before.
The great Vihara is 1 to feet by 70 feet, and this as well
So BUD D H IST. PERIOD. [BOOK IV,
as the smaller Viharas belong probably to the same
century as the Chaitya.
There are three temples here which curiously illustrate
the steps by which Buddhistic excavations gradually
emerged in the Hindu. The first temple is Do-tal, a two-
storeyed Buddhist Vihara, Buddhistic in all its details,
The second temple is Teen-tal, similar to the Do-tal, and
still having Buddhist sculptures, but departing so far
from simplicity of style as to justify Brahmans in ap-
propriating it, as they have done ! The third is Das
Avatar, still resembling the other two in architectural
details, but entirely Hindu in sculptures. Later on, when
Hinduism had completely triumphed over Buddhism,
the Hindus of Southern India excavated in the spot,
in the eighth or ninth century A.D., the famous temple of
Railasa, which has made Ellora one of the great wonders
of India. But of this and other Hindu edifices we will
speak when we come to treat of the Puranic Period.
We need only state here that the main distinction be-
tween Buddhist works and Hindu works is this ; Buddhist
Chaityas and Viharas are caves excavated in rocks;
while Hindu workers, even when they worked on existing
hills and rocks, imitated structural buildings by clearing
away the stone on all sides, and thus allowing the edifices
carved to stand out in bold relief against the neighbour-
ing rocks. Such is Kailasa in Ellora,
We need not lengthen this chapter by giving an
account of Gandhara Viharas. There can be no doubt
that Greek influence greatly modified the style of archi-
tecture there, and many capitals and figures discovered
in the Punjab are distinctly Greek in style. Nor is it
possible to include here an account of Ceylonese archi-
tecture. There are numerous ruins of ancient topes and
other edifices in that island, specially near Anuradhapura,
which continued to be the capital of Ceylon for ten
centuries. Two of the largest known topes are in Ceylon,
one at Abhayagiri, 1 Ioo feet in circumference and 244
*
cººp. vii.] Bud DIIIST ARCHITECTURE, ETC.
8
I
feet high ; and the other at Jetavana, a few feet higher.
The former was erected in 88 B.C., and the latter in
275 A.D. *
From the brief account that has been given, our readers
will perceive that both in architecture and in sculpture the
highest excellence was attained and maintained in India
before and immediately after the Christian Era. For the
first attempts we must look to the rude caves in Orissa
and Behar, with the facades now and then ornamented
with rude sculpture of animals. Such, for instance, is
the Tiger Cave of Orissa, and we must date this class of
caves with the first spread of Buddhism in the fourth
century B.C. A great advance was made in the third
century B.C., and perhaps the noblest monuments, both in
sculpture and in architecture, were constructed between
the third century B.C. and the first century A.D. The
richly sculptured rails of Bharhut and Sanchi belong to
200 B.C. and I oo A.D., and the finest Chaitya that has
been yet discovered, that of Karli, belongs also to the
first century after Christ. For the succeeding three or
four centuries the art maintained its high position, but
scarcely any progress was made, for it is doubtful if a
tendency towards elaborate ornamentation is true pro-
gress. The Ajanta Viharas and the Amaravati rails, con-
structed in the fourth and fifth centuries A. D., maintained
the high position which art had reached in India three or
four centuries earlier. Painting, too, of which we cannot
discover the first beginnings, attained or maintained its
high excellence in the fifth century A.D.
Hinduism, then, inherited from Buddhism the arts
of architecture and sculpture. In the earlier Hindu
temples of the sixth and seventh centuries, in Orissa
and elsewhere, the sculpture is still as chaste and as
meritorious as in the Buddhist rails. But it declined
in later times.
In the later Hindu temples, the art has lost much
of its higher aesthetic qualities, and “frequently resorts
WOL. II. I ºf
32 BUDI) HIST PERFOD, [BOOK I W.
to such expedients as giving dignity to the principal per-
sonages, by making them double the size of less im-
portant characters, and of distinguishing gods from men
by giving them more heads and arms than mortal man
can use or understand.”
{CHAPTER VIII.
CAST/E.
FROM an account of the architecture and sculpture of
the Hindus, we will now turn to their social manners and
institutions in the Buddhist Age.
We have said before that Buddhism and Hinduism
flowed in parallel streams in India during many centuries.
Orthodox Hindus, specially of the higher castes, adhered
to the Vedic form of religion and to Vedic sacrifices.
On the other hand, the number of Buddhist monks and
monasteries increased all over the land, and the common
people drifted in large numbers to Buddhist ceremonials
and the worship of relics and images. There was no
open hostility between the two creeds, and except when
Some unwise and violent monarch signalised his reign by
acts of persecution, there was no thought of a rupture
between Hindus and Buddhists, who lived in India in
friendliness for many centuries, each practising their own
form of religious rites.
The numerous extracts we have made from the Bud.
dhist Scriptures in the last Book throw much light on
Buddhist life and manners. For a picture of Hindu life
and manners during this age, we must go to the Institutes
of Manu,-in many respects the most remarkable work
of the age.
We have seen before that the laws of Manu in their
earlier or Sutra form were prevalent in India, and were
much respected by the other Sutrakaras in the Rational-
istic Age, Those earlier laws, however, have beca lost
83
f
!
84 BupDHIST PER1OD, [book iv.
to us, and the Institutes of Manu which we have now, were
completely recast and put in verse in the Buddhist Age.
They reflect, therefore, the Hindu manners and customs
of the Buddhist Age, and thus form an intermediate link
between the earlier Sutra works of the Rationalistic Age
and the later Dharma Sastras of the Puranic Age.
The earlier Sutras connect themselves with some par.
ticular Vedic school or other. Manu does not connect him.
Self with any such school or particular community, but
professes to lay down rules for all Aryan Hindus. Herein
Manu differs from the Sutras of the Rationalistic Age.
On the other hand, Manu differs still more widely from
the later Dharma Sastras of the Puranic Age. These
Dharma Sutras proclaim Puranic or Modern Hinduism,
and believe in the Hindu Trinity and in the worship of
images. Manu does not recognise these modern innova.
tions. He still stands up for Vedic Hinduism and Vedic
sacrifices, ignores the later Hindu Trinity, and condemns
the worship of images. Thus the position of Manu is
singular and unique, and he represents the transition
state through which the Hindus passed during the Bud.
dhist Age, – before they completely adopted modern or
Puranic Hinduism. Herein consists the importance of
Manu's Institutes, and the date assigned to the Institutes
in their present shape, by Dr. Buhler and other scholars,
is the first or second century before or after Christ.
We shall obtain from this valuable work much valuable
information about the social manners and laws and rules
of administration of the Hindus during the Buddhist Age.
In the present chapter our remarks will be confined to
the caste-system. - -
We have seen before, that the ancient Sutrakaras had
conceived that the different castes sprang from the union
of men and women of different original castes; and Manu
unfortunately adopts and hands down the childish myth.
... The following is a list of Manu's mixed castes, or, if we
may so call it, Manu's theory of the Origin of the Human
CHAP. VIII.]
85
CASTE,
Species
Sons begotten by the first three castes on wives
of the next lower castes were considered similar to their
fathers, and did not form new castes.
Falher. AMother. Castes formed.
Brahman Vaisya Ambashtha.
Do. Sudra Nishada
Kshatriya DO. Ugra
Do. r Brahman . Suta
Vaisya Do. Vaideha
Vaisya Kshatriya Magadha
Sudra Vaisya Ayogava
Do. Kshatriya Kshattri
Do. Brahman Chandala
Brahman Ugra Avrita
Do. Ambashtha Abhira
Do. Ayogawa Dhigvana
Nishada , Sudra Pukkasa Y
Sudra Nishada Kukkutaka
Kshattri Ugra Svapaka
Vaidehalka Ambashtha. Vena
by wives of
First three castes their same caste, Vratyas.
..but not perform-
ing Sacred rites. - -
} . - - - * - Bhrijjakantaka
From Brahman t- | Avantya
Vrat - } 6 wº º * Vatadhana
* yas
Pushpadha
‘Saikhā
Thalla
Malla
From Kshatriya ! . - Lichchivi
Vratyas } * * * et • Nata
Karana
Khasa
| Dravida -
ſSudhanvan
-. | Acharya
From Vaisya } Karusha
Vratyas , a & * * | Vijanman
Maitra
\Satvata
Y3U I) DEI IST Pl: RIOT).
| BOOR \\,
Faſher
Castes formed.
Al/other . .
Dasyu Ayogava Sairindhra
Vaideha. Do. Maitreyaka
Nishada Do. Margava or Dasa or Kaivarta
Do. Vaideha. Karavara.
Vaidehika Raravara Andhra
IDO. Nishada Meda
Chandala. Vaideha : Pandusopaka
Nishada Do. A hindika
Chandala Pukkasa Sopaka
Chandala Nishada Antyavasayin. ~.
As if this list of non-Aryan races was not sufficiently
long, the great legislator tries to include by a sweeping
rule all the known races of the earth The Paundrakas
(North Bengal men), the Udras (Oriyas), the Dravidas
(Southern Indians), the Kambojas (Kabulis), the Yavanas
(Bactrian Greeks), the Sakas (Turanian invaders), the
Paradas, the Pahlavas (Persians), the Chinas (Chinese),
the Kiratas (hill men), and the Daradas and Khasas are
said to have been Kshatriyas before, but to have “gradu-
ally sunk in this world to the condition of Sudras,”
through omission of the sacred rites, and for “not con-
sulting Brahmans” (X, 43 and 44).
On carefully looking over the foregoing list of mixed
castes, we find that they include all the aboriginal and
foreign races that were known to Manu, but they do not
include the profession—castes of the modern day. We
find no mention of Kayasthas and Vaidyas and Gold-
Smiths and Blacksmiths and Vaniks, and Potters and
Weavers, and other artisans who form castes in modern
times. How have these castes sprung P. When did they
spring into existence P And shall we believe in the myth
of a further permutation and combination among the men
and women of . Manu's mixed castes in order to account
for the existence of the scores of new castes in the
modern day ?
Again, when we survey the modern Hindu castes, We
cIIAP. VIII.] CASTE. 8;
do not in many provinces of India ſind any trace of the
ancient Vaisya caste, which formed the mass of the nation
in the days of Manu. Where are those Vaisyas gone P.
When and how did they disappear from most provinces
of India? And shall we, consistently with the myth
spoken of before, believe that the Vaisyas were so apt to
marry women of other castes, and so little fond of their
own women, that they continually formed alliances with
other castes, until they simply married themselves out of
their caste-existence 2
The student of Indian history is spared the humiliation
of accepting such nursery tales Common sense will
suggest to him that the Vaisyas of Manu have now been
disunited into new modern castes according to the pro-
fessions they follow. Manu knew of goldsmiths and
blacksmiths and physicians, and Speaks of , them, but
does not reckon them as separate castes. Zhey zºere moſſ'
casſes buff professions in Manu's time, and stil/ /e/onged
ſo the common undivided Vaisya castle. Scribes and
physicians and artisans were still entitled in Manu's time
to the privileges of the ancient Aryans, to acquire re-
ligious knowledge, to perform religious rites, and to wear
the sacrificial thread. However much, then, we may
deplore the results of the caste-system, it is important to
remember that even in the centuries immediately before
and immediately after the Christian Era, the system had
not reached its worst stage. Sacred learning had not yet
become the monopoly of priests, and honest citizens, who
gained a livelihood as scribes, physicians, goldsmiths,
blacksmiths, weavers, potters, &c., were still Vaisyas, still:
united as one caste, and still entitled to all the literary
and religious heritage of Aryans.
We will illustrate these remarks by a few facts taken
from the modern state of Bengal. Bengal proper, i.e., the
country in which the Bengali is the spoken tongue (com-
prising the Presidency, Burdwan, Rajshahi, Dacca, and
Chittagong fiscal divisions), has a population about
88 BUDD HIST PIERIOD [BOOK IV.
35% millions according to the census of 1881. Roughly,
speaking, 18 millions are Mahommedans, 17 millions are
Hindus (including aborigines), and the remaining half-
million is made up of Buddhists, Christians, &c. -
The castes which make up the 17 million Hindus are
numerous ; and those which number 200,ooo souls or
more are shown in the following list :-
I. Kaivarta 2,006 thousands. I7. Baniya 318 thousands,
2. Chandala I,564 2 3 18. Jugi *306 2 3
3. Koch I, 2I 5 2 3 I9. Kamar 286 3 3
4 Brahman I,077 2 3 2O. Kumar 252 , ,
5. Kayastha I,056 2, 2 2.I. Bauri 252 5 3
6. Bagdi 72O 2 3 22, Teor 229 9 3
7. Gowala 613 3 2 23. Dhobi 227 2 3
8. Sadgop 547 2 3
9. Napit 447 2 3 . 13,760 2 3
IO. Vaishnav 439 3 y Other castes,
II. Chamar 4IO 5 * numbering
12. Sunri 383 5 5 less t h a n
13. Teli 383 22 2OO,OOO souls 3,494 a 2.
I4. Jeleya 375 2 9 - 2 3
I5. Tanty 33O 22 Total IHindu
I6. Pod 325. 3 5 population 17,254 2 y
The two most numerous castes the Kaivarta and the
Chandala, find mention in Manu's list of mixed castes.
The Kaivartas of Bengal form a solid body of two
million people, making nearly one-eighth of the entire
Hindu population of Bengal. They have much the same
physical features, follow the same pursuits of fishing and
agriculture, and possess the same mental characteristics
of patience and industry, docility and dulness. Three-
fourths of them inhabit the south-western corner of
Bengal, i.e., the districts of Midnapur, Hooghly, and
Howrah, 24-Pergunnahs, Nuddea, and Murshedabad. Is
there any one among our readers who is so simple as to
believe with Manu that this solid and numerous race of
men, possessing the same features and characteristics,
and mostly inhabiting one definite part of Bengal, is
cIIAP. viii. 1 CASTE. - 89.
descended from children borne by Ayogava women who
deserted their own husbands and yielded themselves—by
the hundred thousand—to the embraces of Nishadas 1.
Where are the traditions of this strange and universal
elopement, this rape of the Ayogava women by Nishadas,
compared to which the rape of the Sabine women was
but child’s play ? Common sense brushes aside such
nursery tales, and recognises in the millions of hardwork-
ing and simple Kaivartas, one of those aboriginal races
who inhabited Bengal before the Aryans came to the land,
and who submitted themselves to the civilisation, the
language, and the religion of the conquering Hindus, and
learnt from them to till the land where they had previ-
ously lived by fishing and hunting. f
Let us next turn to the Chandalas of Bengal. They
too form a solid body of people numbering a million and
a half, and inhabiting mostly the south-eastern districts.
of Bengal, Backergunj, Faridpur and Dacca, Jessore and
Khulna. They are patient and hard-working, and un-
rivalled in boating and fishing ; and landlords like to .
have them as tenants for bringing waste and marshy
lands under cultivation.* But nevertheless the Chandalas.
are a soft, timid, and submissive race, and bear without a
complaint many wrongs from the sturdier Mussulmans of
East Bengal. There is a marked family likeness, bots
physical and mental, among the Chandalas, which showh
them to be one distinct race. - a
And how was this race formed 2 Manu has it that they
are the issues of Brahman women who yielded themselves
to the embraces of Sudras. As the number of Brahmans
•k The present writer has often witnessed the curious way in which
the Chandalas of some parts of Backergunj District turn beels or
marshes into solid cultivable lands. They either connect the beels with .
tidal rivers by artificial canals, so as to induce a deposit of silt on the
bed of the marshes day by day and year by year; or they collect a
kind of weed growing in the marshes, and lay them stratum upon
stratum until the lowest stratum reaches the bottom. The present
writer has seen houses and trees on lands thus manufactured.
WQL, II, I 2
90. BUDDHIST PERIOD [BOOK IV,
in South-Eastern Bengal was never very large in olden
times, and does not even in the present day come to even
a quarter of a million in the five districts named above,
it is difficult to account for the presence of a million
Chandalas in those districts on Manu's theory. Shall we
suppose that fair-skinned Brahman Desdemonas habitu-
ally bestowed their hands on swarthy Sudra swains P
Shall we suppose that beauteous but frail Brahman girls
were seduced from their parents—by the hundred thou-
Sand—by gay Sudra Lotharios intent on creating a new
caste P And shall we further suppose that the children
begotten of such unions thrived and multiplied in marshes
and fishing villages, amidst toil and privations,—more
than true-born Brahman children basking in the sunshine
of royal favour and priesthy privileges P. We have only
to state such suppositions to show their utter absurdity;
and with these suppositions, Manu's theory of mixed
castes is brushed aside to the region of myths and nursery
tales | Common sense will tell every reader who knows
anything of the Chandalas of Bengal that they were the
primeval dwellers of South-Eastern Bengal, and lived by
fishing in its numerous creeks and channels, and they
naturally adopted the religion, the language, and the
civilisation of the Hindus when the Aryans came and
colonised Bengal.
We have shown that the Kaivartas and the Chandalas
were distinct primeval races, and that they formed Hindu
castes when they were Hinduised by the conquering
Aryans. There are other similar race-castes in Bengal.
The reader will find in the list given above the names of
the Koch, the Bagdi, the Pod, the Bauri, and the Teor,
which are all race-castes. They formed distinct abori-
ginal races before the Hindus came to Bengal; and from
century to century, in the long-forgotten ages, they sub-
mitted to the conquering Hindus, adopted their language
and religion and mode of tillage, and formed low castes
in the Hindu confederation of castes, The names of
chiAP. VIII.] CASTE. º, Y
many of these Bengal races were unknown to Manu ;
those which he knew, he tried to account for by his own
theory, in the absence of all historical and statistical
facts. -
* Let us now turn from race-castes to profession-castes.
In the list given above, the reader will find mention of
the Kayastha or scribe, the Goala or cowherd, the Napit
or barber, the Teli or oil-manufacturer, the Jeleya or
fisherman, the Tanti or weaver, the Baniya or trader, the
Ramar or blacksmith, the Kumar or potter, the Dhobi or
washerman, &c. He is remarkable that while soune of the
race-castes find mention in Manu's list of mixed castes,
not one of the profession-castes jºids friention in that list.
Were the professions unknown in Manu's time P. Were
there no scribes and traders, no blacksmiths and potters,
no barbers and washermen in Manu's time? The stip-
position is absurd, for Manu lived at a time of high
civilisation in India, and speaks of those professions in
his Code. But he does not mention them in his list of
mixed castes, and does not speak of them as castes. And
this demonstrates with mathematical certainty that the
different professions in Manu's time were yet professions
only, and had not been formed into distinct and in-
violable castes. The Vaisyas were still a united body,
and so were the Sudras, although they followed different
professions and trades.
We now know the true origin of the profession-castes
which were unknown to Manu, and have been formed
since. We know also the origin of the race-castes which
were formed before Manu's time, and were known to
Manu. And lastly, we know how Manu erred in trying
to account for these race-castes. Manu's mistake was
unavoidable. He saw distinct castes like the Kaiwartas
and the Chandalas, and did not know their historic origin.
The religious traditions of his time traced all mankind
from the four parent castes, and he was compelled there-
fore to stretch the old theory in order to account for
92 BUDD HIST PERIOD. [BOOK iv.
the new castes of his time, All this is intelligible.
What is not intelligible is, that the old theory should
still find acceptance among some Hindus in these days
of statistics and historical inquiry. But the very sanc-
tity of the Institutes disarms historical inquiry, repels
careful examination, silences criticism. It is for this
reason that the ancient theory of mixed castes has
been upheld and accepted and venerated for centuries
in the face of all facts and all probabilities. Never ques-
tioned, never criticised never tested by facts, the theory
has floated in the imagination and belief of orthodox
Hindus, an object of admiration and blind faith. And
yet this theory, so symmetrical and comprehensive, so
perfect and complete, vanishes like a beauteous soap-
bubble into nothingness, the moment it is touched by the
finger of criticism.
CHA PTER IX.
social z/FE.
MANU's account of domestic rites is based on the accounts
of the old Sutrakaras, and the same rites are described.
The Jatakarman must be performed immediately after
the birth of a child, and before the navel-string is cut.
On the tenth or twelfth day after birth, or on a lucky.
day, in a lucky muhurta, under an auspicious con-
stellation, the Mamadheya rite should be performed, and
the child should be named. In the fourth month, the
AVishkramama should be done, and the child taken out
of the house, and in the sixth month the child should
have his Annaprasana or first meal of rice. The Upana-
yana or initiation should be performed in the eighth year.
for a Brahman, in the eleventh for a Kshatriya, and in
the twelfth for a Vaisya ; and then the boy, invested with
the holy thread, is to be made over to his instructor.
The rules of the student’s life are the same as those
laid down in the Dharma Sutras. The student should
have a girdle, a staff, and one or two garments ; he
should be obedient and respectful to his teacher ; he
should beg from door to door every day, and bring the
proceeds to his teacher's house ; and he should live there
and serve him menially, while receiving instruction from
day to day and from year to year. The ceremony of
Æesanta or shaving was performed for a Brahman in the
sixteenth year, for a Kshatriya in the twenty-second, and
for a Vaisya two years later, - -
The time for learning the three Vedas is thirty-six years,
93
9.4 BU DD HIST PIERIOD. [BOOK Iv.
or eighteen years, or even nine years, or until the student
has perfectly learnt them. We are not told of any fourth
Veda here (III, 1), nor is any time allotted for learning the
Atharvan. And having concluded his studies and bathed,
the student became a Snataka, returned home, married
and settled down as a householder. The sacred fire was
to be lighted at the wedding ; and the householder was
enjoined to perform his domestic ceremonies and the five
great sacrifices all through his life. These great sacrifices
were—(1) teaching and studying metaphorically called a
sacrifice to the Supreme God (Brahman); (2) offerings of
water to the departed fathers ; (3) burnt offerings to the
minor gods ; (4) offerings to spirits ; and (5) an ever
hospitable reception of guests, described as a sacrifice
to men (III, 67 and 70). The last duty was a most
important one, and Hindu sages are never, tired of
impressing on pious Hindus this great duty to their
fellow-men. - • * t * . |
Apart from the daily offering to departed ancestors,
there was the monthly Pinda. Pitriyajna (III, 122), and
Pindas, or cakes were prepared on this occasion and were
offered to the manes, Brahmans were fed at the daily
offerings, as well as at the monthly offerings, and Manu
is as bitter as the Sutrakaras, against feeding ignorant
Brahmans, - . . .
“As a husbandman reaps no harvest when he has
sown the seed in barren soil, even so the giver of Sãcri-
ficial food gains no reward if he presented it to a man
unacquainted with the Richas” (III, 142). -
“As many mouthfuls as an ignorant man swallows at
a sacrifice to the gods or to the manes, so many red hot
'spikes, spears, and iron balls must the giver of the repast
swallow after death” (III, 133). . . . . . . . .
Elsewhere we are warned against offering even water
“to a Brahman who acts like a cat, or like a heron.”
And it would sound irreverent to modern Hindus if we
quoted the words in which Manu indignantly stigmatised
CHAP. IX.] SOCIAL LIFE. 95
the cat-like and heron-like Brahmans of his day ! (IV,
192, 195, 196).
With regard to sacrifices, we are told that a Brahman.
should always offer the Agnihorta morning and evening ;
that he should perform the Darsa and Paurnamasa Ishtis
at the new and full moon; that he should do the Chatur-
masya sacrifices at the end of the three seasons ; that he
should perform animal sacrifices at the solstices, and a
soma sacrifice at the end of the year. When the new
grain was reaped he should perform an Agrayana Ishti
and an animal sacrifice (IV, 25–27). The reader is
referred to the last Book for an account of these and
similar rites as described in the older Sutra works.
: All these injunctions to continue the daily, monthly,
and periodical rites prescribed in the ancient Sutras,
show that Manu sought to perpetuate the old Vedic rites
which were fast falling into disuse. Such expressions as
“A Brahman who keeps sacred fires” (IV, 27) would
indicate that to keep such fires was becoming rather the
exception than the rule ; and bitter expressions against
heretics would indicate that the influence of the Bud-
dhists was telling on the ancient forms and rites. A
householder is forbidden to honour, even by greeting,
heretics and logicians arguing against the Veda (IV, 30);
he is directed to avoid atheism and cavilling at the Veda.
(IV, 163); and women who have joined as heretical sect
are classed with lewd women, with drunken women, with
murderesses of their husbands, and with women who have
caused abortion (V, 90). . . .
We shall probably never know exactly in what way
and by what degrees the Vedic rites and forms of the
Epic and Rationalistic Periods were changed into the
forms of modern Hinduism. But we may be quite certain.
that at the very time at which the Institutes of Manu
were compiled, the ancient domestic sacrifices (Grihya)
at the householder’s hearth, and the more pompous sacri-
fices (Srauta) performed by priests, were falling in disuse,
96 PUDIO HIST PERIOD. IBOOK IV.
and were being supplanted by those very temple priests
whom Manu contemptuously classes with sellers of meat
and wine, with shopkeepers and usurers (III, 152, 180).
The Institutes are a vain attempt to perpetuate the past
against the innovations of the present, and the historian
has little difficulty in noting in what direction the tide
was turning. -
The forms of marriage recounted by Manu are the
same that we find in the Dharma Sutras. He enumerates
the Brahma, the Daiva, the Arsha, the Prajapatya, the
Asura, the Gandharza, the A’akshasa, and the A'aisacha
forms; but his sense of decorum rebels against some of
the forms ; “the Paisacha (seduction) and the Asura
(sale) must never be used” (III, 25). And again we are
emphatically told that “ No father who knows the law
must take even the smallest gratuity for his daughter ;
for a man who, through avarice, takes a gratuity, is a
seller of his offspring” (III, 54). As if to leave no doubt
whatever on the subject, we are told that even a Sudra
should not take a nuptial fee ; and that such a transaction
has never been heard of (IX, 98 and I oo). But never-
theless a nuptial fee was probably received among the
low people in ancient times, as it is done to this day in
India, and Manu in one place incautiously lays down a
rule, that if one damsel has been shown and another is
given to a bridegroom, he may marry both for the same
price (VIII, 204). *
Similarly Manu is indignant against widow-marriage,
which ancient custom was becoming unpalatable to the
later Hindus; but he unguardedly informs us of the fact,
—and the fact is more valuable to the historian than
Manu's opinions,—that widow-marriage still prevailed in
his time, although it was not approved by the orthodox.
We are told in (V, 157) that a widow must never even
mention the name of another man after her husband has
died, and again that a second husband is nowhere pre-
scribed for virtuous women (V, 162). But nevertheless
*HAP. IX.] , SOCIAL LIFE, 97
we are told of husbands of remarried women (III, 166);
and of sons of remarried widows (III, 155 and 181 ;
IX, 169, 175 and 176). Virgin widows were expressly
permitted to remarry. Such a widow “is worthy to
perform with her second husband the nuptial ceremony ”
(IX, 176).
Intermarriage, as we have already seen before, was
freely allowed, provided that a man of a lower caste did
not marry a woman of a higher caste.
Marriage between relations was strictly prohibited in
Manu's time. “A damsel who is neither a Sapinda on
the mother's side, nor belongs to the same family on
the father's side, is recommended to twice-born men for
wedlock and conjugal union " (III, 5).
With regard to the age at which girls were married,
we should infer from Manu's rules that though girls were
sometimes married before they reached their puberty,
this was by no means obligatory, and they often married
later. We are told that a man of thirty should marry a
girl of twelve, and that a younger man should marry
girls still younger (X, 94). We are again told that to a
distinguished handsome suitor a father should give away
his daughter “though she have not attained the proper
age.” This is laid down as an exception, and the usual
rule, therefore, we should infer, was to give away girls at
“the proper age.” And we are expressly told that a girl
when marriageable should wait for three years and then
give herself away (IX, 90), and that her father should
rather keep unmarried the whole of her life than give
her away to a bridegroom who is not suitable (IX, 89),
The ancient custom of raising issue on a brother's
widow seems to have fallen into disuse. Manu, in his
anxiety to adhere to ancient rule, and also to proclaim a
purer custom, seems to flatly contradict himself. In
IX, 59 and 6o, he says that on failure of issue by her
husband, a wife or widow who has been authorised may
obtain the desired offspring by a brother-in-law, or by
VOL, II, I 3
98 BUIDOHIST : PERTOT), [Book iv.
some other Sapinda of the husband. But shortly after
he emphatically declares that a widow must never be
appointed to raise issue in this way ; that in the Sacred
texts the appointment of widows is nowhere mentioned ;
that the practice is reprehended by the learned as fit for
cattle (IX, 64 to 68). This is pretty strong language,
and shows how utterly the somewhat primitive custom
was condemned at the time of Manu.
It will be seen, from what has been stated above, that
the Institutes of Manu are somewhat composite in their
character. . The author tries to adhere to ancient law,
often quotes the current sayings and verses of his time,
—many of which bave been found in the Mahabharata, -
and at the same time he is anxious to proclaim a pure
law for the Aryans. Actuated by such different influ-
ences, Manu is sometimes uncertain in the rules he lays
down ; but the general scope and object of his law
cannot be mistaken by the candid reader. And if such
a reader carefully peruses all the chapters and verses in
the Code bearing on the position of women, he will, in
spite of some objectionable passages, certainly form a high
idea of the status of women, and of the Hindu civilisation
and manners of Manu's time. W
Women were regarded as dependent on their male
relations;– this Manu emphatically declares. But never-
theless women were honoured in their families, respected
by their relations, and held in esteem by the society in
which they lived. And this will appear not only from the
rules of Manu, but from the general tone of all Sanscrit
literature, -
“The Acharya (teacher) is ten times more venerable
than the Upadyaya (sub-teacher), the father a hundred
times more than the teacher, but the mother a thousand
times inore than the father (II, 145).
“Women must be honoured and adorned by their
fathers, brothers, husbands, and brothers-in-law, who
desire their own welfare. - * * -
CHAP. IX.] SOCIAL LIFE. 99
“Where women are honoured, there the gods are
pleased ; but where they are not honoured, no sacred
rite yields reward.
“Where female relations live in grief, the family soon
wholly perishes; but that family where they are not un-
happy, ever prospers” (III, 55–57).
On the other hand, we have as clear an enunciation of
women’s duties. -
“In childhood a female must be subject to her father ;
in youth to her husband ; when her lord is dead, to her
sons; a woman must never be independent.
“She must not seek to separate herself from her father,
husband, or sons. By leaving them she would make
both her own and her husband's family contemptible.
“She must always be cheerful, clever in the manage-
ment of her household affairs, careful in cleaning her
utensils, and economical in expenditure. *.
“Hina to whom her father may give her, or her brother,
with her father's permission, she shall obey as long as
she lives, and when he is dead, she must not insult his
memory. p z -
“Though destitute of virtue, or seeking pleasure, or
devoid of good qualities, yet a husband must be constantly
worshipped as a god by a faithful wife. t
“No sacrifice, no vow, no fast, must be performed by
women apart from their husbands; if a wife obeys her
husband, she will for that reason alone be exalted in
heaven” (V, 148–151, and 154, 155).
CHAPTER X.
AD//ZAV/STRA TAOAV.
MANU gives us a very interesting picture of the daily
duties and the private life of kings. :
To protect his subjects, to deal impartial justice, and
to punish the wrong-doer were the essential duties of a
-king, and the very existence of Society depended on the
“performance of these duties (VII, 2, 16–35). Drinking,
dice, women, and hunting were the most pernicious faults
of kings. (VII, 50). - -
The king rose in the last watch of the night, and having
performed personal purification, and offered oblations to
the fire, he entered the hall of audience in the morning.
There he gratified all subjects who came to see him; and
having dismissed them, he took counsel with his ministers
in a lonely place, unobserved by the public (VII, 145–
147). When the consultation was over, the king took
his customary exercise, bathed, and entered the inner
apartments in order to take his meals. The food was
prepared by faithful servants hallowed by Sacred texts
that destroyed poison, and well tried females served him
with fans, water, and perfumes. The carefulness which
is enjoined in the matter of food, is enjoined also in
respect of the king’s carriages, bed, seat, bath, toilet, and
ornaments, and shows that the risk of death by poison or
treachery was guarded against in the ordinary arrange-
ments in a king's household (VII, 216–220).
After taking his meals, the king passed some time with
his wives in the inner apartments ; but in the afternoon
IOO
CHAP, X. J AIDNI INISTRATION. I C'ſ
he issued again in his robes of state and inspected his
fighting men, his chariots, animals, weapons, and accoutre-
ments. And then, having performed his twilight devo-
tions, he gave audience to his secret spies, and heard
Secret reports collected for his information. After this he
entered his inner apartments again and had his supper.
Then, after refreshing himself by the sound of music, he
retired to rest (VII, 221–225).
The king was, of course, assisted in his work of ad-
ministration by his ministers, –seven or eight, ministers
according to Manu,-versed in sciences, skilled in the
use of weapons, and descended from noble and well-tried
families. Such ministers advised the king in matters of
peace and war, revenue, and religious gifts. The king.
also employed suitable persons for the collection of
revenue, and in mines, manufactories, and storehouses ;
and he employed an ambassador “who understands hints,
and the expression of the face and gestures,” for carrying
on negotiations (VII, 54—63). ,
For the protection of villages and towns separate officers
were appointed. The king appointed a lord over each
village, lords of ten villages, lords of twenty villages, lords
of a hundred villages, and lords of a thousand villages,
and it was their duty to check crime and protect the
villagers. Similarly each town, had its superintendent
of all affairs, who personally inspected the work of alk
officials, and got secret information about their behaviour.
“For the servants of the king who are appointed to pro-
tect the people generally become knaves who seize the
property of others; let him protect his subjects against
such men” (VII, I 15–123). This is a bitter invective
against the rapacity of officers; but few administrative
officers of the present day will consider the invective too
strong for the modern protectors of the people, the
police officers, each entrusted with the charge of an
extensive Thana with a population of fifty to a hundred
thousand or more - -
*I O2 - BU DDHIST PIERIOD. [BOOK Iv.
The income of the state from the royal demesnes was
supplemented by taxes. Manu fixes the taxes at “a
fiftieth part of the increments on cattle and gold,” which
corresponds to an income-tax of two per cent, and “the
eighth, sixth, or twelfth part of the crops,” which repre-
sents a land revenue much lower than modern assess-
ments. The king might also take a sixth part of trees,
meat, butter, earthen vessels, stoneware, &c., and might
exact a day's service in each month from artisans,
mechanics, and Sudras living by manual labour. But
he should on no account tax Srotriyas. And lastly, kings
are warned against excessive taxation. “Let him not
cut up his own root nor the root of others by excessive
greed. For by cutting up his own root or theirs, he
makes himself or them wretched ” (VII, 130–139).
All these and other rules about administration and
taxation show that a fairly advanced system of govern-
ment prevailed in India between fifteen hundred and two
thousand years ago, And the testimony of Chinese and
Greek writers who lived in the country proves that the
ideas were not merely worked out by theorists and book-
makers, but were carried into practice by kings and their
responsible officials. Megasthenes speaks in the highest
terms of the government of Chandragupta ; and Fa Hian
and Houen Tsang, who lived many years in India, and
visited many kingdoms, also speak highly of Hindu ad-
ministration, and do not cite one single instance of a péople
being ground down by taxes or harassed by the arbitrary
and oppressive acts of kings, or ruined by internecine
wars. On the contrary, the picture which they present
to us is that of a happy and prosperous group of nations,
loyal and well-disposed to their kings, enjoying the fruits
of a benign and mild and civilised administration. Agri-
culture flourished everywhere ; the arts were cultivated ;
learning was respected and cultivated with great assiduity
by Hindus and Buddhists alike ; religion was taught and
preached from temples and monasteries without let or
CHAP. X, Ai} MINISTRATION. J O3
hindrance; and the people were left to their own pur-
suits without oppressive interference. These results are
a truer indication of a beneficent administration than any
rules, however just and hunnane, which we may find
recorded in law books. , - . . . 4 -
. Fortresses were highly esteemed for the purposes of
defence, and Manu declares that “one bowman placed on
a rampart is a match in battle for one hundred foes” (VII,
74). He directs that a king should always build for his
safety a fortress, protected by a desert, or water, or trees,
or by earth works, or by armed men ; but he gives his
preference to hill forts, which are the strongest of all forts.
And, such forts should be well supplied with weapons,
money, grain, and beasts of burden ; with Brahmans,
artisans, engines, fodder, and with water (VII, 70, 71, 75).
The value of such hill forts has repeatedly been proved in
the history of modern Indian warfare, and the enemy has
often wasted a campaign in a ſutile attack against a single
fort, sufficiently provided with provisions and water, with
natural defences and brave men. - -
The laws of war have always been honourable and
humane among the Hindus. Chariots and horses and
elephants, grain, cattle, and women conquered in battle
are the prize of the conqueror ; but he is strictly enjoined
not to strike the flying foe, nor one who joins his hands
in supplication or sits down and says, “I am thine.”
Similarly, no violence should be used against disarmed or
wounded men, or men who were merely looking on with-
out joining in the fight (VII, 91, 92, 93, 96). These rules
have been scrupulously observed from the ancient times
to the days of modern Rajput warfare, and foreigners
have noted peaceful villagers following their daily occu-
pations, and husbandmen ploughing their fields without
concern, while hostile armies were contending within
sight for the destinies of kingdoms and nations. . . . .
A great many rules have been laid down about the
policy of kings and the conduct of war, some of which
1 O4 BUDDHIST PERIOD. [Book Iv.
are interesting. The king was to consider his immediate
neighbour his foe and the next king beyond to be his
friend, a rule which finds apt illustration in the Continent
of Europe in the present day, -in the policies of France,
Germany, and Russia (VII, 158). . The tall men of the
Doab formed then, as now, the best soldiers in India,
and kings were recommended to engage such men, the
Matsyas, the Panchalas, and the men of Kurukshetra and
Surasena as soldiers, and to keep them in the van of the
battle (VII, 193). The commencement or end of the cold
season was said to be the proper season for marching
troops, but movements should be commenced at any time
according to the exigencies of the war (VII, 182, 183).
We get curious glimpses here and there into the rules
which were observed in arranging troops in a march or a
battle. In a march the troops were to be arranged like a
staff (oblong), or like a waggon (wedge), or like a boar
(rhombus), or like a makara (two triangles with the apices
joined), or like a pin (long line), or like a Garuda (rhom-
boid with extended wings). In a battle a small number of
soldiers might fight in close order, or the army might be
extended in loose ranks ; a small number could fight in
the needle array, or a large number in the thunderbolt
array (VII, 187, 191). When the enemy is shut up in a
town or fort, the assailant should encamp outside and
spoil the enemy's grass, food, fuel, and water ; destroy his
tanks, ramparts, and ditches; assail him unawares at night,
or instigate rebellion among his subjects and followers
(VII, 195—197). o
And when a king has conquered his enemy he is
directed to place a relation of the vanquished ruler on
the throne, after consulting the wishes of the conquered
people, and to respect the local customs and laws of the
vanquished (VII, 202, 203). These are just and humane
rules, worthy of Hindu conquerors.
{ {{A}^T.I.R XI,
A. A1 lºſ/S.
THE Institutes of Manu are divided it to twelve books,
comprising 2685 couplets. The two longest books (VIII
and IX), comprising 756 couplets, are devoted to civil and
criminal law. Much that we find in these laws is a
repetition or a modification of the laws laid down by the
ancient Sutrakaras.
The king was the fountain of justice in Ancient India,
and Manu directs that the king should, with learned
Brahmans and experienced councillors, enter the Court of
Justice and perform judicial work. Should, however, the
king not do the work himself, he should appoint learned
Brahmans to perform it with the help of three assessors.
“Where three Brahmans versed in the Vedas and the
learned judge appointed by the king sit down, they call
that the Court of Brahma' (VIII, 1, 2, 9, Io, I 1).
The injunctions to speak the truth are as solemn and
strict as those provided in any age or country.
“Either the court must not be entered, or the truth must
be spoken ; a man who either says nothing (i.e., conceals
facts) or speaks falsely becomes sinful" (VIII, 13).
“The witnesses being assembled in the court in the
presence of the plaintiff and of the defendant, let the
judge examine them, kindly exhorting them, in the follow-
ing manner :— - -
“What ye know to have been mutually transacted
in this matter between the two men before us, declare
all that in accordance with the truth ; for ye are witnesses
in this cause,
4.
Ios
VOL. II, ! 4.
Toé, BUIDDHIST PERTC) D. [BOOK TY.
“‘A witness who speaks the truth in his evidence gains
after death the most excellent regions of bliss, and here
below unsurpassable fame ; such testimony is revered by
Brahman himself. *
“‘He who gives false evidence is firmly bound by
Varuna's fetters, helpless, during one hundred existences.
let men give true evidence.
“‘By truthfulness a witness is purified, through truth-
fulness his merit grows ; truth must therefore be spoken
by witnesses of all castes.
“‘The soul itself is the witness of the soul; the soul is
the refuge of the Soul ; despise not thy own soul, the
supreme witness of men.
“‘The wicked indeed say in their hearts, Nobody sees
us. But the gods distinctly see them, and the male within
their own breasts.
“‘The sky, the earth, the waters, the heart, the moon
the Sun, the fire, Yama and the wind, the night, the two
twilights, and justice know the conduct of all corpora!
beings’” (VIII, 79–86).
Still more Solemn are the injunctions given further on :-
“Naked and shorn, tormented with hunger and thirst and
deprived of sight, shall the man who gives false evidence
go with a potsherd to beg food at the door of his enemy.
“Headlong, in utter darkness, shall the sinful man
tumble into hell, who, being interrogated in a judicial
inquiry, answers one question falsely” (VIII, 93, 94).
And it is provided in VIII, 123, that the king should
banish all witnesses who give false evidence.
A somewhat long list is given of persons who were not
competent witnesses, and persons who were exempted
from being witnesses. Interested persons, friends and
enemies of parties, persons previously convicted of per-
jury, and men tainted with sin were not competent as
witnesses; while a king, a Srotriya, and a student of the
Veda, as well as mechanics and actors, were exempted.
But it is quite clear that these rules were not meant to be
cºat. XI.] $.AWS, , , § off
strictly applied, and we are told further on that in 'cases of
violence, theft, adultery, defamation, and assault, i.e. in
criminal cases, the rule about the competency of witnesses
should aot be strictly applied (VIII, 64, 65, 72).
Manu divides the whole body of substantive law under
18 heads, viz., (1) Debts, (2) Deposits, (3) Sale without
ownership, (4) Partnership, (5) Resumption of gifts, (6)
Non-payment of wages, (7). Non-performance of agree-
ments, (8) Rescission of sale and purchase, (9) Disputes
between masters and servants, (1 oy Disputes about
'boundaries, (II) Assault, (12) Defamation, (13) Theft, (14)
Robbery and violence, (15) Adultery, (16) Duties of
thusband and wife, (17) Inheritance, and (18) Gambling
and betting. It will be seen that heads (I I) to (15) and
the last head relate to criminal law, and the other heads
relate to civil cases. We will, however, follow the order in
which Manu has arranged the subjects, and our remarks
under each head will be necessarily exceedingly brief.
(1) DEBTs. Under this head Manu gives us a list of
the weights in use in his time. It begins, of course,
with the theoretically smallest weight, Trasarenu, the mote
which can be seen when the sun shifles through a lattice,
Liksha (egg of a louse).
8 Trasaremu . . * ,
3 Liksha . ſº e º Black mustard grain.
3 Black mustard grain --> White mustard seed.
Barleycorn.
Krishmala or Raktika.
Masha (bean),
6 White maustard seed
3 Barleycoru
5 Krishmala
16 Masha , * e “s Suvarna.
{ -
4 Suvarna te p Pala.
MO Pala . . e i º I Dharana. !
2. Krishmala of silver ... I Mashaka (silver).
#6, Mashaka . . . * , I Dharana (silver).
I Karsha of copper . . ... I Karshapana or Pana.
- t - | - A - *
• to Dharana (silver) . . . . I Satamana,
*
... 4 Suvarna. . . . , 1 Nishka (VIII, 132-137), -
‘Io3 BUDID HIST 'PERIOD. [Book iv.
With regard to interest on loans, Manu quotes from
Vasishtha's Dharma-Sutra, and says that “a money-lender
may stipulate, as an increase of his capital, for the interest
allowed by Vasishtha, and take monthly the eightieth
part of a hundred.” This comes to 15 per cent. per
annum, and was the interest on security; but for un-
secured loans the interest was 2.4 per cent., 36 per cent.,
48, or 6o per cent, according as the borrower was a
Brahman, a Kshatriya, a Vaisya, or a Sudra (VIII, 140–
142). It is needless to say that this graduated scale is
only theoretical—a money-lender looked more to the
competence of the borrower than to his caste.
It appears that female slaves could be pledged, like
other property, by persons borrowing money (VIII, 149).
When the property pledged was one from which profit
accrued (like land), no interest could be charged (VIII,
+ 43). Sixty per cent. was the very highest rate of interest
which could be recovered (VIII, 152); but special rates
were alkowed in the case of merchants going on sea
voyages, probably to cover the insurance on risks (VIII,
157). And lastly, we are told that contracts made under
intoxication, or conſtrary to law and usage, or fraudu-
lently, or by force, were void (VIII, 163–168).
(2) DEPOSITs. A person with whom an open or
sealed deposit was made, was compelled under the law to
restore it, except when the deposit was stolen by thieves,
washed away by water, or burnt down by fire. It would
appear that fraudulent demands of things never deposited,
and fraudulent refusal to return deposits were by no
means unknown, and in both cases,the guilty persons
were punished as thieves (VIII, 191). -
(3) SALE witHouſ Own ERSHIP. Such sales were
to be considered null and void, and the seller, if a kins-
man of the real owner, to be fined 6oo panas, -and if not
a kinsman, he was to be treated as a thief (VIII, 198,
#99).
(4) PARTNERSHIP. It appears that disputes often
CHAP. XI.] I, AWS, - I oc)
arose among priests who performed a religious rite in
common, and could not agree in sharing the fee or
reward. Manu decides that the Adhvaryu should take a
chariot, the Brahman a horse, the Hotri also a horse, and
the Udgatria cart. And on this principle, says the legis-
lator, should shares be allotted among all men working
conjointly. The principle, which is somewhat obscure, is
the natural one that each man is to be paid according
to the amount and nature of his work (VIII, 209–21 1).
(5) RESUMPTION OF GFFTs. A gift made for a pious
purpose could be revoked if the money was not used for
the purpose for which it was given (VIII, 212).
(6) NON-PAYMENT OF WAGES. The law is very
simple, viz., that a work man was not to be paid unless
he did his work completely, according to agreement
(VIII, 217). *
(7) NON-PERFORMANCE OF AGREEMENTs. The
breaking of an agreement after swearing to it was very
severely punished ; the offender was to be banished,
imprisoned, and fined six nishkas of four Suvarnas each,
and one satamana of silver (VIII, 219, 220). .
(8) REScission of SALE AND PURCHASE. There is
a most remarkable rule that a purchaser or a seller, if he
repented of his bargain, might return or take back the
chattel within ten days. Commentators add that this rule
applied only to things not easily spoilt, like land, copper,
&c. (VIII, 222). ;
(9) DISPUTES BETWEEN Own ERS OF CATTLE AND
SERVANTs. Frequent cases probably arose between
owners and keepers of cattle, and the law on the subject
has been somewhat minutely laid down. The responsi-
bility for the safety of the cattle was with the herdsman
during the day, and with the owner during the night,
i.e., if the cattle were in his house by night ; and the
hired herdsman could in the absence of other wages
take the milk of one cow in ten. He was responsible for
all animals lost by his negligence. Thus, if sheep and
I 1 O I:UDDIIIST TERIOD. {BOOR 1 v.
goats were attacked by a wolf, and the herdsman did not
try to save them, he was responsible for the loss. There
was a healthy rule of keeping pasture lands round every
village and every town, which has, unfortunately, dis-
appeared in these days. On all sides of a village, lands
to the width of Ioo dhanus were to be kept for pasture,
and thrice that space was to be reserved round towns.
If cattle did any damage to any unfenced crops on that
common, the herdsman was not responsible. Fields
situated away from the common were not fenced, and
if cattle strayed there and did damage to crops, a fine
was in posed of one pana and a quarter per head of cattle,
and the actual damage done had also to be made good
(VIII, 230–241).
(1 oy DISPUTEs ABOUT BOUNDARIES. We have a
Curious glimpse into the state of villages and agriculture
in the laws on this subject. The mouth of Jaishtha
(May–June) is the driest in the year in India, and it
is laid down that all disputes regarding boundaries of
contiguous villages should be decided in that month.
Such boundaries were generally marked by an Aswath va,
Kinsuka, or other tree, by tanks, wells, cisterns, and
fountains. Hidden marks were to be left to determine
boundaries, and stones, bones, pebbles, &c., were to be
buried where such boundaries met. -
When a boundary question could not be decided on
the existing landmarks, the villagers were to be examined,
and on failure of villagers, hunters, fowlers, herdsmen,
fishermen, root diggers, snake catchers, gleaners, and
foresters could be examined. If all these resources
failed, the king was directed to generously make good out
of his own demesnes any possible loss to either of the
contending villages (VIII, 245-265).
(11) and (12) AssaulT AND DEFAMATION. We now
come to Criminal Law properly so called, and there
we meet once more the influence of that baneful system
which has cast its shadow over every phase of Hindu
CHAP, XI.] ſ, AWS, I I I
civilisation and life, A Brahman should be fined 50
panas for defaming a Kshatriya, 25 panas for defam-
ing a Vaisya, and 12 panas for defaming a Sudra, but a
Sudra who defamed a Brahman should have his tongue
cut out, “for he is of low origin.” And iſ he mentioned
the names and castes of the twice-born with contumely,
an iron nail ten fingers long should be thrust red-hot into
his mouth (VIII, 268–27 1). It must not be supposed
that the , actual administration of the law was ever so
barbarous, or that even Brahman judges ever dis-
graced themselves by inflicting such monstrous punish-
ments on Sudras who had in a moment of anger used
harsh words towards Brahmans. Brahmans have painted
themselves much worse than they really were ; and the
administration of the law, sufficiently cruel towards the
poor Sudra as it undoubtedly was, was never so barbarous
as it is said to have been. “With whatever limb a man of
low.castes does hurt to a man of the highest castes, even
that limb shall be cut off: — that is the teaching of Manu”
(VIII, 279). But with due deference to Manu, we may
be permitted to doubt if his countrymen ever disgraced
themselves by following this teaching !
The ordinary punishment for deſaming was 12 panas
(VIII, 269), and for causing hurt so as to cut the skin,
Too panas. If a muscle was cut, 6 nishkas was the fine,
and if a bone was broken, the offender was banished.
(VIII, 284). . . . .
For causing damage, a fine equal to the damage was
levied, but if the property was of inferior value, five times
the damage was levied (VIII, 288, 289). * \
(13) and (14) TPIEET AND ROBBERY. The utmost
precautions were taken to punish thièves, for if the king
“punishes thieves, his fame grows and his kingdom
prospers” (VIII, 302). And the king who does not
àſford protection: to próperty,’ and yet takes his lèases,
tolls, and fines, “will soon sink into hell” (VIII, 307).
Thefts were punished with various, fines, or with
I I 2 BU DD+H IST PERIOD. |[3:00 K IV.
corporal punishment, or with the amputation of the hand.
When theft was committed in presence of the owner
(i.e., with violence), it was called robbery (VIII, 319-
332). The use of violence was considered a most serious
offence; but the right of private defence was granted
when a man was attacked by assassins and in other
cases (VIII, 345–350).
(15) ADULTERY. This offence was always looked
upon with the greatest detestation in India, and an
adulterer, if he was not a Brahman, was to be punished
with death, “for the wives of all the four castes must
always be carefully guarded” (VIII, 359). Violating an
unwilling maiden was punishable with corporal punish-
ment, or with the amputation of two fingers and a fine
of 6oo panas (VIII, 364, 367). We have still more
terrible punishments provided for ; a woman seducing
another was to be lashed and fined, an adulteress was to
be devoured by dogs, and an adulterer was to be burnt
to death (VIII, 369, 371, 372). It is doubtful, however,
if such sentences as the above were ever carried out.
Less cruel punishments are provided for further down.
For a Sudra committing adultery with a twice-born
woman, amputation was the punishment. For a Vaisya
and a Kshatriya committing the offence with a Brahman,
imprisonment or heavy fines were provided. For a
JBrahman committing the offence with a woman of the
same caste a heavy fine was imposed (VIII, 374-378).
A Brahman was on no account to be punished with death,
“ though he have committed all possible crimes.” “No
greater crime is known on earth than slaying a Brahman”
(VIII, 380, 381).
At the conclusion of the sections on Criminal Law,
Manu has some miscellaneous provisions. A sacrificer
forsaking his priest, or a priest forsaking his sacrificer,
a son forsaking his parents, a Brahman not asking his
neighbours to invitations, and a Srotriya not entertain-
ing other Srotriyas, were all punishable with fines, There
CHAP. XI.] 7.3, WS. - 1 I 3
are provisions for the punishment of dishonest washer-
men and weavers. The king could impose an adzaćorent
tax of five per cent. on the sale of all merchandise. He
could keep a monopoly of certain articles in his hands,
and punish those who traded on those articles. He
levied customs and tolls. And it is even said that he
was to fix the price of all marketable goods; but this
of course was never attempted by any ruler. The king
was also to settle all weights and measures, fix ferry
charges, direct Vaisyas to trade, to lend money, or to
cultivate the land, and make the Sudra to serve the
twice-born castes.
Slaves are said to be of seven kinds, viz., captives of
war, those serving for daily food, slaves born as such
in the house, slaves, bought or given by others, slaves
inherited, and men enslaved by way of punishment
(VIII, 388–415). i
(16) HUSBAND AND WIFE. Manu begins this subject
with insisting on the dependence of women on men, and
with certain sayings about wounen, which may have been
considered witty at the time, but which are unworthy
of Manu's pages. For, as we have seen before, Manu
assigns on the whole a high and respected position to
WOIO en. - -
We have seen before how Manu contradicts himself
on the ancient custom of raising issue on a widow, and
there can be no doubt that public opinion was against
such custom after the Christian Era. . We have also seen
how widow marriage was becoming unpopular, though it
was no doubt still prevalent in Manu's time. The
marriage of a virgin widow is, however, expressly per-
mitted (IX, 69). Again, Manu quotes the ancient rule
that a wife should wait for her husband eight years, if he
went on sacred duty, six years if he went for learning or
fame, and three years if he went for pleasure. One com-
mentator states that she was to marry again after that
period, and that is the obvious meaning of the old rule.
VOI, II. 15
I I 4 BU DI) J-IIS'ſ P F. R I () 13, | HOOK V,
A wife must not show aversion to a drunken husband,
but may show aversion to a mad husband or an outcast,
or one “afflicted with such diseases as punish crimes.”
A drunken, rebellious, or diseased wife might be super-
seded, and so also a barren wife, or one who bore female
children only (IX, 78–81). But this superseding does
not mean absolute desertion ; but the wife must still be
kept in the house, and maintained (IX, 83).
“I.et mutual fidelity continue until death.”—This is
the highest law for husband and wife (IX, 1 or ).
(17) INHERITANCE. The important subject of In-
heritance is treated in over a hundred sections (IX, Io.4—
22 oy, but it is not necessary for our purposes that we
should go into the law on the subject in detail. After
the death of the father and mother, the brothers might
equally divide the estate among themselves (IX, 104), or
the joint-family system might be continued under the
eldest brother, who would under those circumstances take
the management of the whole estate (IX, 105). But the
separation of brothers is not condemned ; on the contrary,
it is recommended and called meritorious (IX, 11 1). To
the eldest and youngest sons additional shares were
allotted in the division of property (IX, 1 12–117). To
maiden sisters each brother should pay out of his share
one-fourth (IX, I 18), but this is supposed by commen-
tators to mean that brothers must provide for the dowry
of their unmarried sisters. In IX, 120, 146, &c., we
have a provision for the son begotten on the wife or
widow of an elder brother by a younger brother, although
Manu has elsewhere condemned such practice. Again, a
person who had no sons might make his daughter an
“appointed daughter,” saying to her husband, “the male
child born of her shall perform my funeral rites.” And
when this was done, there was no distinction between a
son's son and an appointed daughter's son (IX, 127, 133).
IX, 141 and 142 sanction adoption.
As usual, Manu repeats the old rules laid down by
cHAP, xi, ) Y.AWS, - 1 r 5
Sutrakaras about the twelve different kinds of sons,
although, in accordance with the public opinion of his
own time, Manu calls the last eleven of these to be “bad
substitutes for a real son” (IX, 161). The twelve kinds
of sons are—Aurasa, or son begotten on wedded wife ;
Ashetraya, son begotten on the wife of a diseased man
or the widow of a deceased ; Datriºta, son adopted ;
Aritrima, a son made such ; Gudhotpanna, a son secretly
born, his father being not known, he must be supposed
to be the son of his mother's husband ; Affaziddha, a son
received as such after desertion by his natural parents ;
Aanina, son of an unmarried damsel, who must be con-
sidered the son of him who marries the damsel after-
wards ; Sahodha, son of the woman who is married when
she is pregnant ; Kritaka, a son bought ; Paumarðhava,
son of a remarried widow ; Swayamidatſa, an orphan who
gives himself up as the son of another ; and A'arasava,
a son begotten by a Brahman on a Sudra female (IX,
167 — 178). { \
Of these twelve kinds of sons, the first six are kins-
men and heirs, the last six only kinsmen (IX, 158). And
among these different kinds of sons, on failure of each
better son, each next inferior is worthy of inheritance
(IX, 184), Failing children, father, and brothers, a man's
property will go to the nearest relative within three
degrees ; failing such, a Sakulya, or next the spiritual
teacher or pupil, or lastly to Brahmans (IX, 187, 188).
Stridhana, or the exclusive property of females, is
defined to be what is given before the nuptial fire, or in
the bridal procession, or by the husband as token of love,
or by brother, mother, or father (IX, 194).
“When the mother has died, all the uterine brothers
and sisters shall equally divide the mother's estate (IX,
192). - - - - -
(18) GAMBLING AND BETTING, &c. “These two vices
cause the destruction of the kingdoms of princes,” and
kings are therefore recommended to exclude them from
I 16 BUDDHIST PER HOD, [BOOK IV,
their realms. Corporal punishment is enjoined for the
offence. (IX, 224), and banishment is also provided for
them, as well as for dancers, singers, and men of a here-
tical sect, i.e. Buddhists (IX, 225). -
Death is provided for forgers of royal edicts, for bribing
ministers, for slaying women, infants, and Brahmans, and
for treason (IX, 232). Branding on the forehead is pro-
vided for violating a guru's bed, for drinking sura (wine),
and for stealing a Brahman’s gold or killing a Brahman
(IX, 237). A thief caught with stolen property and the
implements of burglary, as well as those who gave shelter
to thieves, might be slain (IX, 27 o, 27 1). Robbers, house-
breakers, cut-purses, and others might have their hands
or two fingers cut off (IX, 276, 277). ! . .
Death or severe punishment is provided for destroy-
ing dams of tanks (IX, 279), and fine is provided for
physicians treating their patients wrongly (IX, 284).
Various punishments are provided for the adulteration
of commodities, for mischief of different kinds, for cheat-
ing in the sale of seed corn, for the dishonesty of gold-
Smiths, and for the theft of agricultural instruments
(IX, 258-293). . . . .
Besides the two chapters on law, Manu has a separate
chapter on Penances, &c., for sins committed, and a very
few remarks will indicate what were considered the
greatest sins.
PENANCEs. Here, again, we find that “killing a
Brahman, drinking the liquor called 'sura, stealing the
gold of a Brahman, adultery with a guru's wife, and
association with men who have committed these offences
are the gravest moral sins, the Mahapatakas" (XI, 55).
The reader will find that they are identically the same as
the Mahapatakas enumerated before by Vasishtha. There
are other offences which are said to be equal to these in
enormity, among which we note giving false evidence,
incest, and the defilement of maidens, desertion of one’s
parents, and neglecting the Veda. -- -
CHAP. XI. LAWS. I 7
Less heinous than the Mahapatakas are the Užapa-
fakas, among which we find the neglecting of the domestic
fire, slaying kine, theft, non-payment of debts, living as a
Vratya, and lastly, and curiously enough, “Superin-
tending mines or factories and executing great mechanical
works,” which, according to commentators, means con-
structing dams or making great machines like sugar mills
and the like (IX, 6o, 67). The caste-system in India
had the baneful result of degrading arts and industries
and all men engaged in them ; but it is with regret and
pain that a Hindu writer notes that mechanical works
were actually classed with sins.
The date of Manu's Institutes has formed the subject
of much controversy since the time of Sir William Jones;
but it is now generally admitted that the compilation now
extant was framed within a century or two before on
after the Christian era. It speaks (X, 44) of the Yavanas,
the Chinas, the Sakas, and the Kambojas, and this passage
sufficiently indicates its date. The work, as we have
stated before, stands half way between the ancient Sutras
of India, on which it is based, and the later Dharma
Sastras of the Puranic Period, of which we will speak in
the next Book. Unlike the former, it belongs to no
particular Vedic school, but is the law for all Aryans.
And unlike the latter, Manu does not yet know of the
Hindu Trinity or the Puranic mythology, ignores the
worship of images, despises temples and temple priests,
and still proclaims Vedic rites and sacrifices.
CHAPTER XII.
AS 7/8 OAWOAZY A/VD LEA RAW/AWG.
WE have in the preceding pages dwelt on the history and
political condition of the Hindus, their arts and architec-
ture, their social life and laws during the Buddhist Period.
It remains now to say a few words about their learning
and progress in knowledge during that age. Unfortu-
nately, our materials are very poor, poorer perhaps than
those for any other period of ancient Hindu history.
Nor are the reasons far to seek. For five or six cen-
turies India was the scene of foreign invasions and wars,
and literature and science could not have a healthy and
natural growth. Much of what was achieved was also
under Buddhist influences, and bore the mark of Bud-
dhism, and later Hindu writers have not been careful in
preserving such records. And lastly, scientific works com-
posed in this period have been replaced to a great extent
by the more exhaustive works of the Puranic Period which
followed. For all these reasons, the literary and scientific
remains of the Buddhist Period are scanty indeed.
Nevertheless, intellectual pursuits were never given up
in India, and there was no such thing as a “literary
interregnum ” in Hindu history. And traces of what
was done in the Buddhist Age are still left to us.
We have spoken of the six schools of Hindu philosophy
in our account of the Rationalistic Period ; but it should
be remembered that some of them, viz., the Yoga of
Patanjali and the Vedanta of Badarayana Vyasa, were
started in the Buddhist Age, and all the six schools were
considerably developed in this age. Patanjali was again
- I 18
cIIAP. XII.] A&TRONOMY, Etc. 1 1 0
the writer of the celebrated Mahabhasya or Great Com-
mentary on Panini,-–a monument of the grammatical
culture of the Buddhist Period.
In religious literature, the Code of Manu belongs to the
Buddhist Age, while much of the large mass of Buddhist
theology was composed in this age, in the universities of
Nalanda and elsewhere. In poetry, little is leſt to us
that clearly belongs to this period ; but nevertheless the
earliest beginnings of later or classic Sanscrit poetry date
from this age. We know from the inscriptions of the Gupta
kings, that graceful and flowing versification was appreci-
ated. Poetry was honoured by kings in courts, and Samu-
dragupta, the greatest of the Gupta kings, who reigned
towards the close of the fourth century, was himself a poet,
and received the title of Kaviraja from his court poets.
But it was in astronomy that the most brilliant results
were achieved in the Buddhist Age. We have seen before
that astronomical observations were made as early as
the Vedic Age; and that early in the Epic Age the lunar
zodiac was fixed, the position of the solstitial points
marked, and other phenomena carefully observed and
noted. No separate astronomical works however of these
ages, or even of the Rationalistic Age, have come down
to us. The oldest astronomical works of which we know
anything, or which have come down to us, belong to the
Buddhist Period. +
Hindu writers speak of eighteen ancient Siddhantas
or astronomical works, but they are now mostly lost.
They are named below :- - -
I. Parasara Siddhanta. J.O. Marichi Siddhanta.
2. Garga 2 3 I J. Manu $ 2
3. Brahma 3 y 12. Angiras 3 y
4 Surya 22 I 3. Romaka y 9
5. Vyasa 3 2 I4. Pulisa 3 y
6. Vasishtha , , 15. Chyavana ,
7. Atri 3 y 16. Yavana 3 y
8, Kasyapa 2 3 17. Bhrigu 3 y
9. Narada j 3 18. Saunaka or
Soma
I 2 O I3 UDD HIST PIER [OID, [BOOK 1 v.
A few remarks about some of these Siddhantas will
throw soune light on the pursuit of the science in the
Buddhist Age ; and we will premise that the Hindus
received much of their astronomical knowledge of this
age from the Greeks, who cultivated the science with
great success. - * *
Parasara, says Professor Weber, is considered to be
the most ancient of Hindu astronomers, and the second
in order of time is Garga. Of Parasara we know next
to nothing, except that his name is connected with the
Veda Calendar. The work which professes to contain
Parasara’s teachings is called the Parasara Tantra. It
was held in high esteem in the Puranic Period, and
Varahamihira often quotes from it, “To judge from
very numerous quotations, the greater part, at least a
large part of it, is written in prose, a striking peculiarity
among the works of its class. A pretty large part is in
Anushtubha, and it contains also Aryas. Interesting for
the geography of India is an entire chapter which Vara-
hamihira, only changing the form, but leaving the matter
almost intact, has given in the fourteenth chapter of
the Brihat Sanhita.”* As the Yavanas or Greeks are
placed by Parasara in Western India, the date of the work
Cannot be much earlier than the second century B.C.
Of Garga , we know something more, and he is one
of the few Hindu writers who tell us something of the
Greek invasion of India of the second century B C. He
could feel respect for learned men among the Greeks,—
although they were considered. Mlechchhas, -and the
following passage of his is well known and often quoted :
“The Yavanas (Greeks) are Mlechchhas, but amongst
them this science (astrology) is well established. There-
fore they are honoured as Rishis, -how much more than
an astrologer who is a Brahman.” t
In the historical portion of his work Garga speaks
of the four Yugas, the third ending and the fourth
* Kern, Brihat Samhita, Preface, p. 32.
CHA p. x:1.1 ASTRONOMY, ETC. Y 2 t
beginning with the war of the Mahabbārata. Further
on we are told of the Sisunaga dynasty of Magadha,
and then of the Maurya kings, Speaking of Salisuka
(whom we know to be the fourth in , succession from
Asoka the Great), Garga says: “Then the viciously
valiant Greeks, after reducing Saketa (Oude), the Panchala .
country, and Mathura, will reach Kusumadhvaja (Patna);
Pushpapura (Patna) being taken, all provinces will
undoubtedly be in disorder.” º t
So rarely do Sanscrit writers ſurnish us with his-
torical facts, that we are thankful to get, in the astro-
nomy of Garga, evidence of the conquest of India
as far down as Patna by the Bactrian Greeks, in the
second century B.C. . Many of our readers are aware
that the profound scholar Dr. Goldstucker discovered
mention of this invasion of Oude by , the Greeks
in Patanjali's work, and bas thus fixed the date of
Patanjali, the author of Mahabhasya and of the Yoga
*hilosophy. - . -
But we will proceed with Garga. “The uncon-
querable Yavanas (Greeks) will not remain in the
middle-country. There will be a cruel, dreadful war
annong themselves. Then, after the destruction of the
Greeks at the end of the Yuga, seven powerful kings
will reign in Oude.” We are then told,... that after the
Greeks the rapacious Sakas were the most powerful,
and we have little difficulty in recognising in them the
Yu-Chi conquerors, who destroyed the kingdom of
13actria about 132 B.C. . These new conquerors conti.
nued to repeat: their depredations, and the annals of Garga
here come to an end. From the details given above,
Dr. Kern is right in placing Garga in the first century
before Christ. . . . .
We now proceed to some of the other Siddhantas,
viz.:-The five . Siddhantas which are known as the
Pancha-Siddhanta, and on which Varahamihira based
his work the Pancha-siddhantika in the sixth century,
VOL. II. 16
122 Bt) DDHIST PIERYOI). [Book rv.
They are the Brahma or Paitamaha, the Surya or Saura,
the Vasishtha, the Romaža, and the Pulisa.
The ancient Brahma or Paitamaha Siddhanta seems
to have been entirely superseded by the celebrated
work of Brahmagupta known as the Sphuta-Brahma
Siddhanta. Alberuni obtained a copy of this last work
in the eleventh century, and speaks of it in his account of
India. * * *
The Surya Siddhanta is a famous work, but the
original work has been so often recast and recompiled
that the original is lost to us. We do not know the date
of the original work, except that it must have been
composed in the Buddhist Age ; and we do not know
when the work was recast finally in the shape in which
we have it now, except that it was in the Puranic Age.
Utpala, the commentator of Varahamihira, lived in
the tenth century, and quotes six slokas from the Surya-
Siddhanta of his day, not one of which slokas, as Dr.
Kern points out, is to be found in the present edition of
the Siddhanta. Nevertheless, “the Surya-Siddhanta in
its present edition is a lineal and legitimate descendant
of the work mentioned by Varahamihira as one of his
authorities.” -
The work, as we find it now, is divided into fourteen
chapters, and treats of the mean places and true places
of planets, of questions on time, of the eclipses of the
moon and the sun, of the conjunction of planets and
stars, of the heliacal rising and setting of planets and
stars, of the phases of the moon and the position of the
moon’s cusps, of the declination of the sun and the moon,
of cosmography, of the construction of astronomical
instruments, and of the different kinds of time.*
The Vasishtha-Siddhanta is ascribed by Alberuni to
Vishnu Chandra, but Brahmagupta states more correctly
that the ancient work was revised by Vishnu Chandra.
* Kern, Brihat Samhita Preface, p. 46.
ºf See Whitney’s translation or Bapudeva Sastri's translation.
CHAP. XII.] ASTRONOMY, ETC. I 23
A work pretending to be Vasishtha-Siddhanta now exists,
but it is undoubtedly a modern work.
The Romaka-Siddhanta is ascribed, both by Brahma-
gupta and by Alberuni, to Sri Sena. A spurious and
modern Romaka-Siddhanta exists which contains a horo-
scope of Jesus Christ, and an account of the kingdom of
Baber, and of the conquest of Sindh by Akbar 1
The Pulisa-Siddhanta was known to Alberuni, who
obtained a copy of it, and he calls the author Paules the
Greek. Professor Weber thinks that Pulisa the Greek
may be identical with Paulus Alexandrinus, the author of
an astrological work, the Eisagoge. Dr. Kern thinks this
identification doubtful, although he has no doubt that
Pulisa was a Greek.
These are the five famous Siddhantas which were com-
piled together by Varahamihira in the sixth century. Dr.
Rern roughly dates them half way between Garga and
Varahamihira,- i.e., about 250 A.D.
Works in various other departments existed in the
Buddhist Period, which are now lost to us. For instance,
we learn with much interest that Nagnajit composed a
work on architecture, Sculpture, painting, and kindred
artS.
Medicine appears to have made great progress in the
Buddhist Age, when hospitals were established all over
the country. The great writers on Hindu medicine,
known as Charaka and Susruta, lived and wrote in the
Buddhist Age. But their works seem to have been recast
-in the Puranic Age, and we will speak of them when we
come to treat of that age. * *
POOK V.
PURANIC PERIOD, A.D. 500 To A.D. 1 ooo.
CHAPTER I.
PIA RAA/.4/9/2" YA ZA/AE GAA. A / AAVO AAS SUCCESSOA'S.
WE, have now come to the last act of the drama of
Hindu History, and the curtain rises on a truly great
spectacle. The victor of a great and patriotic war, the
patron of reviving Hinduism, the centre of all that is best
and most beautiful in modern Sanscrit literature, and the
subject of a hundred legends, Vikramadjtya the Great is
to the Hindus what Charlemagne is to the French, what
Alfred is to the English, what Asoka is to Buddhists,
and what Harun Ar’Rashid is to Mahommedans. To the
learned as to the illiterate, to the poet as to the story-
teller, to old men as to Schoolboys, his name is as familiar
in India as the name of any prince or potentate in any
country. Tender recollections of Sakuntala and Urvasi
rise in the minds of Hindu scholars with the name of the
prince in whose court Kalidasa flourished. Hindu astro-
nomers cherish the memory of the patron of Varaha-
mihira; and Hindu lexicographers honour the name of the
potentate who honoured Amara Sinha. And as if his
true claims to glory were not enough, a hundred tales
familiarise his name to the illiterate and the simple.
Villagers assemble to this day under the umbrageous
pepu) tree to hear how the thirty-two speaking puppets,
who bore aloft the throne of the great emperor, would not
#24
G}ſ A P. I.] VI KR.A.M.I.A DITYA AND H IS SUCCESSORS. I 25
brook his successor, and departed, each telling a story of
Vikrama's glory. And little boys in every village school
in India still learn with wondering admiration how the
undaunted Vikrama struggled in the midst of darkness
and scenes of terror to obtain mastery over a mighty
spirit, and how he succeeded at last, by his indomitable
bravery, his never wavering judgment, his never failing
'self-possession and valour. 'y
When we turn, however, from literary recollections and
popular tales to history, we find the greatest confusion
with regard to Vikrama's age and even his very identity
For a long time scholars held that Vikramaditya, the
patron of Kalidasa, lived about 56 B.C., as the Samvat
Era would seem to indicate. This opinion has now been
generally abandoned. Mr. Fleet maintains, as has been
stated before, that the Samvat Era was an old existing
Era of the Malavas, and that “the name of Vikrama or
Vikramaditya came to be connected with the Malava Era
of B.C. 57 in consequence of some confused reminiscence
of a conquest of the Indo-Scythians by Chandragupta I.
or II.” of the Gupta line of kings who assumed the title of
Wikramaditya.” * *
Such is the darkness which still hangs over the origin
of the Samvat Era, and we leave it to subsequent scholars
to dispel this gloom, We ourselves believe that Vikra-
maditya, the patron of Kalidasa, reigned in the sixth Cen-
tury after Christ, and we will briefly mention our reasons
for holding this opinion. w
Houen Tsang, who came to India in the seventh cen-
tury, places the reign of Siladitya I about 580 A.D., and
places Vikramaditya immediately before Siladitya. And
the historian Kahiana, who lived in the twelfth century,
places. Vikramaditya thirty reigns after Kanishka, who
reigned from 78 A.D. The evidence of Houen Tsang and
of Kahlana, in our opinion, conclusively fixes the reign of
Vikramaditya in the sixth century after Christ. -
* Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum, vol. iii. p. 37, note 2, .
I 26 EPIC PERIOD. [BOOK II.
burnt to ashes. The Pandavas and their mother escaped
by an underground passage, and for a long time roamed
about disguised as Brahmans.
Heralds now went from country to country, and pro-
claimed in all lands that the daughter of Drupada, king
of the Panchalas, was to choose for herself a husband
among the most skilful warriors of the time. As usual
on such occasions of Svayamvara, or choice of a husband
by a princess, all the great kings and princes and warriors
of the land flocked to the court of Drupada, each hoping
to win the lovely bride, who had already attained her
youth, and was renowned for her beauty. She was to
give her hand to the most skilful archer, and the trial
ordained was a pretty severe one. A heavy bow of
great size was to be wielded, and an arrow was to be
shot through a whirling chakra or quoit into the eye of a
golden fish, set high on the top of a pole !
Not only princes and warriors, but multitudes of spec-
tators, flocked from all parts of the country to Kampilya,
the capital of the Panchalas. The princes thronged the
seats, and Brahmans filled the place with Vedic hymns.
Then appeared Draupadi with the garland in her hand
which she was to offer to the victor of the day. By her
appeared her brother Dhrishtadyumna, who proclaimed
the feat, which was to be performed.
Kings rose and tried to wield the bow, one after
another, but in vain. The skilful and proud Karna
stepped forth to do the feat, but was prevented.
A Brahman suddenly rose and drew the bow, and
shot the arrow through the whirling chakra into the eye
of the golden fish. A shout of acclamation arose ! and
Draupadi, the Kshatriya princess, threw the garland
round the neck of the brave Brahman, who led her away
as bride. But murmurs of discontent arose like the
sound of troubled waters from the Kshatriya ranks at this
victory of a Brahman, and the humiliation of the warriors;
and they gathered round the bride's father and threatened
*.
CHAP. II.] KURUS AND PANCHALAS, 127
!
violence. . The Pandavas now threw off their disguise,
and the victor of the day proclaimed himself to be
Arjuna, a true-born Kshatriya
Then follows the strange myth that the Pandavas went
back to their mother and said, a great prize had been
won. Their mother, not knowing what the prize was, told
her sons to share it among them. And as a mother's
mandate cannot be disregarded, the five brothers wedded
Draupadi as their wife. It is needless to say that the
story of Draupadi and of the five Pandavas is a myth.
The Pandavas now formed an alliance with the powerful
king of the Panchalas, and forced the blind king
Dhritarashtra to divide the Kuru country between his
sons and the Pandavas. The division, however, was
unequal ; the fertile tract between the Ganges and the
Jumna was retained by the sons of Dhritarashtra, while
the uncleared jungle in the west was given to the
Pandavas. The jungle Khandava Prastha was soon
cleared by fire, and a new capital called Indraprastha
was built, the supposed ruins of which are shown to ,
every modern visitor to Delhi. - -
Military expeditions were now undertaken by the Pan-
davas on all sides, but these need not detain us, especially
as the accounts of these distant expeditions are modern
interpolations. When we find in the Mahabharata
accounts of expeditions to Ceylon, or to Bengal, we may
unhesitatingly put them down as later interpolations.
And now Yudhishthira was to celebrate the Rajasuya,
or coronation ceremony, and all the princes of the land,
including his kinsmen of Hastinapura, were invited. The
place of horſour was given to Krishna, chief of the Yadavas
of Gujrat. Sisupala of Chedi violently protested, and
Krishna killed him on the spot. Krishna is only a great
chief, and not a deity, in the older portions of the Maha-
bharata, and his story shows that Gujrat was colonised
from the banks of the Jumna in the Epic Age. -
The tumult having subsided, the consecrated water
..?
i 28 - - PU 18 AN IC PERIOD, [BOOK Y.,
A verse naming the nine gems” of Vikrama's court
is known to every Pandit in India. In an inscription of
Buddha Gaya dated Samvat Io 15, or 948 A.D., we find
the following passage :-‘‘Vikramaditya was certainly a
king renowned in the world. So in his court were nine
learned men known under the epithet of nava-ratnant.”
The antiquity of the tradition is thus beyond question.
... Kalidasa is the central figure among these noted literary
unen. We read in the Rajatarangini that, after the death
of Toramana, his son Pravarasena was unable to assert
his claims to the throne of , Kashmir, and that Vikra-
maditya of Ujjayini, the recognised emperor of India,
sent an eminent poet of his court, Matrigupta by name,
to rule in Kashmir. Matrigupta ruled till the death of
his patron, when he retired as a Yáti to Benares, and
Pravarasena succeeded in Kashmir. Dr. Bhao Daji, first
started the bold theory that this Matrigupta is no other
than the poet Kalidasa. We need not mention in detail
the reasons given by that scholar for his supposition,
and need only state that though they are plausible, they
are not convincing. On the other hand Kshemendra,
a poet of Kashmir, has, in a critical work which he has
left, treated Kalidasa and Matrigupta as different poets,
and Kshemendra’s authority on this point must be held
as conclusive. - - ,
We next come to the poet Bharavi, the author of the
JKiratarjuniya. He does not appear to have, flourished
in the court of Vikramaditya, but an inscription has
been, found, dated 637 A.D., in , which his name and
that of , Kalidasa are mentioned. If he was not a Con-
temporary of Kalidasa, he certainly, lived in the sixth
century A.D. \ * •
Amara Sinha, the writer of the best known dictionary,
in Sanscrit, was one of the “nine gems,” and was a
Buddhist. His work was translated into Chinese in the
g 4
… “They are Dhanvantari, Kshapanaka, Amara Sinha, Sanku, Vetala-
bhatta, Ghatakarpara, Kalidasa, Varahamihira, and Varauchi.
C [[AF. I.] VIKRAMADITYA AND HIS SUCCESSORS. I 29
sixth century, and he is said to have built the Buddhist
temple at Buddha Gaya.” w
In astronomy, Aryabhatta was the first writer of the
Puranic Period. He was born, as he tells us, in 476
A.D. f. He did not belong to Vikramaditya's court ; he
was born in Pataliputra, and made his mark early in the
sixth century, before Vikramaditya became renowned.
Varahamihira, who followed Aryabhatta, was one of
the “nine gems.” He was a native of Avanti, and died
in 587 A.D. -
His successor Brahmagupta was born at the very close
of the sixth century, in 598 A.D., and wrote his work when
he was thirty years of age, in 628 A.D. Brahmagupta's
father was Jishnu, and may have been the very Jishnu
mentioned as one of the contemporaries of Kalidasa.
Of the remaining “gems ” of Vikrama’s court, Dhan-
vantari was a famous physician, and is mentioned by
Dandin in his Dasa Kumara Charita. Vetalabhatta was
the author of Nitipradipa, and Vararuchi was a well-
known grammarian. Ghatakarpara, Sanku, and Ksha-
panaka are little known ; and posterity has not held
them in the same honour in which they were held in
the royal court of Vikrama.
We are now able to form some idea of the great literary
activity which marked Vikramaditya’s age, and has shed
an undying lustre round his name. We are able, after a
lapse of over thirteen centuries, to form some conception
of the upheaval of the Hindu mind and the rise of literary
genius which marked the revival of Hinduism. We can
imagine how after a prostration of centuries, after haras-
sing wars and invasions, the national mind suddenly rose
to vigour, to greatness, to glory. The nation wanted a
leader, and Vikramaditya, the conqueror of the foreigners,
the master of all Northern India, the enlightened patron
of genius and learning, be it Buddhist or be it Hindu,
* See discussions on the subject in Dr. Rajendra, Tlala Mitra’s
Auddha Gaya. t Dr. Bhao Daji on the age of Aryabhatta.
vol. II. 17
133 - IPURANIC PIERIOD. [BOOK V.
stood forth as the leader. The times called for a great
man, and the great man appeared. And the nation
gathered round their great king, and achieved results in
literature and science, such as were seldom achieved before.
Thus if we try to read history carefully and aright, if
we brush aside fables and exaggerations, we can under-
stand each period of Indian History philosophically,
and trace each result to its true cause. We trace the
greatness of Vikramaditya himself to the circumstances
by which he was surrounded ; we understand the match-
less flights of Kalidasa's fancy in the light of the general
exhilaration of the Hindu spirit in his time ; we appre-
ciate the labours of Varahamihira and Amara Sinha,
incited as they were by a spirit of emulation, in a very
learned court; and we understand a healthy rivalry be-
tween Hindus and Buddhists at a time when difference
of opinion had not degenerated into intolerance and
persecution. Buddhism was decaying and Hinduism
was reviving, and naturally enough the reviving religion
showed the greatest signs of vigour, of learning, of genius.
After Vikramaditya the Great, Siladitya Pratapasila
became the master of Northern India about 550 A.D.
We know from Houen Tsang that he was inclined to-
wards Buddhism, and in his court, Vasubandhu, the pupil
of Manoratha, was honoured, and won a great victory in
controversy over the Hindu party. Vasubandhu was the
son of a Brahman, and was the brother of the famous
Asanga. He studied in Kashmir, returned to Magadha,
became a Pundit in the University of Nalanda, and died
in Nepal. We do not know of any other great men of
Siladitya's court.
Siladitya I. was succeeded by Prabhakara Vardhana
probably about 580 A.D. Prabhakara's sister Rajyasri
was married to Grahavarman, but a war broke out with
Malava, and Prabhakara was defeated and Grahavarman
was killed.
Prabhakara was succeeded by Rajyavardhana about
chap. 1.] VIKRAMADITYA AND HIS SUCCESSORS. I 3r
605 A.D. Rajyavardhana continued the war with Malava,
and slew the king of that country. We know fronn
Houen Tsang that Rajyavardhana was afterwards defeated
and killed by Sasanka Narendra Gupta, king of Karna
Suvarna or Western Bengal. -
He was succeeded by his younger brother Siladitya
II., called Harshavardhana and also Kumararaja, about
6 ro A.D. He was a great and powerful king, and, both
by his conquests and by his patronage of learning, revived
the memories of Vikramaditya’s reign. In six years he
conquered the “five Indies;” but he could never defeat
Paulakesin II., king of the Maharashtras. The Malavas
were defeated and Rajyasri was recovered, and Siladitya
made an alliance with Bhaskaravarman, the king of
Kamarupa, who was also known as Kumararaja.
A copper seal of Harshavardhana or Siladitya II.
has been discovered, and gives us his genealogy. The
inscription is short, and informs us that Adityavard-
hana was the son of Rajyavardhana and Mahadevi ;
Prabhakaravardhana was the son of Adityavardhana
and Mahasenagupta ; Rajyavardhana was the son of
Prabhakaravardhana and Yasomati ; and Prabhakara's
younger brother Harshavardhana was also begotten on
Yasomati.”
We know from Houen Tsang that Siladitya had his
capital at Kanyakubja or Kanouj, and that he held every
five years a great assemblage of princes and people to
celebrate a religious festival. We also know that Sila-
ditya was a staunch Buddhist, though he respected and
honoured Brahmans.
Siladitya Harshavardhana was a renowned patron of
letters, and is said to be the author of Ratnavali and
the Buddhist drama Nagananda. But probably he was
the real author of neither, though both the works were
composed in his court. The Ratnavali was probably
composed by Banabhatta, the author of Kadamvari and
* Corf, Zns. Ind., vol. iii.; Texts, &c., p. 232,
I 32 PURANIC PERIOD, [Book v.
of Harshacharita, a life of the king. Dandin, the author
of Dasakumara Charita, lived before Banabhatta and
after Kalidasa, and alludes to Kalidasa. It is pro-
bable that Dandin was still living, when Banabhatta
followed in his footsteps in the more ambitious fiction
of the Kadamvari. -
The other well-known prose fiction in Sanscrit is the
Vasavadatta of Subandhu, and he too was a contem-
porary of Banabhatta, though he may have written a
little earlier, as Banabhatta often quotes him. We thus
approximately know the dates of the three best prose
fictions in Sanscrit.
The name of Mayura is often mentioned in connection
with the name of Banabhatta, and a legend has it that
Bana married Mayura's daughter, a Chandi, or scold.
Mayura is the author of Mayura Sataka. -
A more renowned name is that of Bhartrihari. In a
most interesting note,” Professor Max Muller shows,
on the authority of the Chinese traveller I-tsing, that
Bhartrihari died about 650 A.D., or in other words, that
the author of the three Satakas on Love, Discipline, and
Tranquillity, was a contemporary of Siladitya II.
The Bhattikavya, being an easy and entertaining
method of learning grammar, is better known to Hindu
students than the Satakas of Bhartrihari. Commentators
of the Bhattikavya like Kandarpa, Vidyavinoda, and Srid-
hara Swamin call Bhartrihari the author of Bhatti. The
name Bhartri has frequently been called Bhatti by other
commentators, and, on the whole, there is the strongest,
presumption that the author of the Satakas and of the
Bhattikavya is the same person, Bhartri or Bhatti. Pro-
fessor Max Muller adduces the testimony of the Chinese
traveller named above to confirm this presumption.
. Such was the literary activity of the time of Siladitya
the great emperor of Kanouj, who assembled the kings
and nations of Northern India at his quinquennial
* India, &c., p. 347 &c.
CHAP I.] VIKRAMADITYA AND His SUCCESSORs. I 33
festivals, and swayed the destinies of all Northern India.
We have seen before that the astronomer Brahmagupta
also lived in the time of this potentate.
Siladitya died about 648 or 650 A.D. Fifty years
later, a weak prince reigned on the throne of the great
Siladitya. The prowess and glory of Kanouj were gone,
and Yasovarman, the king of Kanouj, was defeated in
war by the proud Lalitaditya, king of Kashmir. The
lamp of literature, lighted in Ujjayini two centuries be-
fore, still shone, however, in the court of Yasovarman ;
and one of the greatest poets that India has produced,
Bhavabhuti, lived in that prince's court. He is almost
the last of that bright galaxy of poets who appeared
in India between the sixth and the eighth centuries A.D.
The Rajatarangini, from which we get this information,
further tells us that two other writers, Vakpati and,
Rajyasri, also lived under Yasovarman's patronage. }
If these three centuries, 5oo to 8oo A.D., are reckoned
as the brightest period in the annals of later Sanscrit
literature, those centuries also mark the period of tolera-
tion and friendly rivalry between the Hindus and the
Buddhists. But controversies between the followers of
the rival creeds were going on all this time, and the great
Sankaracharya, who was born about the close of the
eighth century, was the strongest champion of reviving
Hinduism and the strongest opponent of Buddhism.
The Dark Ages then followed, and between 8oo and
1ooo A.D. there is not one bright name in the history of
Hindu literature, science, or art. *
CHAPTER II.
FIO UEAN TSAAWGPS ACCOUNT OF INDIA.
WE now come to the records of the most eminent of
Chinese travellers, Houen Tsang, whose story has shed
a flood of light on the state of India in the seventh
century.* He left China in 629 A.D. and came through
Ferganah, Sumarkand, Bokhara, and Balk, to India,
where he lived and travelled for many years, and finally
returned to China in 645 A.D. At the commencement
of his account of India, he gives a general description of
the arts and manners of the Hindus, which we will con-
sider further on. We proceed now with the traveller's
account of the Hindu kingdoms he visited.
NAGARAHARA, the old capital of the Jelalabad district,
was four miles in circuit. The country was rich in cereals
and fruits, the manners of the people were simple and
honest, and their disposition ardent and courageous.
Buddhism was the prevailing religion, but Hinduism
was also followed, and there were five Diva temples
and about a hundred worshippers in the city. To the
east of the city was a Stupa 3oo feet high, built by Asoka,
and wonderfully constructed of stone beautifully adorned
and carved. There were many Sangharamas, of which
one, four miles to the south-west of the city, had a high
wall and storeyed tower made of piled-up stone, and a
Stupa 2 oo feet high.
The kingdom of GANDHARA had its capital at Pesha-
war, and both Nagarahara and Gandhara were then
* We rely on Beal's translation.
I 34
Chi AP, II. HOUEN TSANG’s ACCOUNT. I 35
subject to the king of Kapisa (near the Hindu Kush)
and were governed by his deputies. The towns and
villages of Gandhara were deserted, and there were but
few inhabitants. The country was rich in cereals, and
the people were timid and fond of literature. The 1 ooo
Sangharamas were deserted and in ruins, and there
were about 1oo Hindu temples.
While speaking of the kingdom of Gandhara, Houen
Tsang gives us an anecdote of Manohrita, a great Bud-
dhist writer. He lived in the town of Vikramaditya
“of wide renown,” but Vikramaditya was a patron of
Hinduism and Hindu learning, and Manohrita was
disgraced in a controversy in his court, and retired
in disgust, saying, “In a multitude of partisans there
is no justice.” Vikramaditya's successor Siladitya, how-
ever, was a patron of Buddhist learned men, and he
honoured Vasabandhu, the pupil of Manohrita, and
the Hindu learned men “were abashed and retired.”
Elsewhere, in his account of Malwa, Houen Tsang
says that Siladitya reigned sixty years before his time,
i. e., about 580 A.D., and Vikramaditya’s long reign
would therefore fall before 550 A.D., which corresponds
with the date we have given him.
Near the town of POLUSHA, our traveller came to a
high mountain on which he found a figure of Bhima
Devi (Durga) carved out of bluish stone. Rich and poor
assembled here from every part, near and distant, and saw
the image after prayers and fasting. Below the mountain
was a temple of Maheswara, and the Hindu sect (Pasupata),
who covered themselves with ashes, came here to offer
sacrifice. From these places Houen Tsang came to Sala-
tura, the birthplace of Panini the grammarian.
At UDYANA or the country round Cabul, where Fa
Hian had found Buddhism flourishing two centuries
before, Houen Tsang found the Sangharamas waste and
desolate, and few monks residing in them. There were
ten temples of Devas,
136 PURANIC PERIOD. [BOOK V.
Crossing the Indus, the traveller ascended the river
through mountain gorges to LITTLE THIBET. “The
roads are craggy and steep, the mountains and the
valleys are dark and gloomy. Sometimes we have to
cross by ropes, sometimes by iron chains stretched (across
the gorges). There are footbridges suspended in the air,
and flying bridges across the chasms.” From Little
Thibet, Houen Tsang went to Takshasila and Sinhapura,
both subject to Kashmir, and at Sinhapura he met with
the sects of Jainas called Svetambaras and Digambaras.
“The laws of their founder are mostly filched from the
principles of the books of Buddha. . . . The figure of
their sacred master (Mahavira) they stealthily class with
that of Tathagata (Buddha); it differs only in point of
clothing ; the points of beauty are absolutely the same.”
There is no doubt Houen Tsang regarded the Jainas as
separatists ſrom Buddhism.
KASHIMIR is said to have been 14oo miles in circuit,
and its capital was two and a half miles in length and a
mile broad. The soil produced cereals and aboundcd
in fruits and flowers. The climate was cold and stern.
There was much snow, but little wind. The people
wore leather doublets and clothes of white linen. They
were light and frivolous, and of a weak, pusillanimous
disposition. They were handsome in appearance, but
were given to cunning. They loved learning, and were
well instructed. There were both Hindus and Buddhists
among them. There were about Ioo Sangbaramas and
5ooo monks.
Kashmir was still redolent of the fame of Kanishka,
and our traveller has, of course, something to say of
that powerful king. Here and elsewhere Houen Tsang
states that the Nirvana of Buddha took place a hundred
years before the time of Asoka. When, therefore, Houen
Tsang says that “in the four hundredth year after
the Nirvana of Tathagata, Kanishka king of Gandhara
javing succeeded to the kingdom, his kingly renown
CHAP. 1.7 Houl:N TSANG's ACCOUNT, I 37
reached far, and he brought the most remote under his
jurisdiction,” — we must understand him to say that
Kanishka lived 3oo years after Asoka, i.e., about 78
A.D., and this corresponds with the date which has
been given to him, and with the Saka Era.
In connection with Kanishka, our traveller gives an
account of the great Council of Northern Buddhists
which took place in his reign. We are told that the five
hundred sages who assembled composed three commen-
taries, viz., the Ü/adesa Sastra, to explain the Sutra
Pitaka ; the Vinaya Við/asa Sastra, to explain the
Vinaya Pitaka ; and the A/Aidarwla Vidhasa Sastra, to
explain the Abhidarma Pitaka.
In connection also with Kanishka, our traveller in-
forms us that tributary kings from China sent hostages
to that powerful monarch, and he treated them with
marked attention, and assigned for their residence the
track of the country (between the Ravi and the Sutlej)
which became thus known as Chinapati. Houen Tsang
visited this country, 4oo miles in circuit, with a capital
three miles in circuit. The Chinese introduced the pear
and the peach into India, “wherefore the peach is called
Chinani, and the pear is called Chinarajaputra.” When
the people saw Houen Tsang, they pointed with their
fingers, and said one to another, “This man is a native
of the country of our former ruler.”
Houen Tsang has also something to say about Mihira-
kula, the great persecutor of Buddhists. “Some centuries
ago.” Mihirakula established his authority in the town
of Sakala (west of the Ravi). Houen Tsang says that
this terrible Mihirakula “issued an edict to destroy all
the priests through the five Indies, to overthrow the law
of Buddha, and leave nothing remaining.” The powerful
king attacked Baladitya, king of Magadha, but was taken
prisoner and was allowed to go, humiliated and disgraced.
He returned to Kashmir, rose in rebellion, killed the
loing, and placed himself on the throne. He conquered
V() L, II, 18
*
Gandhara, exterminated the royal family, overthrew
Buddhism and Stupas and monasteries, and killed
“three ten myriads of people” on the banks of the
Indus. Some allowance must be made for exaggeration
on the part of Buddhist chroniclers ;-but there can be
no doubt that Mihirakula of Kashmir was one of the
first and greatest persecutors and destroyers of Bud-
dhists. *
Houen Tsang was pleased with the kingdom of
SATADRU (Sutlej), 4oo mikes in circuit, and with a
capital town three and a half miles in circuit. The
country was rich in cereals and fruits, in gold and silver
and precious stones. The people wore rich and elegant
garments of bright silk. Their manners were soft and
agreeable, they were virtuous, and believed in the law of
Buddha. But nevertheless the halls of the Sangharamas
were deserted and wild, and there were few priests.
The country of MATHURA was a thousand miles in
circuit, and its chief town was four miles round. The
soil was rich and fertile, and the country produced white
cotton and yellow gold. The manners of the people
were soft and complacent, and they esteemed virtue and
honoured learning. There were twenty Sangharamas and
about 2 ooo priests. On the six fasting days of each of
the three fast months (1st, 5th, and 9th months), the
people honoured the Stupas with offerings. “They
spread out their jewelled banners ; the rich parasols are
crowded together as network ; the smoke of incense
rises in clouds; the flowers are scattered in every
direction like rain; the sun and the moon are concealed
as by the clouds which hang over the moist valleys.
The king of the country and the great ministers apply
themselves to these religious duties with zeal.”
The kingdom of THANESVARA was 14oo miles in
circuit, and its capital was four miles round. The
climate was genial, the soil rich and productive, but the
f people were cold and insincere, and given to luxury.
CHAP. Ii.] HOUEN TSANG's ACCOUNT. iſ 39
The capital was near the site of the old Kuru-kshetra
battle-field, and our traveller has his version of the
story to tell. Two kings divided the five Indies
between them, and it was given out that whoever fell
in the battle which was to be fought would obtain
deliverance. “The two countries engaged in conflict,
and the dead bodies were heaped together as sticks, and
from that time till now the plains are everywhere covered
with their bones.”
The kingdom of SRUGHNA (north Doab), bounded by
the Ganges to the east and the Himalayas to the north,
was 1200 miles in circuit. Our readers need scarcely be
told that this was the land of the ancient Kurus, two
thousand years before the time of Houen Tsang. Our
traveller was struck by the Ganges with its waves “wide
rolling as the sea,” and supposed to “wash away count-
less sins.” After describing MATIPURA (west Rohilkund),
12oo miles in circuit, Houen Tsang describes Maya-pura,
or HARIDVARA, the source of the Ganges. The town
here was four miles round. “Not far from the town,
standing by the Ganges river, is the great Deva temple,
where very many miracles of divers sorts are wrought.
In the midst of it is a tank, of which the borders are made
of stone, joined skilfully together. Through it the Ganges
river is led by an artificial canal.” The men of the five
Indies call it the gate of the Ganga river (Gangadvara).
This is where religious merit is found and sin effaced.
There are always hundreds and thousands of people
gathered together here from distant quarters to bathe
and wash in its waters.” Already then in the seventh
century, Haridvara was one of the most famed Hindu
shrines, and a great gathering place of devout pilgrims.
Our traveller goes right into the sub-Himalayas, and
speaks of a kingdom BRAHMAPURA (identified with Garh-
wal and Kumaon), which produced gold, and where “for
ages a woman has been the ruler, and so it is called the
* The canal still exists. A.
140 PURANIC PERIOD. [BOOK v.
Åingdom of the women. The husband of the reigning
woman is called king, but he knows nothing of the affairs
of the state. The men manage the wars and sow the
land, that is all.” This no doubt has reference to an old
custom among the hilltribes of the sub-Himalayan regions.
Polyandry prevails among them to this day.
After passing through some other countries, Houen
Tsang came to the kingdom of KANYAKUBJA, that
ancient tract of country which boasted of a civilisation
two thousand years old in the time of Houen Tsang.
For it was here that the Panchalas developed their early
civilisation when Magadha was still a realm of aboriginal
barbarians, And although Magadha eclipsed the glory
of its western neighbour under Ajatasatru and Chandra-
gupta and Asoka the Great, yet, a few centuries after the
Christian Era, Kanyakubja seems again to have attained
its supremacy, and was a principal seat of the Gupta
emperors. And in the time of Houen Tsang, Siladitya II.,
the lord of Northern India, had his court in the ancient
town of Kanyakubja. - $
Houen Tsang found the kingdom of Kanyakubja 8oo
miles in circuit, and the wealthy capital four miles in
Jength and one in breadth. The city had a moat around
it, and strong and lofty towers facing each other. The
ſlowers and woods, the lakes and ponds, bright and pure
and shining like a mirror, were seen on every side.
Valuable merchandise was collected here in great quan-
tities. The people, were well off and contented, the
houses were rich and well found. Flowers and fruits
abounded in every place, and the land was sown and
reaped in due seasons. The climate was agreeable and
soft, the manners of the people honest and sincere, They
were noble and gracious in appearance. For clothing
they used ornamented and bright shining fabrics. They
applied themselves much to learning, and in their travels
were very much given to discussion on religious subjects,
The ſame of their pure language was far spread. The
eIIAP. II.] HOUEN TSANG's ACCOUNT. 141
believers in Buddha and the Hindus were equal in num-
ber. There were some hundred Sangharamas with loooo.
priests. There were 200 Deva temples with several
thousand followers, -
For once, Houen Tsang departs from his usual rule,
and gives us some account of the history of the country
he visits. He says that Prabhakara Vardhana was the
former king of Kanyakubja, and on his death, his eldest
son Rajyavardhana succeeded ; but he was defeated, and
was killed by Sasanka (Narendra Gupta), king of Karna
Suvarna (in Bengal); and his ministers selected his
younger brother Harshavardhana, under the title of Sila-
ditya, to the throne. Houen Tsang saw this king Siladitya,
and was kindly received by him. This was Siladitya II.;
for as we have seen before, and will find again when we
come to speak of Malwa, Siladitya I. reigned sixty years
before the time of Houen Tsang. Siladitya II. reigned
from 6 ro to 650 A.D. r &
Siladitya II. was not slow to assert his power. He
assembled a body of 5ooo elephants, 2000 cavalry, and
50, ooo foot, and in six years “he had subdued the five
Indies.”
He was inclined towards Buddhism, forbade the
slaughter of living animals, built Stupas, and erected hos-
pitals in all the highways throughout India and stationed
physicians there, and provided food and drink and medi-
cines. Once in five years he held a great religious
assembly,–the quinquennial celebration of the Buddhists,
—and gave alms in profusion.
Houen Tsang was staying in the convent of Nalanda
with the Raja of Kamarupa, when Siladitya sent an order
to the Raja, “I desire you to come at once to the
assembly with the strange Sraman you are entertaining
at the Nalanda convent.” On this the traveller came
with the Raja of Kamarupa, and was introduced to Sila-
ditya. The latter made many inquiries about the country
of the traveller, and was well pleased with his replies.
I42 - PURANHC PERIOD. [BOOK w.
Siladitya being about to return to Kanyakubja, convoked
a religious assembly, and, followed by hundreds of thou-
sands of people, proceeded by the southern bank of the
Ganges, while the Raja of Kamarupa proceeded by the
northern bank. In ninety days they reached Kanya-
Kubja. t
Then the kings of the twenty countries, who had
received instructions from Siladitya, assembled with the
Sramans and Brahmans, the most distinguished of their
country, with magistrates and soldiers. It was indeed a
religious imperial assemblage, and Siladitya constructed
on the west of the Ganges a great Sangbarama, and to
the east of it a tower Ioo feet high, and between them he
placed a golden life-size statue of Buddha. From the
1st to the 21st of the month, –the second month of
spring, —he fed and feasted the Sramans and Brahmans
alike. The entire place from the Sangharama to the
king's temporary palace was decorated with pavilions
and stations for musicians, who poured forth music. A
small image of Buddha was led forth on a gorgeously
caparisoned elephant, Siladitya dressed as Indra march-
ing to the left, and the Raja of Kamarupa going to the
right, each with an escort of 5oo war elephants, while a
hundred elephants marched in front of the statue. Sila-
ditya scattered on every side pearls and various precious
substances, with gold and silver flowers. The statue
was washed, and Siladitya carried it on his own shoulders
to the western tower, and bestowed on it silken garments
and precious gems. After a feast, the men of learning
were assembled, and there was a learned discussion. In
the evening the king retired to his temporary palace.
In this way the statue was carried every day, and at
length, on the day of separation, a great fire broke out
in the tower. If Houen Tsang can be relied on, the
Brahmans, envious of the king's leaning towards Bud-
dhism, had not only set fire to the tower, but had actually
attempted to have him murdered. But Houen Tsang
CHAP. II, l HOUEN TSANG's ACCOUNT. I 43
was a staunch Buddhist, and his charges against Brah-
mans must be accepted with caution.
The account given above shows us the kind of supre-
macy which the Emperor of India assumed over the kings
and chiefs of the numerous states into which India was
always divided. It further shows us that Buddhism had
degenerated into idolatry, and gives an idea of the pomp
and circumstance with which Buddhist festivals were
celebrated, and which have been borrowed by later
Hinduism. It also shows us that princes and kings,
whether they leaned towards the Buddhist or the Hindu
religion, took a pleasure in honouring the learned and
religious men of both sects, and that controversies be-
tween the two sects were generally of a friendly character.
And lastly, it shows us with what jealous impatience the
Brahmans at the close of the Buddhist Period watched
the triumphs of Buddhism, a religion which they con-
trived finally to overcome in another century or two.
Our traveller found the kingdom of AyoDHYA a
thousand miles in circuit, and abounding in cereals,
flowers, and fruits. The climate was temperate and
agreeable, and the manners of the people virtuous and
amiable. As elsewhere, the people were partly Hindus
and partly Buddhists, and there were I oo Sangharamas
and 3ooo monks in the country.
Passing through the HAYAMUKHA kingdom, Houen
Tsang came to PRAYAGA or Allahabad. The kingdom
was a thousand miles in circuit, the produce of the land
was abundant, and fruits grew in great luxuriance. The
people were gentle and compliant, and fond of learning;
but Buddhism was not honoured here, and a large pro-
portion of the people were orthodox Hindus. Houen
Tsang speaks of the great tree of Allahabad, which is
still shown to visitors as the Akshaya Bata or the im-
mortal fig-tree.
“At the confluence of the two rivers, every day there
are many hundreds of men who bathe themselves and
I 44 PURANIC PERHOD, [BOOR v.
die. The people of this country consider that whoever
wishes to be born in heaven ought to fast to a grain of
rice, and then drown himself in the waters.” There was
also a high column in the middle of the river, and people
went up this column to gaze on the setting Sun until it
had gone under the horizon.
KAUSAMBI, where Gautama had often preached, was
still a flourishing place. The kingdom was 1 200 miles
in circuit ; rice and sugar cane grew plentifully ; and the
people, though said to be rough and hard in their manners,
were earnest and religious.
SRAVASTI, the ancient capital of Kosala, where
Gautama had preached, was deserted and in ruins. The
country was 12 oo miles it, circuit, and the people were
honest and pure in manners, and fond of religion and
learning.
KAPI LAVASTU, the birthplace of Gautama, was in
ruins. There were some ten deserted towns in the
country, which was 8oo miles in circuit. The royal
palace, in ruins, was three miles round, and was of brick,
There was no king in the country, each town appointed
its own ruler, and the manners of the people were soft
and obliging.
KUSHINAGARA, where Gautama died, was similarly in
ruins, and the brick foundations of the old walls were
two miles in circuit.
BENAREs, like Allahabad, like Hurdwar, was a tower
of strength for Hinduism, even in the days of Houen
Tsang. The country was 8oo miles in circuit, and the
capital was nearly four miles by one mile. The families
were rich, and possessed in their dwellings objects of rare
value. The people were soft and humane in disposition
and were given to study ; most of them were Hindus,
a few reverenced the law of Buddha. There were in
the country thirty Sangharamas with about 3000 priests,
but about a hundred temples of Devas with Io, ooo
sectaries. The god Maheswara was chiefly worshipped
CºA.P. II.] HOUEN TSANG's ACCOUNT. I 45
in Benares. Some cut off their hair and went naked, and
covered their bodies with ashes, and by the practice of
all kinds of austerities sought to escape future births.
In the town of Benares there were twenty Deva
temples, the towers and halls of which were of sculptured
stone and carved wood. Trees shaded the temples, and
pure streams of water encircled them. There was a
copper statue of Mahesware 1 oo feet high. “Its appear-
ance is grave and majestic, and appears as though really
living.” - -
To the north-east of the town was a Stupa, and in
front of it a stone pillar, bright and Shining as a mirror,
its surface glistening and Smooth as ice. About two
miles from the River Varana was the great Sangharama
of the “Deer Park.” Buduha had first proclaimed his
religion in this deer park. The Sangharama was divided
into eight portions, and the storeyed towers, with pro-
jecting caves and balconies, were of very superior work.
In the great enclosure there was a Vihara 200 feet high,
and above the roof was a golden covered figure of the
mango fruit. The foundations of the Vihara were of
stone, but the towers and stairs were of brick. In the
middle of the Vihara was a life-size figure of Buddha,
represented as turning the wheel of law. A fit repre-
sentation, on the very spot where the great preacher had
set the wheel of his religion rolling. . ſ
Passing through other places, Houen Tsang came to
VAISALI, 1300 miles, round, but the capital of the
country was in ruins. The soil of the country was rich
and fertile, the mango and the banana were plentiful, the
climate was agreeable and temperate, and the people
were pure and honest, Hindus and Buddhists lived
together. The Sangharamas were mostly in ruins, and
the three or four which remained had but few monks in
them. The Deva temples were many. * -
Houen Tsang speaks separately of the kingdom of
the Vajjians, 8oo miles in circuit ; but originally.the
VOL. II. I9
J 46 a. PURANIC PERIOD, [BOOK V.
Lichchavis and the Vajjians were the same, or rather
the Lichchavis formed one of the eight Vajjian tribes. It
is scarcely necessary to add that Houen Tsang speaks
also of the Council of Vaisali, which according to him,
took place I Io years after the death of Gautama, and the
Council “bound afresh the rules that had been broken,
and vindicated the holy law.”
Our traveller then paid a visit to NEPAL, and was not
favourably impressed with the people. Their manners,
he says, were false and perfidious, and their temperament
hard and fierce, with little regard to truth or honour ; and
their appearance was ungainly and revolting. From
Nepal, Houen Tsang returned to Vaisali, and thence
crossing the Ganges to the country of Magadha, which
for him was replete with holy associations. No less
than two books out of his twelve books are devoted to
the legends and sights and holy relics which the pilgrim
found in Magadha. -
The kingdom of MAGADHA was I coo miles in circuit,
The walled cities had few inhabitants, but the towns
were thickly populated. The soil was rich, and produced
grains in abundance. The country was low and damp,
and towns were therefore built on uplands. The whole
country was flooded in the rains, and communication
was kept up by boats. The people were simple and
honest; they esteemed learning, and revered the religion
of Buddha. There were fifty Sangharamas with Io, ooo
monks, and ten Deva temples with numerous followers.
The old town of PATALIPUTRA, which was still
inhabited when Fa Hian visited it, was now entirely
deserted, the foundation walls only being visible. The
traveller has much to say about Asoka and his half-
brother Mahendra, about the Buddhist writers Nagarjuna
and Asvaghosha, and about the numerous Stupas and
Viharas and sites, connected with Buddha's life which
he saw ; but we pass them by. He went to GAYA, which
had a thousand families of Brahmans only for its inhabi-
CHAP. II.] HOUEN TSANG’s ACCOUNT, 147
tants. Thence he went to the famous Bodhi Tree, and
to the neighbouring Vihara, 160 or 170 feet high, and
covered with beautiful ornamental work, “in one place
figures of stringed pearls, in another figures of heavenly
Rishis,” and the whole being surrounded by a gilded
copper Amalaka fruit. Not far from this was the grander
structure of the Mahabodhi Sangharama, built by a king
of Ceylon. It had six walls, with towers of observation
three storeys high, and was surrounded by a wall of
defence thirty or forty feet high.
“The utmost skill of the artist has been employed;
the ornamentation is in the richest colours. The statue
of Buddha is cast of gold and silver, decorated with gems
and precious stones. The Stupas are high and large in
proportion, and beautifully ornamented.”
The entire place near the Bodhi Tree was considered
sacred by Buddhists in Houen Tsang's time, and as long
as Buddhism prevailed in India, “Every year when the
Bhikshus break up their yearly rest of the rains religious
persons come here from every quarter in thousands
and myriads, and during seven days and nights they
scatter flowers, burn incense, and sound music as they
wander through the district and pay their worship and
present their offerings.” Buddhist celebrations are now
a thing of the past in India ; and it is important for the
historian to note, from the pages of contemporaneous
witnesses, that those celebrations were in their day marked
with as much pomp and circumstance, and as much joy-
ousness and outward demonstration, as the Hindu festivals
of later times. -
Houen Tsang came to RAJAGRIHA, the old capital of
Magadha at the time of Ajatasatru and Bimbisara. The
outer walls of the city had been destroyed, the inner
walls still remained, in a ruined state, and were four miles
round. The traveller visited the great cave or stone
house in which the first Council was held immediately
after, the death of Gautama, Kasyapa was the president
I 48 PURANIC P1: RIOD. "[Book v.
of the Council, and said, “Let Ananda who ever heard
the words of Tathagata, collect by singing through the
Sufra Pitaka. Let Upali who clearly understands the
rules of discipline, and is well-known to all who know,
collect the Vinaya Pitaka ; and I Kasyapa will collect
the Abhidarma Pitaka. The three months of rain being
past, the collection of the Tripitaka was finished.”
Our traveller now came to the great NALANDA uni-
versity, if we may call it by that name. The monks of
this place, to the number of several thousands, were men
of the highest ability, talent, and distinction, “The
countries of India respect them and follow them. The
day is not sufficient for asking and answering profound
questions. From morning till night they engage in
discussion ; the old and the young mutually help one
another, Those who cannot discuss questions out of
the Tripitaka are little esteemed, and are obliged to
hide themselves for shame. Learned men from different.
cities, on this account, who desire to acquire quickly
a renown in discussion, come here in multitudes to settle
their doubts, and then the streams (of their wisdom).
spread far and wide. For this reason some persons
usurp the name (of Nalanda students) and in going to
and fro receive honour in consequence.”
Dr. Fergusson justly remarks that what Cluny and
Clairvaux were to France in the Middle Ages, Nalanda
was to Central India, the depository of true learning,
the centre from which it spread over to other lands.
And “as in all instances connected with the strange
parallelism which existed between the two religions, the
Buddhists kept five centuries in advance of the Christians
in the invention and use of all the ceremonies and forms
common to both the religions.”
The great Vihara of Nalanda, where the university
was located, was worthy of it. It is said that four
kings, viz., Sakraditya, Buddhagupta, Tathagatagupta, and
* Indian and Eastern Architecture, London, 1876, p. 137.
CHAP. II.] HOUEN TSANG's ACCOUNT. I 49
Baladitya successively laboured at this great architec-
tural work, and when it was completed men came from
a distance of 2000 miles at the great assembly that was
held. Many other Viharas were built in the vicinity
by succeeding kings. One great Vihara, built by
Baladitya, was conspicuous among them. It was 3oo
feet high, and “with respect to its magnificence, its
dimensions, and the statue of Buddha placed in it, it
resembles the great Vihara built under the Bodhi Tree.”
Leaving Magadha, Houen Tsang came to the king-
dom of Hiranya Parvata, which General Cunningham.
identifies with MongHyr. The kingdom was 6oo miles
round, the soil was largely cultivated and rich in its
produce, the climate was agreeable and the people simple
and honest. By the side of the capital were the hot
springs of Monghyr, which gave out volumes of smoke
and vapour. r . . . .
CHAMPA, the ancient capital of Anga or East Behar,
was situated near modern Bhagalpur. The kingdon)
was 8oo miles in circuit, the soil level and fertile and
regularly cultivated, the temperature was mild and warm,
and the manners of the people were simple and honest.
The walls of the capital were several tens of feet high,
and the foundations of the wall were raised on a lofty
embankment, so that by their high escarpment, they
could defy the attack of their enemies. -
Passing through other places, our traveller came to
PUNDRA or Pundra Vardhana, corresponding with
Northern Bengal. The kingdom is described as 8oo
miles in circuit, and was thickly populated. The tanks.
and public offices and flowering woods were regularly
connected at intervals. The soil was flat and loamy,
and rich in all kinds of grain produce. The bread.
fruit, though plentiful, was highly esteemed. There were
about twenty Sangharamas and 3oo priests, and some
hundred Deva temples with sectaries of , various schools.
The naked Nirgranthas were the most numerous. . . .
150 PURANIC PERIOD. - [Book v.
To the east, and beyond a great river (the Brahma-
putra) was the powerful kingdom of KAMARUPA, 2000.
miles in circuit. It apparently included in those times
Modern Assam, Manipur, and Kachar, Mymensing and
Sylhet. The soil was rich and, was cultivated, and
grew cocoanuts and bread, fruit in abundance. Water
led from rivers or banked-up reservoirs flowed round
towns. The climate was soft and temperate, the man-
ners of the people simple and honest. The men were
of small stature, of a dark yellow complexion, and spoke
a language different from that of Mid-India. They were,
however, impetuous, with very retentive memories, and
very earnest in their studies. . -
The people had no faith in Buddha, and adored and
sacrificed to the Devas, and there were about a hundred:
Deva temples. Of Buddhist Sangharamas, there were
none. The king was a Brahman by caste, Bhaskara
Varman by name, and had the title of Kumara. Our
readers will remember that Houen Tsang was introduced
by this king to the great Siladitya of Kanouj.
South of the Kamarupa kingdom was SAMATATA
(literally level country) or East Bengal. The kingdom
was 6oo miles in circuit ; the lands were low and rich
and regularly cultivated, and produced crops and fruits
in plenty. The capital was four miles in circuit. The
men were small in stature and black in complexion, but
hardy, and fond of learning and diligent in its acquisition ;
—a description which applies to the people of East Bengal
to the present day. There were some thirty Sangharamas
and about 2 ooo monks, and some hundred Deva temples.
The naked ascetic Nirgranthas were numerous. t
Next to Samatata was the kingdom of TAMRALIPTI,
i.e., Tumlook country or South-West Bengal, including
modern Midnapur. The country was 3oo miles in cir-
cuit, and the capital was a seaport. The people were
hardy and brave, but quick and hasty. The coast of the
country was formed by a recess of the sea, and wonderful
gh Ar. II.] HOUEN TSANG's ACCOUNT. I 5.1
articles of value and gems were collected here, and the
people were rich. There were ten Sangharamas and fifty
Deva temples, - * - - -
Houen Tsang then speaks of the KARNA SUVARNA
kingdom, supposed to be Western Bengal, including
modern Murshedabad. We have seen that it was Sas-
anka, the king of this country, who defeated and killed
the elder brother of the great Siladitya of Kanouj. The
country was 3oo miles in circuit and thickly populated,
and the people were fond of learning, and honest, and
amiable. The soil was regularly cultivated, and the
climate was agreeable. There were ten Sangharamas
and fifty Deva temples. - -
The reader will perceive from the foregoing account
that Bengal proper (i.e., excluding Behar and Orissa)
was divided in those days into five great kingdoms.
Northern Bengal was Pundra; Assam and the North-
East formed Kamaruffa ; Eastern Bengal was Sama-
tata ; South-West Bengal was Tamra/ipti ; and Western
Bengal was Āarma Suzazºna. Houen Tsang's account of
Northern India ends with Bengal ; we will now accom-
pany our esteemed guide to Southern India.
The kingdom of Udra or ORISSA was 14oo miles in
circuit, and had its capital near modern Jajpur, five miles
round. The soil was rich and fertile, and produced every
yariety of grain and many Strange shrubs and flowers.
The people, however, were uncivilised, of a yellowish black
complexion, and spoke a language different from that of
Central India. They were, however, fond of learning, and
their country was a stronghold of Buddhism, declining
elsewhere in India. It had some hundred Sangharamas
with about Io, ooo monks, and only fifty Deva temples.
Already Orissa was a great place of pilgrimage, though
the temple of Puri had not yet been built. There was a
Sangharama called Pushpagiri on a great mountain on
the south-west frontiers of the country, and it is said a
Stone Stupa of this Sangharama emitted a strange light.
* 52 ... pURANIC PERIOD. . . ... [Book v.
Buddhists from far and near came to this place and pre-
sented beautifully embroidered umbrellas, and placed
them under a vase at the top of the cupola, and let them
stand as needles in the stone. The custom of planting
flags prevails in Jagannatha to the present day,
To the South-east there was a great seaport called
Charitra. “Here it is that merchants depart for distant
countries, and strangers come and go and stop here
on their way. The walls of the city are strong and
loſty. Here are found all sorts of rare and precious
articles,” . . . . . . . . |
South-west of Orissa was the kingdom of KANyopFIA,
on the Chilka Lake. The people were brave and impul-
sive, but black and dirty. They had some degree of
politeness and were tolerably honest, and used the same
written characters as in Mid-India, but their pronunciation
was quite different, Buddhism was not much followed
here; Hinduism prevailed. . . . . . . . .
The nation was a powerful one ; their cities were strong
and high, their soldiers brave and daring, and they ruled
neighbouring provinces by force, and no one could resist
them. As their country bordered on the sea, the people
obtained many rare and valuable articles, and used cowrie
shells and pearls in commercial transactions. Elephants
were used in drawing conveyances.
. To the south-west of this, and beyond a vast jungle,
lay the ancient kingdom of KALINGA, The kingdom was
1 ooo miles in circuit, and its capital five miles round.
The soil was fertile and regularly cultivated, but there
were many jungles with wild elephants in them. The
people, though impetuous and rough and uncivilised, were
trustworthy and kept their word. . . . . . . .
| Such was Kalinga when Houen Tsang saw it, but our
readers will remember that in the time of Megasthenes
the power and the empire of Kalinga stretched along
the entire seaboard from Bengal to the mouths of the
Godavari. The memory of its greatness still survived, for
CIMAP, In, 1 Houſ N TSANG's Account. J 53
*
Houen Tsang says: “In old days the kingdom of Kalinga
had a very dense population ; their shoulders rubbed one
with the other, and the axles of their chariot wheels girded
together.” . But the palmy days of Kalinga were gone,
and new kingdoms in Bengal and Orissa had arisen
out of the fragments of their ancient empire. Such has
always been the history of India. Kingdoms and races
have risen in power and civilisation and declined again by
turns ; but still the vast confederation of Hindu nations
had a political unity, a cohesion in religion, language,
and civilisation, which made India one great country in
ancient times. * : * .
To the north-west of Kalinga, through forests and crags,
the way lay to Kosala, corresponding to modern BERAR.
The kingdom was Icoo miles round, and the capital
eight miles. The towns and villages were close together,
and the population was dense. The people were tall,
black, violent, impetuous, and brave, and were partly
Buddhists and partly Hindus. In connection with these
southern Kosalas (who must be distinguished from those
of Oude), Houen Tsang speaks of the famous Buddhist
writer Nagarjuna, and of the king Sadvaha, who tunnelled
out a rock and fixed therein a Sangharama for his dwell-
ing. Neither Fa Hian nor Houen Tsang personally
visited this rock-cut monastery, but both speak of it, and
it must have been very celebrated in their times. . The
king Sadvaha, we are told, “tunnelled out this rock
through the middle, and built and fixed therein a Sang-
harama. At a distance of some Io li (two miles), by
tunnelling, he opened a covered way. Thus by standing
under the rock we see the cliffs excavated throughout, and
in the midst of long galleries, with caves for walking under
and high towers, the storeyed building reaching to the
height of five stages, each stage with four halls, with
Viharas enclosed.” We are told that in this Sangharama
the Buddhist priests fell out among themselves, and went
away to the king, and the Brahmans took advantage of
VOL. II, t 2O
T 54 PURANIC PERIOD, [BOOK v.
this, and destroyed the Sangharama and barricaded the
place.
Our traveller next came to the ancient country of the
ANDHRAS, ... who had developed their civilisation and ex-
tended their empire in Southern India several centuries.
before Christ, and who had at a later period held the
supreme power in Magadha and in India. The Guptas and
the Ujjayini kings had since assumed that supremacy, and
the Andhras of the seventh century were a feeble power.
Their kingdom was only 6oo miles in circuit, and was
regularly cultivated. The people were fierce and im-
pulsive. There were twenty Sangharamas and thirty
Beva temples. y
South of this country was Dhanakataka or the GREAT
ANDHRA country, 1200 miles in circuit, with a capital
town eight miles round, which has been identified with
modern Bejwada. The soil was rich and produced abun-
dant harvests, but there was much desert in the country,
and the towns were thinly populated. The people were
yellowish-black, fierce and impulsive, but fond of learning.
The old monasteries were mostly deserted and in ruins ;
only about ninety were inhabited, while a hundred Deva
temples had numerous followers.
Houen Tsang speaks of two great monasteries, to the
east and to the west of the city, called Purvasila and Apa-
rasila, built by a former king in honour of Buddha. “He
hollowed the valley, made a road, opened the mountain,
erags, constructed pavilions and long galleries ; and wide
chambers supported the heights and connected the caverns.
. . . But for the last hundred years there have been no.
priests.” Dr. Fergusson identifies the western convent
with the great Amaravati tope which has been discovered
and excavated since 1796 A.D. Dr. Burgess concludes,
from an inscription on the stones, that the Amaravati
Stupa was either already built or was being built in the
second century A.D., if not earlier. - * *
South-west from Great Andhra was the kingdom of
cHAP. II.] HOUIEN TSANG’s ACCOUNT. 155
Cirot.A, 5oo miles in circuit, but deserted and wild. The
population was sparse, troops of brigands ravaged the
open country, and the people were dissolute and cruel.
Further to the south was the kingdom of DRAVIDA,
12oo miles in circuit, with its capital, the famed town of
Kanchi or Kanchipura, which has been identified with
modern Conjiveram. The soil was fertile and regularly
cultivated, and the people were brave, truthful, honest,
and fond of learning, and used the language of Middle
India. There were some hundred Sangharamas and
10,000 priests. - *
Further south from Dravida was the kingdom of
MALAKUTA, which Dr. Burnell identifies with the delta
of the Kaveri river. The men were dark in complexion,
firm and impetuous, not fond of learning, but wholly
given to commercial pursuits. South of this country
were the famed Malaya mountains, the southern portions
of the Malabar Ghats, which produced sandal-wood and
camphor. To the east of this range was Mount Potalaka,
where the Buddhist spirit or saint Avalokitesvara, wor-
shipped by Northern Buddhists in Thibet, China, and
Japan, was supposed sometimes to take his abode.
Houen Tsang did not visit CEYLON, but nevertheless
gives an account of that island, with its rich vegetation,
its extensive cultivation, and its teeming population. He
narrates legends about Sinha or lion, about Rakshassas,
and about Mahendra the brother of Asoka, who introduced
Buddhism into the island ; and there were I co convents
and 20,000 priests in Houen Tsang's time. He speaks
of the coast as being rich in gems and precious stones,
and of Mount Lanka, to the south-east of the island.
Travelling northwards from Dravida, Houen Tsang
came to Kon KAN, 10,000 miles in circuit, fertile, and
regularly cultivated. The people were black, fierce and
ardent in disposition, but esteemed learning.
North-west from Konkan, and across a great forest.
infested by wild beasts and robbers, was the great country.
156 PURAN ſc PERIOD, FBOOK v.
of MAHARASHTRA, Iodo miles in circuit. The soil was
rich and regularly cultivated, and the people were honest,
but stern and vindictive. “To their benefactors they are
grateful, to their enemies relentless. If they are insulted,
they will risk their lives to avenge themselves. If they
are asked to help one in distress, they will forget them-
selves in their haste to render assistance. If they are
going to seek revenge, they first give their enemy warn-
ing, then, each being armed, they attack each other with
spears. If a general loses a battle, they do not inflict
punishment, but present him with woman's clothes, and
so he is driven to seek death for himself. . . . The king
is of the Kshatriya caste, and his name is Pulakesi. His
plans and undertakings are widespread, and his benefi-
cent actions are felt over a great distance. His subjects
obey him with perfect submission. At the present time
Siladitya Maharaja (of Kanouj) has conquered the nations
from east to west, and carried his arms to remote districts,
but the people of this country alone have not submitted to
him. He has gathered troops from the five Indies, and
summoned the best leaders from all countries, and him-
self gone at the head of his army to punish and subdue
these people, but he has not yet conquered their troops.”
Nor was Siladitya destined to conquer Pulakesi, who de-
feated him in battle, and maintained the independence of
the proud Maharattas; even as a successor of Pulakesi,
a thousand years later, defied Aurungzebe, the Emperor of
Northern India, and restored to the Maharattas their lost
independence and greatness. And when Mogul and Raj-
put had alike declined in power, it was the countrymen of
Pulakesi who struggled with the English for the mastery
of India. -
On the eastern frontier of the Maharashtra country
was a great mountain, with towering crags and a con-
tinuous stretch of piled up and scarped precipice. “In
this there is a Sangharama constructed in a dark valley.
Its lofty halls and deep side-aisles stretch through the
CHAP. II.]. HOUEN TSANG’s ACCOUNT. 157
face of the rocks. Storey above storey they are backed
by the crag and face the valley.” This is the famous
Ajanta System of caves, cut in the lofty and almost per-
pendicular rocks that hem in a wild secluded glen. Modern
readers have been made familiar with this most wonderful
work of architecture through the plates and descriptions
of Fergusson and Burgess, Houen Tsang says further
on that the great Vihara was about 1oo feet high, and in
the middle was a stone figure of Buddha 70 feet high.
Above was a stone canopy of seven stages, towering up-
wards apparently without support.
To the west or north-west from Maharashtra was the
country of Bharukachha or Broach, 5oo miles in circuit.
The soil was impregnated with salt, trees were scattered
and scarce, and the people boiled sea water to manufacture
salt, and had all their gain from the sea.
Thence Houen Tsang went to the classic land of
MALAVA. “Two countries,” he says, “are remarkable
for the great learning of the people—Malava on the south-
west, and Magadha on the north-east.” Further on Houen
Tsang says, “The records of the country state : Sixty
years before this flourished Siladitya, a man of eminent
wisdom and great learning ; his skill in literature was
profound.” This was Siladitya I., who reigned probably
from 550 A.D. to 600 A.D., and was probably the imme-
diate successor of Vikramaditya the Great. The prince
whom Houen Tsang saw in Kanouj, and who was trying
to humiliate and subjugate Pulakesi and the Maharat-
tas, was Siladitya II., who reigned from about 61 o to
650 A.D. ! . . w
In Malava both the religions prevailed in Houen.
Tsang's time, and there were about a hundred Sangha-
ramas and a hundred Deva temples.
Houen Tsang then visited ATALI and Kachha or
CUTCH, and then came to VALABHI, the seat of the great
Valabhi dynasty. “The character of the soil, the climate,
and the manners of the people are like those of the
158 PURANIC PERIOD. . . [BOOK Wy
kingdom of Malava. The population is dense ; the esta-
blishments rich. There are some hundred families who
possess a hundred lakhs.” º
After visiting SAURASHTRA and GURJARA, SINDH
and MULTAN, the great traveller left India. But before
we take leave of him, we must make a few more extracts
from his diary, describing the administration of the country
and the manners of the people.
“As the administration of the country is conducted on
benign principles, the executive is simple. . . . The pri-
vate demesnes of the crown are divided into four principal
parts; the first is for carrying out the affairs of state and
providing sacrificial offerings ; the second is for providing
subsidies for the ministers and chief officers of state ; the
third is for rewarding men of distinguished ability; and
the fourth is for charity to religious bodies, whereby the
field of merit is cultivated. In this way the taxes on the
people are light; and the personal service required of them
is moderate. Each one keeps his own worldly goods in
peace, and all till the ground for their subsistence. Those
who cultivate the royal estates pay a sixth part of the
produce as tribute. The merchants who engage in com-
merce come and go in carrying out their transactions.
The river passages and the road barriers are open on
payment of a small toll. When the public works require
it, labour is exacted, but paid for. The payment is in
strict proportion to the work done. t
“The military guard on the frontiers go out to punish
the refractory. They also mount guard at night round
the palace. The soldiers are levied according to the re-
quirements of the service ; they are promised certain
payments, and , are publicly enrolled. The governors,
ministers, magistrates, and officials have each a portion.
of land consigned to them for their personal support.”
It will be seen from the above account that, according
to the ancient custom of India, all the officials were paid
by assignments of land. What Houen Tsang calls the
Y
c1íAP. II.] HOUEN TSANG's ACCOUNT. I 59
king’s private estates was, in fact, the entire kingdom,
except such villages and lands as were given away in
perpetuity to private persons, to temples or monasteries,
or such other lands as were assigned to officials. All the
expenses of the state, in peace and war, and those of the
royal household were defrayed from the proceeds of the
king's estates and of taxes.
With regard to the manners of the people, Houen
Tsang bears honourable testimony to their simplicity and
their rectitude. “Although,” says the traveller, “they
are naturally light-minded, yet they are upright and
honourable. In money matters they are without craft,
and in administering justice they are considerate. They
dread the retribution of another state of existence, and
make light of the things of the present world. They are
not deceitful or treacherous in their conduct, and are
faithful to their oaths and promises.” -
Such has been the candid opinion of all observant
travellers, from the time of Megasthenes downwards,
who have seen the Hindus in their homes and villages,
mixed with them in their everyday work, and entered
into their daily transactions. Such an observer was
Colonel Sleeman among the modern Englishmen who have
lived in India and mixed with the people, Villagers,
says the Colonel, adhere habitually to the truth in their
ôwn Panchyets; and “I have had before me hundreds of
cases in which a man's property, liberty, and life has
depended upon his telling a lie, and he has refused to
tell it.” " * -
r
CHAPTER III.
THE WALABAZS AAWD THE RA/PUTS.
GUJRAT was subject to the Gupta emperors during the
palmy days of that dynasty ; and when, in the latter half
of the fifth century, the Valabhis of Gujrat rose to indepen-
dence and power, they naturally adopted the Gupta Era,
reckoned from 3 19 A.D. When the power of the Guptas,
then emperors of India, was slowly decaying, an enter-
prising military commander, Senapati Bhatarka by name,
asserted his independence in Gujrat, and was the founder
of the Valabhi dynasty of Saurashtra.
The genealogy and history of the Valabhi family are
elucidated by numerous inscriptions which have been
discovered. Among the earliest of them are two copper-
plates which were found over fifty years ago in making
excavations in Gujrat.* They were published by W.
H. Wathen in 1835, and are of considerable importance.
Senapati Bhatarka, the originator of the family, is
stated to have “earned glory in hundreds of battles
fought in the countries of his foes,” and must have been,
like all beginners of dynasties, a great warrior and able
administrator. He had four sons, Dharasena, Dronasinha,
Dhruvasena, and Dharapatta. The first of these brothers
is styled Senapati, and had apparently not yet assumed
the title of king ; but his younger brother “received his
inauguration to the throne from the great sovereign
himself” (probably of Kanouj), and is styled Sri Maharaja
Dromasinha. His two brothers are similarly styled Sri
Maharaja Dhruvasena and Sri Maharaja Dharapatta.
* See Prinsep's Essays, ed. Thomas, vol. i. p. 252, et seq.
16o
c) IAP, III.] WALABHIS AND RAJPUTS, I6 I
Dharapatta's son was Guha Sena, “the destroyer of mul-
titudes of foes,” and his son Dhara Sena II. made the gift.
In the second plate published by Wathen, the successors
of Dhara Sena II. are called Siladitya Khara Graha, Dhara
Sena III., Dhruva Sena II., Dhara Sena IV., Siladitya II.
(two or three names illegible here), Khara Graha II.,
Siladitya III., and Siladitya IV.
An inscription” discovered by Hariballabh in 1878
brings down the list of kings to Siladitya VII., who
reigned at the close of the eighth century. We have
thus in a single inscription a complete list of the kings
of this dynasty for three centuries, from Bhatarka, who
commenced the line in the latter half of the fifth century,
to Siladitya VII., who reigned in the latter half of the
eighth century. The genealogical table and dates given
below will show the names at a glance : —
BFIATARKA
(about 460 A.D.)
|
* Sena I. pronºsau. Dhruva Sena I. pºints.
- (526 A.D.) |
Guha Sena
($59; 565 and 567 A.D.)
Dhara Sena II.
(57 I ; 588 *sº A.D.)
| - |
Siladitya I. Kharagraha I.
(605; 699 A.D.) |
|
Derabhata Dhara Sena III. Dhruva sºns II.
(629 A.D.)
|. | |
shºws II. Kharagraha II. Dhruva Sena III, Dhara Sena IV.
(057 A.D.) (645; 649 A.D.)
Siladitya III. 4
(A. D. 678.)
Siladićya IV.
(A. D. 691.)
Siladitya V.
(A.D. 722.)
| .
Siladitya VI.
(A.D. 760.)
Siladitya VII.
(A.D. 766.)
" ConA. Zus, /nd, vol. iii.; Texts, &c., p. I 7 I.
VOL. II. 2J
162 PURANIC PERIOD, [BOOK v.
We have only to add that when Houen Tsang visited
Valabhi, he found the people a rich, powerful, and flourish-
ing nation, holding Saurashtra under subjection. Rich
and valuable products of distant regions were stored
within their capital in great quantities, and showed the
brisk maritime trade which the Valabhis carried on. The
decline of this great people is involved in mystery, but
there can be little doubt that the Rajputs arose in power
and glory in Western India as the Valabhis declined.
For many reasons the Rajputs may be considered the
successors of the Valabhis to supreme power in Western
India, as the Valabhis themselves were the successors of
the Guptas. And the haughtiest of the Rajputs, viz., the
Ranas of Mewar, traced a fictitious descent from the
Valabhis. While the Rajputs immediately succeeded the
Valabhis in Guzrat, and Puttun arose as Valabhipur
declined in the latter half of the eighth century, there
was no such continuity in the history of Northern India.
There, the great dynasties of Ujjayini and Kanouj dis-
appear from view, as we have seen before, about the
middle of the eighth century. From that time to the
tenth century, the history of Northern India is an ab-
solute blank. We have accounts of the Chalukyians in
the South, of the kings of Kashmir in the extreme North-
West, of those of Bengal and Orissa in the extreme
Fast ; but the centre of Hindu civilisation and culture,
the Madhyadesa stretching from Kanouj to Magadha, has
no history ! No dynasty rose to sufficient distinction to
leave a record, no event transpired which lived in the
traditions or writings of the people, no great invasions
or great revolutions took place of which any trace can be
found. These two centuries have keft us no literature to
speak of, as we have seen in the last chapter, and no
great works of art or industry in the shape of buildings
in Northern India. A mysterious cloud hangs over these
dark centuries, which historians have not yet been able
to liſt. -
CzTAP. III.] VALAB HIS AND RAJPUTS. 163
When the dark and impenetrable cloud is removed at
the close of the tenth century, we find new actors and
new scenes. Puranic Hinduism is supreme in India,
and its supremacy is contemporaneous with the politi-
cal supremacy of a new and brave nation, the Rajputs.
The Rajputs have issued out of their kingdoms in
Gujrat and Southern India, and are the masters in
Delhi, in Kanouj, in Ajmir, in the most distant parts
of India . Everywhere they favoured Puranic Hinduism.
And the Brahmans rewarded them for their toil, and
recognised the new race as the Kshatriyas of modern
times.
From these results, then, we are enabled to know the
history of the two dark centuries, from the eighth to the
tenth. That unhappy period was a period of internecine
wars, and of the crumbling down of old institutions and
dynasties. Ancient houses fell, from senile decay or
through violence; a new and sturdy race stepped forward
in their places. It was a repetition of a scene which had
taken place at least once before in the history of India,
Thus, in the fourth century before Christ the vigorous
and young Magadhas, considered in the Epic Age as
outside the pale of Aryans, rose in power, extended
their conquests, and established their supremacy over the
ancient kingdoms of the Kasis, the Kosalas, the Kurus,
and the Panchalas. And when Megasthenes came to
India, he found the Prachyas or Magadhas supreme in
Northern India. In the same way, during the obscure
eighth to tenth centuries A.D., the Rajput races, scarcely
considered within the pale of Aryan Hindus before,
stepped forward in the midst of the struggle of races
and nations, and, by their superior might and bravery,
made room for themselves on the empty thrones of
Kanouj, Delhi, Lahore, and other places. As in the
fourth century B.C., so in the tenth century A.D., it
was not a question of dynastic supremacy, but of racial
supremacy, —a new, brave, and vigorous race stepping
164 PURANIC PERIOD, [Book v.
forward in each case to the places vacated by ancient
and cultured but effete races. And as if to make the
parallel complete, each political revolution was accom-
panied by a religious revolution. The spread of the
Magadha power over the ancient and cultured races of
India facilitated the spread of a new religion like Bud-
dhism against the ancient and learned creed of the land.
And the rise of the Rajputs finally secured the triumph
of Puranic Hinduism in India.
We have, in the Introduction to this work, seen that
the History of Europe from the fifth to the tenth century
A.D., affords a still more remarkable parallel to the history
of India from the eighth to the tenth century. Both in
Europe and in India, ancient rule and ancient institutions
were destroyed; new races asserted their rule and their
authority over the land ; and these new races, again, the
German masters of Europe and the Rajput masters of
India, had to face the rising power of the Mussalmans.
Europe maintained her independence; India struggled, but
fell.
We have seen that the Rajputs were scarcely reckoned
among Aryan Hindus before the eighth century. We
find no mention of their name in the literature of the
country or in the records of foreign travellers, and no
traces of their previous culture. Conjectures have been
made as to their origin. Dr. H. H. Wilson has held that
they were the descendants of the Sakas and other
invaders who swarmed into India for centuries before
the time of Vikramaditya, who were defeated by that
king, but nevertheless spread themselves and settled
down in India, specially in Western and Southern India.
Dark hints are thrown out in the Puranas to indicate
that the Rajputs were new comers. Thus the primitive
Parihara, Pramara, Chalukya, and Chohan races are
fabled to have sprung from four warriors conjured into
existence by the sage Vasishtha, from a sacrificial fire he
had kindled on Mount Abu. And the thirty-six Rajput
CHAP. III.] VALA BHIS AND RAJPUTS. 1.65
tribes are said to have been derived from these four
primitive races.
The Chalukyas established themselves in Gujrat,
founded the new capital Pattan, and indeed usurped
the supreme power so long held by the Valabhis. The
Parihara branch settled down in Marwar, the Pramaras
established themselves in Western Malwa, and the
Chohans came more to the east towards Delhi and
Ajmir. There were other Rajput tribes for whom other
descents have been imagined. Thus the Ghelote Ranas
of Mewar claimed descent from Rama, through the
Valabhi princes of Gujrat. There is a tradition, on the
other hand, connecting the Rathores of Marwar with
Hiranya Kasipu of Indian mythology.
Whatever the origin of the Rajputs may be, there is
no doubt that they were new comers within the pale of
Hindu civilisation and religion. Like all new converts,
they were fired with an excessive zeal to revive the
religion they embraced. Brahmans worked on the zeal
of this new race of Kshatriyas, and the Chohan and
the Rathore vindicated their claims to be regarded as
Kshatriyas by establishing the supremacy of Brahmans.
By the close of the tenth century, Puranic Hinduism
was everywhere re-established and triumphant, and
Kanouj and Mathura, and a hundred other towns, were
beautified with those noble buildings and temples which
struck the Sultan of Ghazni, early in the next century.
CHAPTER IV.
BAEMGAL AND OR/SSA.
IN the second or Epic Period, the kingdoms of Magadha
and Anga, i.e., South and East Behar, were scarcely yet
within the Aryan pale. It was in the Rationalistic
Period, after ſooo B.C., that Magadha became completely
Aryanised, and rose in power and civilisation, until it
eclipsed and even subdued the more ancient Aryan king-
doms in the Gangetic valley. And it was then, probably
in the fifth century B. C., that Bengal proper and Orissa
received from the flourishing kingdom of Magadha the
first rays of Aryan civilisation. r
In the fourth century B. C., when the Greeks visited
India, they found powerful kingdoms founded in Bengal
and Orissa, which they called by the general name of
Kalinga. In the third century B.C., Kalinga was conquered
by Asoka the Great, as we learn from his inscriptions,
and this conquest probably facilitated the spread of
Buddhism in these provinces, and also brought Bengal
and Orissa in closer connection with the civilisation of
Northern India. -
Slowly and obscurely Bengal rose in importance and
in civilisation, and by the close of the Buddhist Period,
Bengal was a recognised power in India. Sasanka
(Narendra Gupta) king of Karna Suvarna, near Gaur,
defeated and killed in war the elder brother of the great
Siladitya about the commencement of the seventh cen-
tury; and when about 640 A.D. Houen Tsang came to
Bengal, he found civilised and powerful kingdoms in
I66
CHAP. IV.] BEN GAſ, AND OR ISS.A. 1 67
Pundra or Northern Bengal, Samatata or Eastern. Bengal,
Kamarupa or Assam, and Tamralipti or Southern Bengal,
as well as in Karna Suvarna or Western Bengal. These
kingdoms correspond roughly with the present Raj-
shahi, Dacca, Assam, Burdwan, and Presidency divisions.
Houen Tsang's account of these kingdoms has been
given elsewhere, and need not be repeated here.
After this, we hear of Bengal again in the ninth
century. - - A * -
A number of copperplate grants which have been
discovered in recent times show that races of kings
known as the Pala kings and Sena kings ruled in Ben-
gal for about three centuries before the Mahommedan
conquest. Dr. Rajendra. Lala Mitra has carefully con-
densed and arranged the information on this subject in
his essay on the Pala and Sena Dynasties, now published
in the second volume of his Zndo-Aryans, and we take
the following lists from that essay. It will be seen
Dr. Mitra allows generally an average of twenty years
for each reign —
PALA KINGS. SENa KINGS.
In Western aud Morthern Bengal. Zn Eastern and Zittoral Bengal.
A. D. A. D.
I. Gopala . . . 855 I. Vira Sena . . .986
II. Dharmapala . . 875 II. Samanta Sena . IOO6
III. Devapala te 895 III. Hemanta Sena • IO26
IV. Vigrahapala . . 91.5 In the whoſe of Bengal.
V. Narayanapala . • 935 IV. Vijaya alias Sukha
VI. Rajapala . sº • 955 Sena o } IO46
VII. Pala * . 975 V. Ballala Sena . Ioë6
VIII. Vigrahapala II. • 995 | VI. Ilakshmana Sena . I loé
IX, Mahipala . . IOI5 VII. Madhava Sena . . 1136
X. Nayapala . • IO4O VIII. Kesava Sena . I 138
(Expelled from Bengal by IX. Lakshmaneya
the Senas.) alias Asoka Sena } II42
| Mahommedan conquests
about . g
} I2O4
... Very little is known of the Pala kings except that
they were Buddhists, but were tolerant towards Hindus,
68 # U18 A NiC 12 ſ.1& IOD. [Book v.
employed Hindu officials, and gave lands for religious
purposes to the Hindus. They never possessed East
Bengal, but ruled, as Dr. Mitra says, “on the west
of the Bhagirathi certainly as far as the boundary of
Behar, and probably further, taking the whole of the
ancient kingdom of Magadha. On the north it included
Tirhut, Malda, Rajshahi, Dinapur, Rangpur, and Bagura,
which constituted the great ancient kingdom of Pundra
Vardhana. The bulk of the delta seems not to have
belonged to them.”
Of the first king, Gopala, a short inscription has
been found in Nalanda proving that the great king had
conquered Magadha ; and this fact is confirmed by
Taranath, who tells us that Gopala “began to reign in
Bengal, and afterwards conquered Magadha.” Accord-
ing to General Cunningham,” he began his reign in
815 A.D., which is forty years earlier than the date
assigned by Dr. Mitra, Gopalas successor, Dharma-
pala; extended his dominions, and married Kanna Devi,
daughter of Prabala, “Raja of many countries.” Dhar-
mapala's successor, Devapala, was a great conqueror ; the
inscriptions assign to him the conquest of Kamarupa
and Orissa, and Taranath ascribes to him the subjugation
of the whole of Northern India from the Himalaya to
the Vindhya mountains. All the warlike expeditions
of Devapala are said in one inscription to have been
conducted by his brother Jayapala, whose son, Vigra-
hapala, eventually succeeded to the throne, after one or
two short reigns omitted in Dr. Mitra’s list. We learn
from the Bhagalpur copper inscription that Vigrahapala
married the Haihaya princess Lajja, and the Haihayas
are believed to have been Rajputs. Vigrahapala seems
in the end to have abdicated, saying to his son, “Let
penance be mine, and the kingdom thine.” So Naraya-
napala his son succeeded. And his successor, Rajyapala,
was ruling all Northern India, from Bengal to Kanouj,
* Archaeological Survey of India, vol. xv. p. 148.
CHAP. IV.] PIEN GA I, A N ID OR ISS.A. 169
when Mahmud of Ghazni appeared before Kanoujin
I or 7 A.D. Dr. Mitra's date for Rajyapala is evidently
wrong.
Of the successors of Rajyapala little is known until we
come to Mahipala, who, according to Taranath, reigned
fifty-two years; and General Cunningham therefore dates
his reign from Io 28 to IoSo A.D. The king of Orissa is
said to have been tributary to this powerful king. It was
in the time of the immediate successors of this king, and
in the eleventh century, that the Sena Rajas of Eastern
Bengal rose in power, and wrested from them the eastern
provinces, leaving them Magadha, where the Pala kings
continued to reign till the dynasty came to a sudden end
shortly after I 178, the date of the last inscription of this
line of kings.”
Of the Sena Rajas, Dr. Rajendra Lala believes the first,
Vira Sena, to be the same as the renowned Adi Sura, who
is supposed to have brought five Brahmans and five
Kayasthas from Kanouj, because Bengal was poor in
learned men. General Cunningham, however, considers
that Vira Sena was a remote ancestor of the later Sena
kings, and reigned in the seventh century A.D. This is
not unlikely, if we consider that the descendants of the ten
Brahmans and Kayasthas, said to have been brought by
Adi Sura, had so multiplied by the eleventh century as
to require a classification by Ballala. To the reigns of
kings Samanta Sena to Lakshaneya, General Cunningham
assigns dates from 957 to I 198 A.D.
Of Samanta and his son Hemanta little is known. The
next king was Vijaya, and his son was the celebrated
Ballala Sena.
It is said that the Brahmanas and Kayasthas imported
from Kanouj had multiplied by this time, and Ballala for.
bade all intermarriage between the original Brahmanas
and Kayasthas of the country with the descendants of the
new comers from Kanouj. Complicated rules were also
* Archaeological Survey of India, vol. xv. p. 156.
VOL. II. 22
17o PURANIC PERIOD. [BOOK v.
framed by him and his successors to elevate the status of
those who succeeded in securing the alliances of Kulins.
It is probable, however, that Ballala only gave his sanc-
tion to distinctions and rules which had already grown up
among the different classes of Brahmans and Kayasthas.
Ballala was succeeded by Lakshmana Sena. His prime
minister was Halayudha, the author of Brahmana Sar-
vasva. Mahommedan historians state that this king
greatly embellished the city of Gaur.
He was followed successively by his two sons Madhava
Sena and Kesava Sena. Then came Lakshmaneya, in
whose reign Benga! was conquered by Bakhtiyar Khilji
about 1204 A.D., or I 198 A.D. by other accounts.
The chief seat of the Sena family seems to have been
Vikramapura near Dacca, where the supposed ruins of
Ballala’s palace are still shown to travellers. The Senas
were Hindus, as the Palas were Buddhists, and the gradual
substitution of the one dynasty by another really marks
the decay of the Buddhist religion and the universal
acceptance of modern Hinduism in Bengal. The cause
of the rise and fall of dynasties often lies deeper than
appears on the surface, and in India the rise of new
dynasties during the eighth and ninth and tenth cen-
turies is intimately connected with the rise of Puranic
Hinduism over the ashes of Buddhism.
The race or caste to which the Pala and the Sena
kings of Bengal belonged has formed the subject of much
animated controversy in recent years, in which doughty
scholars like Dr. Rajendra Lala and General Cunningham
have taken part. It is not necessary that we should enter
into the discussion ; we will only state the conclusions
which appear to us to be the most plausible.
The Palas ruled in Bengal when Jai Pala and Ananga
Pala were ruling in Western India, and trying to oppose.
the march of Sabaktagin and Sultan Mahmud. There
is nothing very improbable in the supposition that the
Bengal Palas were an offshoot from the same Rajput race
CHAP. IV.] 33EN GAL AND OR ISSAs. 171
which founded new kingdoms all over India in the ninth
and tenth centuries A.D. They were Kshatriyas, of course,
but only in the sense that they were a race of kings and
warriors. So long as the Hindus were a living nation,
the proud title of Kshatriya was frequently assumed by
bold dynasties rising from the ranks, and Rajput kings
and even the Mahratta chief Sivaji assumed the title of
Kshatriya. -
The Senas of Bengal in the present day are Vaidyas,
t.e., they belong to the medical caste ; and they assume
therefore that the early Sena kings of Bengal also be-
longed to the same caste. But before this assumption is
made, it ought to be shown that the Vaidyas as a separate
caste existed previously in Western or Southern India,
from which the Bengal Sena dynasty must have come.
We have shown elsewhere, and we will show again, that
neither Kayasthas nor Vaidyas existed as separate castes.
in the time of Manu and for centuries afterwards. Pro-
fessional clerks and medical men still belonged to the
great body of the Aryan people forming the Kshatriya
and Vaisya castes ; and they have differentiated into sepa-
rate castes only in modern times. How can we suppose,
then, that the Sena kings were Vaidyas by caste P
Vaidyas as a separate caste do not exist to this day
(so we are informed), in any province outside Bengal.
What, then, are we to understand by the statement that
the Sena kings who came to Bengal from Western or
Southern India were Vaidyas by caste P
The real fact is that the Sena kings of Bengal were
scions of some royal house of Western or Southern India,
—probably the Valabhi Sena house of Saurashtra or some
Sena house of Southern India. In any case, there can be
no doubt that the founder of the Bengal dynasty came of
some martial family—Valabhi, or Rajput, or Vaisya—who
rightly assumed the title of Kshatriya, because he founded
a kingdom. :
The Sena Vaidyas of East Bengal may have good and
I 72 . . Fu RANIC PERIOD, ... [BOOK V.
sufficient reasons for claiming kinship with Ballala Sena
and his successors. But instead of declaring that the
ancient kings were Vaidyas, and came to Bengal with
pestle and mortar, ointments and drugs, it would be his-
torically more intelligible to urge that the descendants of
the ancient Vaisya or Kshatriya kings of the Sena dynasty
have now become merged in the modern Vaidya or medi-
cal caste of Bengal. -
It is of far greater importance to us to ascertain the
race to which the people of Bengal belong. The pro-
portion of Aryan population in Bengal has always been,
and is to this day, very Small. The Brahmans are of
Aryan blood, except of course the Varna Brahmans, who
belong to the castes whose religious rites they perform.
The Kayasthas are also of Aryan blood, except the menial
and cultivating classes (Bhandaris, &c.), who call them-
selves Kayasthas, but are generally known as Sudras. The
Vaidyas are a small compact body, and are probably of pure
Aryan blood, being descendants of the ancient Vaisyas,
Of the trading castes, the Suvarna Vaniks and some
other castes are more or less of Aryan descent. Potters,
weavers, blacksmiths, goldsmiths, and other artisans are
partly of Aryan blood, descended from the ancient Vaisya
stock, and differentiated into different modern castes by
following different professions. At the same time, there
is in these Aryan castes a large admixture of aborigines,
—those who followed the trades which the conquering
Aryans taught them, and thus finally came to belong to
the same trade-castes with their conquerors. Beyond
this pale, the large agricultural, pastoral, hunting, and
fishing castes, the Kaivartas, the Chandalas, and the
millions of agricultural Mahommedans, are undoubtedly
descended from the non-Aryan aborigines of the soil.
Beyond them, again, the Bagdis, Bauris, Doms, Haris,
&c., are aborigines who have not yet been completely
Hinduised. -
We now turn to the history of Orissa. Orissa, like
CHAP, IV.] BEN GAL AND OR ISSA. I 73
Bengal, was probably first colonised by the Aryans in
the Rationalistic Period, but, unlike Bengal, Orissa has
memorials of the early Aryan settlers in its rock-cut
caves and palaces. Buddhist missionaries came to this
land to spread that religion and spend their lives in
calm and austere contemplation in caves ; and some of
the caves must be referred to a period before the time of
Asoka, Half-way between Cuttack and Puri, two sand-
stone hills, rise abruptly from the jungles, and the
peaks and sides of these hills, the Khandagiri and the
Udayagiri, are honeycombed with cells, caves, and
edifices. The oldest of them consist of single cells,
scarcely fit for the habitation of men, except of such
who had determined to pass their lives in austere
seclusion. In course of time larger caves were exca-
vated and even ornamented with sculpture, and the last
works were commodious residences, fit for assemblies of
monks and even for kings and queens. There can be
little doubt, that Asoka's conquest of Kalinga fostered
these fine Buddhist excavations; and we have seen before
that some of Asoka's inscriptions have been found in
Orissa. * * -
We know little of the history of Orissa during the
Buddhist Period. The history of that province was
first explored by Stirling, who published the results of
his labours in Vol. XV. of the “Asiatic Researches.”
The subject has since received the attention of Sir
William Hunter and of Dr. Rajendra Lala Mitra.
It would seem that the last of the Buddhist kings
were called Yavanas ; but it is not known if they were
So called because descended from the Bactrian Greeks,
or simply because they were Buddhists. Yayati Kesari
expelled the Yavanas in 474 A.D., and began the Kesari
or “Lion dynasty,” and introduced Hinduism in its
Puranic form. The Kesari dynasty reigned for nearly
Seven centuries, and the authentic history of Orissa
begins with the commencement of this dynasty. The
I 74 PURANIC PIERIOD. * [BOOK v.
following chronological list, taken from Dr. Hunter's
work, may interest our readers —
A. D. A. D.
Yayati I&esari . . 476 Madhusudana Kesari 904.
Surya 5 y 526 Dharma 22 92O.
Amanta 2 3 & 583 Jana 2 x ' 93O
Alabu 2 3 & 623 Nripa. 2 3 94 I
Iºanaka 32 677 | Makara 2 3 953
Vira 3 3 693 Tripura 3 3 961
Padma 2 3 701 || Madhava 3.3 97 i
Vriddlla 2 3 & 706 | Govinda 3-3 989
Bata 2 3 715 Nritya 3 9 999
Gaja 2 3 726 Narasinha 2 3 IOI3
Vasanta 3 5 738 || Kurma 3 × IO24
Gandharva , , 740 | Matsya. 33 IO34.
Janamejaya , , 754 || Varaha 2.5 IO5O
Bharata 2 3 763 || Vamana , , IO65
Kali 3 * & 778 || Parasu 2 3 Io'78
Kamala 5 5 792 | Chandra 22 IOSO
ISundala 3 y 811 | Sujana 3.5 Io92.
Chandra 2 3 829 | Salini 3 × IO99
Vira Chandra , , 846 | Puranjana 5 3 I IO4
Amrita 2 3 865 Vishnu 32 1 Io'7
Vijaya 3 3 875 || Indra 5 3 . I I IQ
Chandrapala , , 890 | Suvarna , , II23 to II32.
[Extinction of the Kesari line.]
The Kesari kings had their capital at Bhuvanesvara
which they beautified with numerous temples and edifices,
the remains of which are among the noblest specimens
of Hindu architecture in India. The whole place is
crowded with such buildings, and must have been, during
the ascendency of the Kesari line, the most magnificent
city in India for temples and beautiful edifices. .
The first king, Yayati Kesari, is said to have founded
this capital, the name of which implies that the Siva or
|Bhuvanesvara was then the most popular deity of the
Orissa Hindus. Jajpur was another capital of Yayati,
and the colossal statues there found also attest to the
power and greatness of the dynasty, and to their devotion
to Siva and his consort. Nripa Kesari, who reigned
CHAP. IV.] BENG AL AND OR ISS.A. I75
from 941 to 953 A.D., is said to have founded the city of
Cuttack. -
A new dynasty, known as the Ganga Vansa, or the
“Gangetic dynasty,” succeeded the Lion dynasty.
The origin of this dynasty is still involved in obscurity,
but the name of the family as well as traditions connect
them with Bengal ; and it is probable they came from
near the ancient Tamralipta or Tumlook. The rise of
this dynasty marks a religious revolution ; and as the
Lion dynasty had supplanted Buddhism by Siva wor-
ship, so the Gangetic house supplanted Siva worship by
Vishnu worship. But nevertheless none of these creeds
was altogether extinct in Orissa ; on the contrary, the
three religious ran in parallel streams, contracting or
expanding in influence and power with the lapse of ages.
Vishnu worship, in its modern form, is the prevailing
religion in the present day.
We append the following list of the Gangetic kings
from Dr. Hunter’s work :—
A.D A. I.).
Chor Ganga . º . 1132 | Sankha Vasudeva . . I 337
Gangeswara . º . I 152 | Bali 2 x * . I56I
Ekjatakam Deva . . I IG6 | Vira 53 & . I 382
Madana Mahadeva . I I7 I Kali 33 wº . I4OI
Ananga Bhima Deva . I I75 | Neungatanta ?” - . I4 I4.
Rajarajesvara Deva . I 202 | Netra 3 × º • I 429
Languhya Naraswha . I237 || Kapilendra Deva . I 452
Kesari 2 3 1282 | Purushottama Deva . I 479
Pratapa 2) . I307 | Prapata Rudra Deva . I 504
Ghati Kantha ‘’ . . I527 Kalinga Deva . I 532
Kapila 22 I329 Kalharuga Deva 1533 to 1534
Sankha Bhasura . . I33O
[Extinction of the Gangetic line.]
Some of the earlier kings of this line were among the
most powerful monarchs of their time. Gangesvara (; , 52
to 1166) ruled from the Ganges to the Godavari, and
Ananga Bhima Deva (1175 to 1202), also a most power-
ful king, is said to have built the present temple of
176 PURAN HC PERIOD. [Book v.
Jagannatha. Later on, Purushottama Deva (1479 to 1504)
is said to have defeated the king of Kanchi in Southern
India, and married his daughter ; and his successor,
Pratapa Rudra Deva, was on the throne when the great
Vaishnava reformer Chaitanya visited Orissa.
Govinda Vidyadhara murdered the last king of the
Gangetic house and ascended the throne ; but conflict
with the Mahommedans began in his reign, 1534 to 1541
A.D. Four kings then successively ascended the throne,
Chakra Pratapa (1541 to 1549), Narasinga Jana (1549
to 550), Raghurama Chotra (I 550 to 1551), and Mu-
kunda Deva (1551 to 1559 A.D.) It was in this last
reign that the famous Mahom medan general Kalapahar
invaded the province, defeated and slew the king in a
battle near Jajpur, plundered the city of Jagannatha, and
overthrew the Hindu monarchy. -
Thus, after maintaining its independence for nearly
four centuries after the conquest of Northern India and
Bengal, Orissa was conquered by the Mahommedans
about I 560 A. D.
CHAPTER V.
AASHMZR AAWD SOUTHEMAW //W/)ZA.
WE have in a previous chapter brought down the
history of Kashmir to the time of Matrigupta, the friend
and contemporary of Vikramaditya the Great. We note
down the names of Matrigupta's successors to the middle
of the twelfth century, when Kahlana's history comes to
a close.* There is a continuation of Kahlana's history
by other writers. -
We have only to premise that from the time of Dur-
labha Vardhana (the seventh king in succession from
Matrigupta), Kahlana's dates are perfectly reliable. Dur-
labha Vardhana began his reign in 598 A.D. accord-
ing to Kahlana. Six kings ruled between Matrigupt”.'
and Durlabha Vardhana, and if we give an average
of fifteen years to each of these six reigns, Matri-
gupta's reign falls at the commencement of the sixth
century A.D. .- *
But Kahlana was misled by the Saka Era, and believed
Vikramaditya and Matrigupta to have reigned about the
beginning of that era. He had therefore to spin out the
six reigns (between Matrigupta and Durlabha Vardhana)
into five centuries. And this he does by allotting 3oo
years to one reign, viz., that of Ranaditya Hence
Kahlana’s dates previous to Durlabha Vardhana's time
are worthless.
; : *. We rely as before, on Mr. Jogesh Chunder Dutt’s translation.
VOL. II, 177 23
A
478
[Book v.
PURANIC PERRO.D.
A. D.
Matrigupta abdicated • 50
Travara Sena
Yudhisthira
Narendraditya
Ranaditya
Viltramaditya
550 to 598
Baladitya
HD url a b h a Vardhan all
(Kahlana’s date)
Durlabhaka ? » } } 634
Chandrapira 25 3 y 684
Tarapira 2 * 3 9 693
Lalitaditya 5 y $ 3 697
Kuvalayapira , , , , 733
Vajraditya 2 3 , , , 734
Prithivyapira , $ 2 74 I
Sangramapira , , 22 - 745
Jayapira 2 x > y 745
Lalitapira 5 y, ,, . 776
Sangramapira , , 5 y 788
Chippata jº)
pira . • J 22. , , , 795
Ajitapira 2 * 5 y 813
Anangapira 5 y 9 3 849
Utpalapira 2 y 3 9 852.
Avantivarman , , 2 3. 855
Sankaravarman , , 2 3 883
Gopalavarman , , 3, . 902
Sankata , , , , , 904
Sugandha • , , , '904
Partha 2 × . ,, . 906
Nirjitavarman • 92]
A. D.
Chakravarman }
(Kahlana's date) 922
Suravarman 2 3 22 - 933
Partha (2d time), , • 2 - 934
Chakravarman \
(2d & 3d time) ſ , , , , , 935
Unmattavanti , , ; , , 937
Suravarma 5 5 , , , 939
Yasaskara y? 5 y 939
Varnata 3 y 2 3 948
Sangrama 5 y ,, . 948
Parvagupta 3 y ,, . 948
Kshemagupta , 3, . 905
Abhimanyu 2 3 5 § 958
Nandigupta ,, » . 972
Tribhuvanagupta, » - 973
Bhimaginta 3 5 53 - 975
Didda 22 ,, . 98O
Sangrama 5 3 3, . IOO3,
Hariraja » , , , iO28
Ananta Deva ,, ,, . Io28
Ranaditya 55 ,, . 1063
Utkarsa 2 3 » . Io99
Harsha 5) 3, . Io99
Uchchala 33 25 I IOI
Rodda , , . I tri
Salhana y3 y; . I I II
Sussaka y) ; : * I II 2
Bhikshachara , y; . I [2O
Sassala 7.2 3, . I I2 I
Senha Deva 3 y 3, . II 27
Kahlana's account closes at the
22nd year of this reign.
Thanks to Kahlana and his translator, the English
reader is furnished with some interesting facts of the
history of Kashmir.
The episode of Matrigupta is one
of the most interesting on record. . He is said to have
been a courtier and a poet of the court of Vikramaditya
the Great, and that great emperor bestowed on him the
kingdom of Kashmir as a reward for his merit. We do
not know how the poet administered a kingdom ; but
chap. v.] KASHMIR AND SOUTHERN INDIA. 179.
when he heard of his patron's death he abdicated in gricſ,
and retired as a religious mendicant to Benares.
Pravara Sena, nephew of the previous king, succeeded
Matrigupta ; and the poet, before his departure, extolled
in verses a wonderful bridge which the new king made
on the Vitasta. Pravara Sena became a powerful king,
extended his conquest as far as Saurashtra, and it is said
defeated Siladitya I., the successor of Vikramaditya, and
brought away from Ujjayini the throne which Vikrama-
ditya had probably taken away as a trophy. Here we
have a confirmation of the statement of Houen Tsang, that
Siladitya I. succeeded Vikramaditya the Great.
The next great king was the renowned Lalitaditya,
whose long reign of thirty-six years began in 697 A.D.
He extended his conquests far and wide, and subdued
Yasovarman, the king of Kanouj; and Bhavabhuti, the
most renowned dramatist of India after Kalidasa, followed
the conqueror from Kanouj. Lalitaditya then proceeded
with his conquests further east and south, and is said to
have subdued Kalinga, Gaur, and even Karnata, and
then “crossed the sea, passing from one island to another.”
We do not know how much of this is fact, and how much
is due to the poet's imagination. He returned towards
his country, crossing the Vindhya, and coming through
Avanti. He built numerous edifices, and is said to have
lost his life in attempting to cross the Himalayas to
Conquer the unknown north.
Lalitaditya was the contemporary, not only of Bhavab-
huti the poet, but of Muhammad Kasim, the Mahommedan
conqueror of Sind. We are told that Lalitaditya defeated
the Turashkas, and also “the wily king of Sindhu.”
This may have been the successor of Kasim, who held
Sind down to 750 A.D.
Bajraditya, who reigned from 734 to 741 A.D., “had
many, females in his zenana, sold many people to the
Mlechchas, and introduced their evil habits.”
The powerful Jayapira reigned thirty-one years, from 745
‘I 86 PURAN1c PERIols. -- [BOOK v.
to 776 A.D., and employed learned men to collect together
Patanjali's Great Commentary on Panini. He is also
said to have gone to Paundravardhana, the possession of
Jayanta king of Gaur, and to have married the princess
Kalyanadevi daughter of Jayanta. A restless conqueror,
he penetrated into Nepal, and was beaten and imprisoned,
but escaped. Jayapira trusted his Kayastha ministers
and financiers, and the Brahman historian narrates that a
Brahman’s curse killed him - -
Avantivarman commenced a new dynasty in 855 A.D.
and reigned till 883 A.D. Great floods caused much in-
jury, in his reign, and we are told that Suyyu, a benefactor
of his country, cleared a passage for the water of the
Vitasta, and also opened out canals to take out the
superfluous water. Sindhu flowed to the left, Vitasta to
the right, and were made to meet at Vainyasvamin.
After thus diverting the course of the rivers, he raised a
great embankment as a protection against the waters of
the Mahapadma lake, and joined the lake also with the
Vitasta. - - :
Avantivarman was the first Vaishnava king that we
read of. His successor, Sankaravarman, was a great
conqueror, and extended his conquests to Gujrat, but dis-
gusted the Brahmans of his country by trusting to his
Kayastha financiers. Surendravati and two other queens
perished with him on the pyre, 902 A.D. -
Sugandha, a dissolute queen, reigned for two years,
904 to 906 A.D., by the help of the Tantris and the
Ekangas, probably two religious sects. But she was
soon deposed, and the Tantris set up one king after
another, according as they were bribed and courted. We
now read of a succession of worthless and dissolute kings,
of whom Kshemagupta (950 to 958 A.D.), was about the
most sharineless and dissolute. His son Abhimanyu, a
blameless prince, reigned for fourteen years, after which
his mother Didda (the widow of Kshemagupta), com-
menced her long reign of twenty-three years (980 to
chap. v.] KASI-I M.I & AND SOUTHERN INI) IA. 18 1
Too 3 A.D)., after successively murdering three infant
kings. When these scenes were disgracing the court of
{{ashmir, a great enemy was nigh. Mahmud of Ghuzni
had commenced his invasions before Didda's reign had
come to close. - *
Her successor, Kshemapati, sent succour to the Shah
king against the Turashka invader Hammira (Mahmud P),
but in vain. The terrible invader defeated the army,
consisting of Kashmirians and Rajputs, and annexed the
“Shahiraya.” Another expedition was sent out, but the
army fled back to their country before the conquering
TMoslems. - .
Ananta, after a long reign of thirty-five years, abdi-
cated in favour of his son Ranaditya, a prince of dis-
solute habits. He, too, had a long reign of twenty-six
years, and died in to89 A.D. His son Utkarsha suc-
ceeded hitn, but was soon deposed by his abler brother,
Harsha. There was a great deal of civil war in this
reign, which ended in the defeat of the king. He retired
as a hermit, but was traced out and killed.
The secluded position of Kashmir enabled the kingdom
to maintain its independence for some centuries after the
reign of Harsha, but there is little in its annals to interest
the reader. The country was at last invaded and con-
quered by a Mahommedan invader, and was ultimately
united to the empire of Akbar. -
We now turn to the history of Southern India.
We have seen that Southern India was Hinduised by
the Aryans in the Rationalistic Age, after the tenth cen-
tury B.C. ; that the great Andhra kingdom was founded
in the Deccan in that Age, and that some of the Sutra .
Schools of learning and laws were founded there. After
the Christian Era, the Andhras extended their power over
Magadha and Northern India, and for centuries held the
Supreme power in India. When the Andhras and the
Guptas fell, the Valabhis became the masters of Gujrat and
Western India, and they were succeeded by the Rajputs.
182 PURANIC PERIOD. [BOOK v.
In the meantime the CHALUKYAS, a Rajput tribe, had
become a great power in the Deccan when the Valabhis
rose in Gujrat, and held sway over the whole of the
country between the Nurbudda and the Krishna rivers.
The rule of the Chalukyas in the Deccan commenced about
the close of the fifth century A.D., and continued to the
close of the twelfth century, i.e., to the time when Northern
India was conquered by the Mahommedans. The western
branch of the Chalukyas held sway in the Konkan and
the Maharashtra country, and had their capital at Kalyan ;
while the eastern branch of the same race ruled over
Eastern Deccan, and had their capital at Rajamandri, near
the mouth of the Godavari river. Sir Walter Elliot
published lists of the kings of the two houses in 1858,
and the lists have since been copied by other writers.
CHALU KYA DYNASTIES.
WESTERN BRANCH. CAPITAL–KALYAN.
- A.D. ..] A.D.
1. Jaya Sinha Vijaya- 18. Kritti Varma IV.
ditya I º }ºo 19. Vijayaditya IV.
2. Raja Sinha, Vishnu 20. Vikramaditya III. or
Vardhana. Tailap II. (Restored
3. Vijayaditya II. the monarchy after 973.
4. Pulakesin I. usurpation by Ratta \ -
5. Kritti Varma I. Kula) -
6. Mangalisa. 21. Satyasraya II.
7. Satyasraya Pulakesin 22. Vikramaditya IV.
II. (Contemporary of . 23. Jaha Sinha. -
Siladitya II. and of 609 24. Somesvara I.
Housen Tsang). . 25. Somesvara II.
8. Amara. 26. Vikramaditya V.
9 Aditya. 27. Somesvara III. . 1127
Io. Vikramaditya I. 28. Jagadeka . . 138.
II. Vinayaditya. # 29. Tailapa III. . . . 1 150
I2. Vijayaditya III. 3O. Somesvara IV. I 182.
13. Vikramaditya II. | (Dethroned by Bijala of the
14. Kritti Varma II. Kala Churya line. The southern
15. Kritti Varma III. . 709 part of the dominions fell under
16. Tailapa I. the Ballala dynasty of Mysore).
Bhima Raja. . - • * > . • . . "
I7.
th. AP. v.]
183
KASHMIR AND SOUTHERN INDIA.
I. 18. Talapa (usurper).
2. Jaya Sinha I. 19. Vijayaditya V.
3. Indra Raja. 2O. Yuddha Malla.
4. Whisnu Vardhana III. 21. Raja Vima II.
5. Manga Yuva Raja. 22. Amma Raja II.
6. Jaya Sinha II. 23. Dhanarnava (interregnum
. Kokkili. of twenty-seven years).
3. Vishnu Vard- Brothers. 24. Krittivarma.
hana IV. 25. Vimaladitya.
9. Vijayadita I. | 26. Raja Narendra.
Io. Vishnu Vardhana V. 27. Rajendra Chola.
I 1. Narendra Mrigaraja. 28. Vikrama Deva Chola.
12. Vishnu Vardhana VI. 29. Raja Raja Chola (viceroy
13. Vijayaditya II. (conquered for one year).
Kalinga). 3o. Vira Deva Chola (1079 to
14. Chalukya Bhima I. I 135 A.D.).
5. Vijayaditya III. (After this the country fell
I6. Amma Raja. under the sway of the Kakatya
17. Vijayaditya IV. dynasty of Warangal.)
EASTERN BRANCH. CAPITAL–RAJAMANDRI.
Vishnu Vardhana II.(605A.D.)
A list of kings conveys no ideas of a people's history
to the reader, and, unfortunately, we are able to supply
little more about the Chalukyas than the foregoing lists.
The founder of the earlier or western branch is said to
have been related to the founder of the Valabhi kings,
Bhatarka Senapati. The fourth king, Pulakesin I., was
the same who, a hundred years before Houen Tsang's
time, harried the monastery at Amaravati, and abolished
Buddhism in those parts. He also probably conquered
Chola, burnt Conjeveram, and expelled the Pahavas, who
were the dominant race in the Deccan before the Chaluk-
yas rose in power. The seventh king, Pulakesin II., was
the great rival whom Siladitya II. of Kanouj could never
defeat, and we have already quoted a spirited account of
the Maharattas under this great and warlike king, from
Houen Tsang's travels. The dynasty seems to have
flourished till about 750 A.D. After this the power of
the family was alienated for a time, until the time of
184 l’UR AN IC 12 ERIOD. *. | BOOK V.
Tailapa II, who restored the monarchy in 973 A.D.
The dynasty enjoyed two centuries more of prosperity,
after which it came to an end. . . - ...
The eastern or junior branch extended their territories
northwards to the frontiers of Cuttack, and fixed their
capital at Raja Mahendri, the modern Rajamundri. More
than one revolution occurred in the course of their
history, but the old family always contrived to regain its
power until the kingdom passed by marriage to Rajendra
Chola, the then dominant sovereign of Southern India,
in whose person the power of the Cholas reached its
zenith. , -
The Chalukyas, like all the Rajput dynasties in
Northern India, were staunch Hindus, and were inimical
to Buddhism ; and we shall in a future chapter give some
account of the works of Hindu architecture which India
owes to this dynasty. r
To turn now to the south of the Krishna river,
we come to the ancient Dravidian country stretching
southwards to Cape Comorin. The ancient Dravidians
appear to have had a civilisation of their own before
Aryan civilisation was imported into their land. We
|have said something of the Pandyas, who founded
their kingdom in the extreme south, many centuries
before the Christian Era. Strabo speaks of an am-
bassador from King Pandion to Augustus, and it is
conjectured that the ambassador was from the Pandya
country. At the time of the “Piriplus,” the Pandya king-
dom included the Malabar coast; and from the frequent
mention of this country by classical writers, we know
that the Pandya kingdom was sufficiently civilised, in the
centuries immediately before and after the Christian Era,
to carry on a brisk trade with the western nations. The
seat of government was twice changed, and was at last
fixed at Madura, where it was in Ptolemy's time, and
remained in subsequent ages. . . 1 *
The Pandya kingdom” was situated in the extreme
CHAP. V. J KASH MIR AND SOUTHERN INDIA, 185
south of India, including, roughly, the modern districts.
of Tinnivelly and Madura. To the north of this arose,
before the Christian Era, another civilised kingdom, that
of CHOLA, stretching along the Kaveri river and to the
Borth of it. The capital of this country, Kanchi, has a
name and a repute for learning in classical Sanscrit lite-
rature, and was a flourishing town when Houen Tsang
visited India ; and there must have been constant Com-
munications between this seat of learning and Ujjayini
and Kanouj in the north. In the eighth and succeeding
centuries, the power of the Chola kings extended over
a great part of Karnata and Telingana.
A third ancient kingdom, called CHERA, included Tra-
vancore, Malabar, and Kaimbatur.. It is mentioned by
Ptolemy, and must have existed before the commencement
of the Christian Era. Kerala also, including Malabar
and Canara, was an adjoining kingdom, and was pro-
bably often under the rule, or under the protection, of the
Pandyan kings. -
It has been discovered that the second edict of Asoka
speaks of the Choda, Pada, and Kerala Putra countries;
and it has been conjectured that these names represent
the Chola, the Pandya, and the Chera (or Kerala) king-
doms. It will thus appear that this triarchy of ancient
Hindu kingdoms in the extreme south of India had already
acquired a name before the third century B.C. -
The possessions of this ancient triarchy of Southern
India varied according to the powers of particular kings
and dynasties. The Pandyas were the most ancient, but
after the Christian Era the Chola or Kanchi kings were
the most famed and the most powerful, and were often at
war with the eastern branch of the Chalukya house. The
reader will find, in the list of the eastern Chalukya kings,
the names of Rajendra Chola and his three successors,
who were then the masters of Southern India. -
Towards the close of the tenth century A.D., a great
Rajput house rose in Mysore, named the BALLALAs. In
WOL, II, 24
186 PURANIC PERIOD, [BOOK v.
the eleventh century they subjugated the whole of the
Carnatic, and, as we have seen before, annexed the
southern dominions of the western Chalukyan house.
The powerful house remained supreme in the Carnatic
and Malabar until it was subverted by the Mahommedans
in 13 Io A.D. . { *
We have to speak of one more Hindu kingdom in the
south, although its history falls within the Mahommedan
period, Aſter the fall of the Ballala kings of the Carnatic,
a new family set itself up in the place of the Ballalas, and
founded its capital at VIJAYANAGARA about 1344 A.D.
The founding of Vijayanagara is ascribed to two princes,
Bukkaraya and Harihara, with the aid of a learned
Brahman, Madhava Vidyaranya. The earliest copper-
plate grant of Bukkaraya is dated 1370 A.D. Madhava,
otherwise called Sayana, was his prime minister, and is
the most learned and elaborate commentator of the
Hindu sacred works that India has ever produced. The
founding of a great I findu kingdom in the fourteenth
century was attended with a temporary revival of Hindu
learning, and to Sayana we owe the serics of commen-
taries on the Vedas, philosophical systems, law, and
grammar, which are to this day considered authoritative
in all parts of India.
For over two hundred years the Hindu kingdom of
Vijayanagara prospered. It held its place among the
Mahommedan kingdoms which arose in the l)eccan,
formed treaties and alliances, and won or lost territories
by war. A closer intimacy sprang up between Hindus
and Mahommedans than before ; the Bahmani kings em-
ployed Rajput troops, and the kings of Vijayanagara
recruited Mahommedan troops, assigned lands to their
chiefs, and built mosques in their capital for them.
A fanatical spirit was, however, developed in the course
of centuries, and the Mahommedan chiefs of Ahmadnagar,
Bijapur, and Golconda (states formed out of the old
Bahmani kingdom), combined against the Hindu king-
CHAP. v.] KASHMIR AND SOUTHERN INDIA. 187
dom. A great battle was fought on the Krishna river,
near Telicota, in 1565 A.D., and the Mahommedans were
victorious. The old and brave Raja was barbarously put
to death in cold blood, and his head was kept in Bijapur
for centuries as a trophy.
The monarchy of Vijayanagara was thus destroyed ;
it was the last great Hindu kingdom in Southern India.
Bºt the Mahommedans did not complete the conquest of
Southern India ; and the Carnatic, Travancore, and other
places were occupied by petty chiefs, princes, zemindars,
and polygars, who lived often in their hill forts, and came
to notice in the time of the British wars in the Carnatic.
The brother of the last king of Vijayanagara settled at
Chandragiri, and a descendant of his first granted the
settlement of Fort St. George (Madras) to the English in
1640 A.D., i.e., within a century after the fall of the old
kingdom of Vijayanagara. This petty transaction is a
curious and interesting link connecting the past with the
present
C H A P T E R V I.
+
© E/L/G/O/V.
THE form of Hinduism which prevailed in India previous
to the spread of Buddhism is generally known as the
Vedic religion, while the form of Hinduism which suc-
ceeded Buddhism is generally known as the Puranic
religion. There are two cardinal distinctions between
the Vedic and the Puranic religion;–one in doctrine,
and the other in observance. t
The Vedic religion was to the very last a religion of
elemental gods ; of Indra, Agni, Surya, Varuna, the
Maruts, the Asvins, and others ; and although the com-
posers of the hymns and of the Upanishads rose to the
conception of a Supreme and Universal Being, neverthe-
less sacrifices were still offered, by princes and the people
alike, to the ancient elemental gods of the Rig Veda,
In the same way, the Puranic religion classed all these
elemental gods as deities, and recognised, far above and
beyond them, the Supreme Being in his triple form,
Brahma the Creator, Vishnu the Preserver, and Siva the
Destroyer. The recognition of this Hindu Trinity is the
distinctive feature of Puranic Hinduism in doctrine, and
it is impossible not to suspect that this idea of a Trinity
is borrowed from the Buddhist Trinity.
The distinctive feature of Puranic Hinduism in the
matter of observance is image-worship. Vedic religion
was a religion of Sacrifice to the fire. From the most
ancient times, whatever was offered to the gods was
offered to the fire ; and down to the last days of the
Rationalistic Period, kings, priests, as well as humble
ISS
CHAP. V. I.] RELIGION. 189
householders, offered sacrifices to the fire, and knew of
no image worship, Buddhism degenerated into idol
worship in the centuries after the Christian Era, and it is
impossible not to suspect that modern Hinduism bor-
rowed its image-worship from Buddhism. It is certain
that when the Code of Manu was compiled, in the Bud-
dhist Age, image-worship was gaining ground, and was
condemned by that conservative lawgiver. The practice,
however, steadily gained ground, until it became the
essence of modern Hindu rites and celebrations. Sacrifice
to the fire is now almost a thing of the past.
Such is the distinction in doctrine and in observances
between Vedic Hinduism and Puranic Hinduism. With
that conservative feeling, however, which has always
marked each new development of the Hindu religion, the
Puranic writers avoided the appearance of an innovation,
and selected the names of the Trinity from the ancient
names in the Vedic Pantheon. Brahma, or, rather,
Brahmanaspati, was the god of prayer in the Rig Veda ;
and when the composers of the Upanishads conceived
the idea of a Universal Being, they called that being
Brahman. That name, therefore, was an appropriate one
for the Creative function of the Divine Power. Vishnu
was a name of the sun in the Rig Veda, the cherisher
of all living beings ; and his name therefore fitted the
higher modern conception of the Preserving Divine
Power, Rudra was a name of the thunder or thunder-
cloud in the Rig Veda ; and a happier name could not be
selected for the Destroying Divine Power. And when
these different functions of the Divine Power were thus
separately named, they very soon assumed distinct in-
dividualities and characters. The Trinity, as Creator,
Preserver, and Destroyer, was unknown to Manu about
the commencement of the Christian Era ; but the idea
had become a national property by the time of Kalidasa
in the sixth century A.D. *
When the popular imagination had thus conceived
1 9o PURANIC PERTOD, [BOOK v.
separate deities out of these functions of the Divine
Power, the deities had to be mated with goddesses,
Sarasvati was mated with Brahma, and the reason which
underlies this union is that Brahma in the Rig Veda.
was the god of prayers, and Sarasvati was the goddess
of hymns. Vishnu was mated with a new goddess,
Lakshmi, of whom we find no trace in ancient Sanscrit
literature ; but there are some reasons for supposing
that as Sita, the field furrow of the Rig Veda, as-
sumed a distinctly human form and became the heroine
of a national epic in India, Lakshmi stepped into her
place as the goddess of crops and wealth, and was a
fit spouse for the preserving deity. And, lastly, Uma
in the Kena Upanishad is a mysterious female, who
explains to Indra the nature of Brahman. In the
Satapatha Brahmana, Ambika is the sister of Rudra.
And in the Mundaka Upanishad, Kali, Karali, &c., are
the names of the seven tongues of the fire, Rudra
being the fire or lightning. All these scattered hints
are gathered together by the Puranic writers, and Uma
and Ambika, Durga aud Kali, are the different names.
of the consort of the dread destroyer, Rudra, Siva, or
Mahadeva. e .*
But when we have spoken of the three supreme gods.
and their wives, we have said, but little of modern
Hinduism. A world of legends connect themselves.
with the incarnations of one of the Trinity,+Vishnu
or the Preserver. Rama, the mythical hero of the
Ramayana, was considered an incarnation of Vishnu ;
and Krishna, the son of Devaki, who was a pupil of
the teacher Ghora Angirasa in the Chhandogya Upani-
shad, and was merely a Yadava chief in the older
parts of the Mahabharata, assumed a divine character,
and was considered another incarnation of Vishnu. And
as Krishna became more and more a popular deity, new
stories of his sports with the milkmaids of Vrindavana
were multiplied in the Puranas.
CRIAP. VI.] TELIGION. Y 9 |
Krishna, as we have seen before, is an ancient name
in Sanscrit sacred literature, But his recent appearance
as a Supreme Deity, and the stories about his birth, and
about Kansa and the massacre of the innocents, and the
resemblance between the Bible and the Bhagavat Gita,
have led many Luropean scholars to suppose that the
Hindus have borrowed Christian legends and ideas, and
applied them to Krishna. An interesting controversy
was maintained for some years in the pages of the /ndiant
Antiguary. Dr. Lorisner, writing in 1869, asserted the
indebtedness of the Hindus ; Mr. Telang of Bombay,
and Professor Windisch of Heidelberg, denied the in-
debtedness ; Professor Bhandarkar pointed out refer-
ences to the deification of Krishna in the Mahabhasya,
a work of the second century B.C. ; and Professor Weber,
while admitting the reciprocal action and mutual influence
of Gnostic and Indian conceptions in the first centuries
of the Christian Era, considers Dr. Lorisner's attempt
to be “overdone.”
Siva is not as popular a deity now as Vishnu, but in
the Puranic Age—in the times of Vikramaditya and of the
Lion kings of Orissa—Siva was more popular. Strange
stories have been blended together in the Puranic legends
about Siva's consort. in the Satapatha Brahmana we
are told of a sacrifice being performed by Daksha
Parvati ; but the story that Sati (Siva's consort and
Daksha’s daughter) gave up her life at the sacrifice, is
a Puranic addition. Again, in the Kena Upanishad we
find mention of Uma Haimavati, who explains to Indra the
nature of Brahman ; and this character of Uma Haimavati
suggested the later Puranic legend that Sati was reborn
as Uma, the daughter of the Himalaya mountains. How
that mountain maiden attended on Siva during his medi-
tations ; how, though aided by the god of love, she failed
to make any impression on the divine anchorite ; and how
she at last won him by her penances and devotions,
—these are all lovely creations of the Puranic fancy
Ig)2 PURANIC PIERIOD. [BOOK v.
which have been embalmed in the immortal poetry of
Kalidasa. - -
Such are the leading myths connected with the deities
of the Hindu Trinity. The ancient elemental gods of the
Rig Veda occupy a far lower rank in the modern Hindu
Pantheon. Nevertheless, there are glowing accounts in
the Puranas of Indra's heaven thronged by the bright
Vedic gods, Agni, Vayu, &c.; by their celestial troops,
chariots, and elephants ; by graceful Apsaras, and by
musical Gandharvas. But even these Vedic gods have
changed their character. Indra is no longer the soma-
drinking martial god who helps Aryans in their wars
against aborigines. Times have changed, and ideas have
changed with the times. Puranic Indra is a gorgeous
king of a luxurious and somewhat voluptuous celestial
court, where dance and music occupy most of his time.
His queen, Sachi or Indrani, is a noble and spirited con-
ception, and is honoured by all the gods. The Apsarases
of the Veda have attained lovely individualities, and
Rambha, Tilottama, and the Puranic Urvasi are the cour-
tesans of heaven, and regale the leisure hours of Indra
by their dance and their amours. Indra is said to have
attained his proud position by his austere penances, and is
in constant fear lest any mortals on earth should attain the
same rank by the same means. Not unoften, therefore,
are the heavenly nymphs sent down by Indra to earth to
disturb severe penances, and beguile the heart of ancho-
rites by their irresistible charms. The Asuras are another
source of his apprehension, and though expelled from
heaven, they often return in force, and reconquer it by
sheer fighting. On such occasions Indra and his followers
have to ask the succour of some of the superior deities,
Brahma, Vishnu, or Siva. These deities never con-
descend to help the minor gods against the Asuras ; but
they console the beaten gods, and suggest to them plans
for recovering their position. On one such occasion the
gods devised a marriage between Siva and the mountain
cHAP. VI.j RELIGION. 193
maid Uma, and Kumara, Skanda or Kartikeya, the issue
of the union, led back the expelled gods to victory and to
heaven. Both Kumara and his brother Ganesa, with his
elephant head, are unknown to ancient Hindu religion,
and are Puranic creations.
While the popular mind is thus engaged with the end-
less legends connected with these Puranic gods, – whose
number, we are told, is 330 millions, (an obvious exagge-
ration of the thirty-three Vedic gods), the wise and the
learned are constantly reminded of the cardinal principle
of the Upanishads, that there is but One Deity, and that
gods and Asuras and men, yea the whole universe, are
but emanations from that Universal Soul, and will return
to that Universal Soul.
Virtuous deeds lead to residence in heaven for long or
short periods, and evil deeds lead to tortures in hell, also
for stated periods ; and then the soul returns again to
animate new bodies in succeeding births. The doctrine
of transmigration is as firmly ingrained in the Hindu mind
as the doctrine of resurrection is in the Christian mind,
and the lowest Hindu sees a possible relation or kinsman
in a new-born babe, or even in a bird or animal. It is only
by pious contemplation and learning, by sinlessness and
freedom from all earthly feelings and passions, that the
soul can at last shake off earthly trammels, and mingle
with the Universal Soul, which is the Hindu's final salva-
tion. We see how this idea, started in the Upanishads,
was modified into the Buddhist doctrine of Nirvana, and
was then accepted back again as the cardinal principle of
Vedantism and of modern or Puranic Hinduism. The
truly learned and wise, therefore, are recommended not to
win a place in Indra's heaven by meritorious acts, but to
seek final absorption into the Universal Soul by effecting
freedom in this world from worldly feelings and passions.
Later developments of Hinduism have proceeded on
the same recognition of One Deity, and some name from
the modern Hindu Pantheon has been selected for the
vol. II. * - 25
T 9.4 |PURANIC (PERIOD. {BOOK. V.
purpose. 1)r. Wilson, in his work on the religious sects
of the Hindus, enumerates and describes nineteen classes
of Vaishnavas or followers of Vishnu, eleven classes of
Saivas or followers of Siva, and four classes of Saktas
or followers of Sakti, the consort of Siva, besides other
mniscellaneous sects.
The Vaishnava religion in many of its forms seems to
be only a survival of the Buddhist religion. There is the
same theoretical equality of all men and of all castes,
and the same prohibition against the destruction of
animal life. But these principles are coupled with faith
in one personal deity, Vishnu, who is often, however,
adored by the common people as Krishna. Stories about
the amours of Krishna with the milkmaids of Vrindavana
have been conceived and spread annong the people since
the Puranic times. Bankim Chandra, the greatest living
author in India, has lately proved to his countrymen that
these stories find no mention in the Mahabharata. The
followers of Siva and his consort Sakti have often adopted
still more corrupt doctrines and practices.
Such are the doctrines and tenets of modern Hinduism
in its various phases, but the character of a nation is
shaped and influenced more by rites and observances
than by tenets; and, as we have stated before, there
has been a wide departure from the old Vedic days, in
religious rites and observances.
The worship of images in temples was unknown to
the Hindus before the Buddhist revolution, but seems
to have come into fashion when Buddhism was the
prevailing religion. We have seen before that Manu,
who was a strong conservative in matters of religious
rites, upheld the ancient system of offering sacrifices in
the domestic or sacrificial fire, and indignantly classed
temple priests with vendors of liquor and sellers of
meat. Temples and images, however, had their attrac-
tion for the popular mind, and by the sixth century they
were regarded with veneration, and had to a great extent
cirap. VI.] TELIGION. Y 95
supplanted the ancient form of worship. In the literature
of the sixth to eighth century A.D., we seldom read
of sacrifices, except those performed by kings ; while
Kalidasa and other poets often speak of temples and
the images worshipped there.
The change was undoubtedly one in the wrong
direction. The worship of images has never an en-
nobling influence on a people's mind; but in India the
practice was accompanied by other evils. Down to the
time of Manu, the Vaisyas or the mass of the people
could worship their gods in their own way, and could
offer libations at their domestic hearths. When, how-
ever, the worship was transferred from the fireside to
the temple, priests as custodians of such temples had
an additional influence on the popular mind, and forged
an additional chain round the necks of the people.
Pompous eelebrations and gorgeous decorations arrested
the imagination and fostered the superstition of the
populace ; poetry, arts, architecture, sculpture, and music
lent their aid ; and within a few centuries the nation's
wealth was lavished on those gorgeous edifices and
ceremonials which were the outward manifestations of
the people's unlimited devotion and faith. Pilgrimages,
which were rare or unknown in very ancient times, were
organised on a stupendous scale ; gifts in lands and money
poured in for the support of temples ; and religion itself
gradually transformed itself to a blind veneration of
images and their custodians. The great towns of India
were crowded with temples; and new gods and new
images found sanctuaries in Stone edifices, and in the
hearts of ignorant worshippers.
We will in the following chapter illustrate the fore-
going remarks on Puranic Hinduism by a brief examina-
tion of the Puranic religious literature.
CHAPTER VII.
A E//G/O ÚS L/TEA'A 7'OA’A.
I. DHARMA SASTRAS.
THE Dharma Sutras of Gautama, Vasishtha, Baudha-
yana, and Apastamba furnished us with the best available
materials for an account of the manners and laws of
the Rationalistic Périod. The Dharma Sastra of Manu
supplied us with equally valuable materials for an account
of Hindu life in the Buddhist Period. Fortunately, the
series of Dharma Sastras was continued in the Puranic
times, and Yajnavalkya gives us a list of no less than
twenty works. They are :-
... Manu. II. Katyayana,
I
2. Atri. I2. Brihaspati.
3. Vishnu. I3. Parasara.
4. Harita. I4, Vyasa.
5. Yajnavalkya, 15. Sankha.
6. Usanas. I6. I.ikhita.
7. Angiras. I7. Daksha.
8. Yama. 18. Gautama.
9. Apastamba. I9. Satatapa.
Io. Samvarta. 2O, Vasishtha.
Parasara gives us a list of the same twenty works, only
substituting Kasyapa for Vishnu, Garga for Vyasa, and
Prachetas for Yama. Of these twenty works, Gautama,
Apastamba, and Vasishtha belong, as we have seen
before, to the Rationalistic Period, and Manu belongs to
the Buddhist Period. The remaining sixteen works are
probably also based on ancient Sutra works, but belong
196
CHAP. VII.] RELIGIOUS LITERATURE, r07
in their present form to the Puranic Age, or to the
centuries subsequent to the Mahommedan conquest of
India.
And herein consists our difficulty. We cannot safely
refer to these sixteen Dharma Sastras for an account
of the manners of the Puranic Age, because we do not
know which of them belong to the Puranic Age, and
which to later times. Some of them undoubtedly belong
to the Puranic times, or even earlier—but chapters have
been interpolated in these works in recent times, after
the Mahommedan conquest. Others have various re-
censions, and those which are most commonly used in
India are not the older recensions, but are modern ones.
compiled under the Mahommedan rule. Others, again,
appear wholly to have been composed in this recent
age. An account of the manners of the Hindus, drawn
from the Dharma Sastras, would therefore be an account
of the Mahommedan times, not of the Puranic Age which
we are now seeking to describe. A few details about
the sixteen Dharma Sastras will illustrate this.
I. Atri.-The recension we have seen is a short work
of less than four hundred couplets written in continuous
sloka metre. It insists on the necessity of perusing
modern Sastras as well as the ancient Vedas (II); recom-
mends bathing in the Falgu river and visiting Gadadhara
Deva (57); recommends the drinking of the water with
which the feet of Siva and Vishnu have been washed ;
despises all Mlechchhas (18o, 183); refers to the rite
of the burning of widows (209); and has all the marks
of a work composed or recast after the Mahommedan
conquest.
2. Vishnu.-Of the sixteen Dharma Sastras enumer-
ated above, Vishnu is the only one in prose, and can
therefore claim a high antiquity, Dr. Jolly points out its
close resemblance with the Grihya Sutra of the Kathaka
Kalpa Sutra, which undoubtedly belongs to the Rational-
istic Period; and he maintains with Dr. Bühler that the
198 PURANIC PERIOD, [BOOK V.
bulk of the Vishnu Dharma Sastra is really the ancient
Dharma Sutra of that Kalpa Sutra. Nevertheless, this
ancient work seems to have been repeatedly recast and
modified. Dr. Bühler maintains that the whole work was
recast by an adherent of Vishnu ; and that the final
and introductory chapters (in verse) were composed by
another and a still later writer. The period in which the
work was thus repeatedly recast is between the fourth
and the eleventh century A.D.
As might be expected, the work has a very compo-
site appearance. It contains chapters which are shown
to have been quoted by Vasishtha and Baudhayana
of the Rationalistic Period, while it contains other pas-
sages which it has borrowed from Harivansa and other
modern works. Chapter LXV contains ancient and
genuine Kathaka mantras transferred and adapted to a
Vishnuite ceremony; chapter XCVII seeks to reconcile
Sankhya and Yoga Philosophy with the Vaishnava
creed ; Chapter LXXVIII enumerates the modern week
days (Sunday to Saturday) which find no mention in
ancient Sanscrit works ; Chapter XX, 39, and XXV,
14 allude to the self-immolation of widows ; Chapter
LXXXIV prohibits the performance of Sraddha in the
kingdom of Mlechchhas ; and Chapter LXXXV refers to
some fifty modern places of pilgrimage. The introductory
chapter, which is in continuous sloka, and in which the
Earth in the shape of a beautiful woman is introduced to
Vishnu reposing with his consort Lakshmi in the milky
sea, is probably among the latest of the hundred chapters
comprising the existing work.
It is thus that our ancient works have been altered,
recast, and tampered with, to the delight of the supporters
of every new creed and every modern custom, but to the
despair of the historian
3. Harita.-This is another ancient work which has
been completely recast in recent times. Harita is men-
tioned by Baudhayana, Vasishtha, and Apastamba, who
thap. VII.] RELIGIOUS I, ITERA 3-URE. 399
are all writers of the Rationalistic Period. Extracts from
Harita found in the Mitakshara and Dayabhaga are all
in aphoristic prose. But nevertheless the work of Harita
which we have seen is in continuous sloka, and its con-
tents, too, are modern. In the first chapter we are told
the Puranic story that Vishnu lay with his consort Sri
on the mythical snake in the midst of waters ; and that
a lotus grew on his navel, from which sprang Brahma,
who created the world. In Chapter II there is mention
of the worship of Narasimha Deva, and in Chapter IV of
the worship of Vishnu ; while the seventh or concluding
chapter speaks of Yoga Sastra.
4. Yajnava/kya.”—-Stenzler and Lassen place Yajna-
valkya before the time of Vikramaditya, but after the
rise of Buddhism. Later researches have enabled
scholars to place Manu in the first or second century
before or after the Christian Era ; and as Yajnavalkya
comes undoubtedly after Manu, his probable date is the
fifth century after Christ, i.e., about the commencement
of the Puranic Age. An examination of the contents of
the work goes to Some extent to confirm this opinion. In
II, 296, there is an allusion to Buddhist nuns, and there
are many allusions to Buddhist habits and doctrines,
Manu allows men of the higher castes to marry Sudra
women ; but Yajnavalkya objects to that ancient custom
(I, 56). In many respects, however, Yajnavalkya is nearer
to Manu than to the later Dharma Sastras, and on the
whole Yajnavalkya is the only work among the sixteen
alluded to above which can be wholly relied on as a
picture of the Puranic Age. The work is divided into
three chapters ; and contains over a thousand couplets,
5. Osamas.-In its present form this work is a very
modern compilation. It speaks of the Hindu Trinity
(III, 5o); alludes to the self-immolation of widows (III,
* The reader must distinguish between the ancient Yajnavalkya,
the priest of Janaka, and the modern writer who has compiled the
Dharma Sastra.
2OO PURANIC ["ERIOD. [Book V.
A 17); condemns those who make voyages by Sea (IV,
33); and recommends self-immolation in fire or water for
sinners (VIII, 34). A wearisome multiplication of rules,
prohibitions, and penances characterises this modern
work, which is divided into nine chapters, and contains
nearly six hundred couplets. .
6. Angiras.-The work of this name which is before
us is one short chapter of seventy-three couplets. It is
a modern work, and condemns the cultivation of indigo as
an impure trade unfit for pure castes.
7. Yama. – Yama is mentioned by Vasishtha of the
Rationalistic Period ; but the Yama smritis which exist
in the present day are modern works, and could not
have been meant by Vasishtha. We have a short work
of seventy-eight couplets before us. Along with Angiras,
it alludes to washermen, workers in leather, dancers,
Barudas, Kaivartas, Medas, and Bhils as impure castes.
8. Samvarta.—A modern metrical work of over two
hundred couplets, and little importance. Along with
Yama, it considers washermen, dancers, and workers in
leather as impure.
Io. Katyayana (whom the reader must distinguish
from the ancient critic of Panini) undertakes to throw
light, —like a lamp, on such rules and rites as were left
obscure by Gobhila, whose Grihya Sutra has been noticed
by us in our account of the Rationalistic Period. Kat-
yayana’s Dharma Sastra, however, belongs to recent
times, and is divided into twenty-nine chapters, with
nearly five hundred couplets. In I, I 1-14, we are told
of the worship of Ganesa, and of the mothers, Gauri,
Padma, Sachi, Savitri, Jaya, Vijaya, &c.; and we are also
told that the worship should be paid to their images or their
likenesses painted on white canvas. In XII, 2 (which
is in prose), there is a mention of the Hindu Trinity; in
XIX, 7, Uma is named ; and in XX, Io, there is an
allusion to Rama having performed sacrifice with a golden
image of Sita when the real Sita was banished.
(CY1Ap. VII.] Tº lº).IGIOUS LITERATURE. 2O Í
I I. Brihaspati.-We have seen a small fragment in
eighty couplets, which is apparently modern, and dwells
on the merit of the gift of lands to Brahmans, and tries to
impress on its readers the terrible effects of a Brahman's
wrath. Rut a translation of an older and more reliable
recension of Brihaspati has appeared in the Sacred Books
of the East series. t
12. Aºrasara is admittedly one of the latest of the
Dharma Sastras. The compiler himself informs us (I, 23)
that Manu was for the Satya Yuga, Gautama for Treta
Yuga, Sankha and Likhita were for Dwapara Yuga, and
Parasara is for the present Kali Yuga. We have an
allusion to the Hindu Trinity (I, 19), and an allusion to
the self-immolation of widows (IV, 28 and 29). Never-
theless, widow-marriage was prevalent even in this late
age, and Parasara allows a woman to marry again if her
husband is not heard of or is dead, if he has become an
ascetic or an outcast, or is impotent (IV, 26). The work
is divided into twelve chapters, and has nearly six hundred
couplets. -
13, Vyasa” is still more recent. It mentions the Hindu
Trinity, of course (III, 24), and commends the self-
immolation of widows (II, 53); and the degradation of
the different guilds and professions which composed the
bulk of the nation is more complete in Vyasa than in
most other Dharma Sastras. For a picture of the
manners of the Hindus under Mahomedan rule, Vyasa
would furnish excellent materials, It is a short work
divided into four chapters, and comprising over two
hundred couplets. -
14. Sankha, like Vishnu, is an ancient work but recast
in verse in recent times, although two passages in prose
are still embedded in it. Dr. Bühler supposes that the
* The reader must distinguish Parasara and Vyasa, the compilers
of the modern Dharma Sastras, from the ancient astronomer and the
ancient compiler of the Vedas. The modern compilers had a weak-
ness for assuming ancient names, probably to invest their works with
a semblance of antiquity - ºr -
V () I., I I. 26
2O2 ‘ī’URANIC PERIOD, [BOOK v.
prose portion consists of genuine Sutras taken from the
original edition of Sankha, which belonged to the Ration-
alistic Period, and was entirely in aphorisms. There can
be little doubt, however, that this edition is a compara-
tively modern one. In III, 7, we find mention of temples
and of the image of Siva. In IV, 9, we find a prohibition
against men of the upper castes marrying Sudra women,
a practice which is allowed by Manu. In VII, 20, the
author speaks of Vasudeva, a name of Vishnu. In XIV,
I-3, the author enumerates sixteen holy places; and in
XIV, 4, there is a prohibition against performing Sraddha,
or even journeys in Mlechchha countries. But even in this
recent work, widow marriage is allowed (XV, 13). The
work is divided into eighteen chapters, and contains over
three hundred couplets.
15. Zikhita, as we find it, is a short modern work in
binety-two couplets, and alludes to temples of gods (4),
and to living in Benares (1 I), and offering cakes at Gaya.
16. Daksha is also a modern work in seven chapters,
and gives a, pleasing picture of the domestic life and the
duties of men and women. The picture is somewhat
marred, however, by an allusion to the barbarous rite of
the self-immolation of widows (IV, 20.
17. Safałapa in its present shape is, like Vyasa, one of
the most recent of the sixteen Dharma Sastras enume-
rated, and alludes to Rudra, with his three eyes (I, 19);
to the worship of Vishnu (I, 22); to the image of Brahma,
with his four faces (II, 5); and also to the image of Yama,
mounted on a buffalo, and with a staff in his hand (II, 18).
Vishnu claims worship here under the names of Srivat-
salanchhana, Vasudeva, and Jagannatha ; his image of
gold is to be covered with garments, and after worship is
to be given away to Brahmans (II, 22–25). Sarasvati,
who is now the consort of Brahma, also claims worship
(II, 28); and we are told that the Harivansa and the
Mahabharata should be heard (II, 30 and 37) to wipe
away sins, Further on we hear of the image of Ganesa
CIIAP. VII.] RET.IGIOUS EITERATURE. 203
(II, 44), of the two Asvins (IV, 1.4), of Kuvera (V, 3), of
Prachetas (V, i o), and of Indra (V, 17); all these golden
images are to be made and worshipped only to be given
away to Brahmans ; and indeed the object of this work
seems to be to recommend profuse gifts to Brahman5.
There is no sin, no incurable disease, no domestic calamity,
and no loss or injury to property which cannot be washed
away by such gifts. As a picture of the form which
Hindu religion assumed after the Mahommedan conquest,
this work is valuable.
It will appear from the foregoing remarks that, with
the exception of Yajnavalkya and probably one or two
others, the sixteen Joharma. Sastras are valueless as a
picture of Hindu manners in the Puranic Age. Most
of them have some value as pictures of the religion and
manners of the Hindus, living under the Mahommedan,
rule. -
Unfortunately, the same remarks apply to some extent
to the Puranas in the shape in which we have them now.
They do not give us a natural and pleasing picture of the
Hindu creeds of the Puranic Age, but rather enter into.
sectarian disputes about the Supremacy of particular gods,
—Vishnu, Siva, &c. And we know that these sectarian
disputes prevailed most when, the Mahommedan ruled
India. To a brief account of the Puranas we now turn.
II. PURANAS.
Amara Sinha, the lexicographer of the court of
Vikramaditya, describes a Purana as Panchalakshana,
or having five characteristic topics; and scholiasts agree
that these five topics are—I. Primary creation or cos-
mogony ; II. Secondary creation, or destruction and
renovation of worlds, including chronology; III. Gene-
alogy of gods and patriarchs; IV. Reigns of Manu or
periods called Manvantaras; V. History of the Solar
and Lunar races and their modern, descendants. The
: 2O4 ... PURAN TC PER TOT), [Book v.
Puranas which now exist, and which were recast after
the Mahommedan conquest of India, very imperfectly
conform to this definition. -
The Puranas are divided into three classes, namely,
those sacred to Vishnu, Siva, and Brahma respectively.
Their names and the number of stanzas which they
are supposed to contain, aggregating to 4oo, ooo, are
given behew :—
VAISHINAVA. SATWA. BRAIIMA,
Vishnu . 23, OOO | Matsya , 14, OOO Brahmanda . . 12,000
Naradiya 25,000 | Kurma . 17,000 || Brahma Vaivarta 18,000
Bhagavata. 18,OOO | Linga . 1 1,000 || Markandeya . 9,000
Garuda . 19, OOO | Vayu. 24,OOO | Bhavishya . . I4,500
Padma , 55,000 Skanda . 81, 100 || Vamana . . 10,000
Varaha . 24,OOO | Agni 15,400 | Brahma . . IO,OOO
It is impossible to make room in the present work
for the barest outline of the contents of these volumi-
nous books, the work of generations of priests labouring
for centuries together to recast ancient mythology, history,
and traditions, and also to preach modern cults and
sectarian beliefs. We will only mention in a few words
the salient features of each work.”
1. Brahma Purana.-The early chapters give a de-
scription of the creation and an account of the solar
and lunar dynasties to the time of Krishna, A brief
description of the universe succeeds, after which we have
an account of Orissa, with its holy temples and sacred
groves dedicated to the Sun, to Siva, and to Jagannatha.
To this succeeds a life of Krishna, which is word for
word the same as in the Vishnu Purana, and the work
ends with an account of the Yoga.
2. Aadma Purana. –This most voluminous of all
the Puranas (excepting Skanda only) is divided into
five books, namely,–(1) Srishti or Creation, (2) Bhumi
* The reader will find a fuller account of the contents of the
Puranas in Wilson’s Preſace to his Vishnu Purana, pages xxvii to
lxxxvi, from which our account is mainly taken.
ct; AP. vir.] RELIGIOUS I, ITERATURE. 2O5.
or Earth, (3) Swarga or Heaven, (4) Patala or the Lower
Regions, and (5) Uttara Khanda, or Supplementary
Chapter. The Srishti Khanda narrates the cosmogony
and the genealogy of patriarchal families and also regal
dynasties, and then comes to an account of the holiness.
of Lake Pushkara in Ajmir as a place of pilgrimage.
The Bhumi Khanda deals, in 127 chapters, with legends
mostly relating to Tirthas, which include persons entitled
to honour, and also holy places of pilgrimage. This
is followed by a description of the earth. The Swarga
Khanda places Vaikuntha, the sphere of Vishnu, above
all the heavens. It contains also rules of conduct for
the several castes and the different stages of life, and
also various legends, mostly modern. The Patala
Khanda, takes us to the snake-world. There Sesha
(serpent) narrates the story of Rama, and this is fol-
lowed by an account of Krishna's juvenilities and the
merits of worshipping Vishnu. The Uttara Khanda,
which is probably later than the other portions of the
Purana, is intensely Vaishnava in its tone ; the nature
of Bhakti or faith in Vishnu, the use of the Vaishnava.
marks on the body, the legends of Vishnu's incarna-
tions, and the construction of images of Vishnu, are
all explained by Siva to his consort Parvati, and they
both finish by adoring Vishnu ! We are also told that of
the Hindu Trinity, Vishnu alone is entitled to respect t
There can be no doubt much of this Sectarian contro-
versy has been added after the Moslem conquest of India,
There is mention, even in the earlier books of this Purana,
of Mlechchhas flourishing in India, while to the last
portions of the work Dr. Wilson gives the fifteenth or
sixteenth century A.D. as the probable date.
3. Vishnu Purana, divided into six books.-The first
book speaks of the creation of Vishnu and Lakshmi, and
many legends, including those of Dhruva and Prahlada.
The second book describes the earth, with its seven
islands and seven seas, and also describes Bharatavarsha
206 PURANIC PERIOD, [BOOK v.
and the nether regions, the planetary system, the sun, the
moon, &c. The third book speaks of the Veda and its
division into four Vedas by Krishna Dvaipayana Vyasa
in the Dwapara Yuga. It also names the eighteen Puranas,
details the duties of the four castes and the four orders
of life, and dwells on domestic and social ceremonies
and sraddhas. The last chapter condemns Buddhists
and Jainas. The fourth book gives us a history of the
Solar and Lunar dynasties, and concludes with lists
of the kings of Magadha, which we have quoted in
Book IV, Chapter III. The fifth book is specially
devoted to an account of Krishna, his boyish tricks, his
sports with Gopis, and his various deeds in life. The
sixth and last book, again, inculcates devotion to Vishnu
as sufficient to earn salvation for all castes and persons,
and ends with chapters on Yoga and final emancipation.
4. Wayne Purana, otherwise called the Siva or Saiva
Purana, is divided into four books. The first speaks of
creation and the first evolution of beings. The second
continues the subject of creation, and describes the various
kalpas, gives us genealogies of the patriarchs, a descrip-
tion of the universe and the incidents of the Manvantaras,
mixed up with legends and praises of Siva. The third
book describes the different classes of creatures, and fur-
nishes us with accounts of the Solar and Lunar dynasties
and other kings. The fourth and last book speaks of the
efficacy of the Yoga and the glory of Siva, with whom the
Yogin is to be finally united,
5. Bhagavafa Purana, better known as Srimat Bhaga-
vata, is considered the holiest of the Puranas, at least in
the estimation of the Vaishnava sects. The work begins
as usual with cosmogony. Vasudeva is the supreme and
active creator ; the creation, the world is Maya, or illusion.
We are also told that all castes, and even Mlechchhas
may learn to have faith in Vasudeva-a purely Vaishnava
doctrine. In the third book we have an account of the
creation of Brahma, of the Varaha incarnation of Vishnu,
chap. v.1] RE1.1CIOUS LI'I'ERATURE. 207
and of his incarnation as Kapila, the author of Sankhya
philosophy | The traditions of Dhruva, Vena, Prithu,
and Bharata are given in the fourth and fifth books ; a
variety of legends, intended to inculcate the worship of
Vishnu, fill the sixth ; the legend of Prahlada is given in
the seventh ; while numerous other legends are narrated
in the eighth. The ninth book narrates the Solar and
Lunar dynasties; while the tenth book, which is the
characteristic part of the work, is entirely appropriated to
the life of Krishna. The eleventh book describes the
destruction of the Yadavas and the death of Krishna ;
and the twelfth and last book gives lists of later kings,
like what we have in the Vishnu Purana.
6. AWarada Purana. –This work contains a variety of
prayers to Vishnu, and legends inculcating devotion to
Hari. Another work, called Brihat Naradiya Purana,
contains similar prayers to Vishnu, injunctions to observe
various rites, and to keep holy seasons in honour of him,
as well as various legends. Both these works are very
recent, and Dr. Wilson conjectures they are not the origi-
nal works mentioned in the list of eighteen Puranas.
7. Markandeya Puranta occupies itself mainly with a
narration of legends. Legends of Vritra's death, of
Baladeva's penance, of Harischandra, and of the quarrel
between Vasishtha and Visvamitra are followed by a
discussion about birth, death, sin, and hell. Then follows
a description of creation and of the Manvantaras. An
account of the future Manvantara leads to a narrative of
the actions of the goddess Durga, which is the special
boast of this Purana, and is the text-book of the worship
of Chandi or Durga. It is the famous Chandi Patha ;
and this portion of the work is read to the present
day in Hindu households, as well as in temples of
Durga.
8. Agni Purana.--The early chapters describe the
incarnations of Vishnu. This is followed by accounts of
religious ceremonies, many of which belong to the Tantrika
2 o'S PURANIC PRRYO1). [BOOK W.
ritual, and some to mystical forms of Saiva worship.
Interspersed with these are chapters descriptive of the
earth and the universe. These are followed by chapters
on the duties of kings, on the art of war, and on laws,
after which we have an account of the Vedas and Puranas.
The genealogical lists are meagre. Medicine, Rhetoric,
Prosody, and Granamar conclude the work.
9. Jºhavishya Purance, with its continuation the Bha-
Øishyottara Purana. —The first treats of creation, explains
the Sanskaras and the duties of the different castes and
orders of life, and describes various rites. All this, which
occupies about one-third of the work, is followed by con-
versations between Krishna, his son, Samba, Vasishtha,
Narada, and Vyasa, on the power aud glory of the sun.
“There is some curious matter in the last chapters relat-
ing to the Magas, silent worshippers of the sun, from
Sakadvipa ; as if the compiler had adopted the Persian
term Magh ; and connected the fire-worshippers of Iran
with those of India.”* The Bhavishyottara is, like the
Bhavishya, a sort of manual of religious offices.
Io. /3rd//na Vaivarta Purana.--It is divided into four
books, describing the acts of Brahma, Devi, Ganesa, and
Krishna respectively. The original character of the work
has, however, been much altered ; the present work is
decidedly sectarian, and prominence is given to Krishna
over all other deities. The great mass of the existing
work is taken up with descriptions of Vrindavana, with
endless prayers to Krishna, and with tiresome descrip-
tions of the loves of Radha and the Gopis.
I I. Zinga Purana.-The work begins with an account
of creation, and Siva is the creator. The appearance of
the great fiery Linga takes place in the interval of a
creation, and Brahma and Vishnu are humbled. The
Vedas proceed from the Linga, by which Brahma and
Vishnu become enlightened, and acknowledge the superior
glory of Siva. Another creation follows, Siva repeats the
* Wilson, Preface to l’ishnu Purana, lxiv.
‘CHAP. VII.] RFT, IGIOUS WATERATURE. 209
story of his twenty-eight incarnations (intended, no doubt,
as a counterpart of the twenty-four incarnations of Vishnu.”
in the Bhagavata Purana), and this is followed by a de-
scription of the universe and of the regal dynasties to the
time of Krishna. Legends, rites, and prayers to Siva
succeed. It is noticeable that even in the Linga Purana
“there is nothing like the phallic orgies of antiquity; it
is all mystical and spiritual.”f
12. Varaha Purana.-The work is almost wholly
occupied with forms of prayer and rules for devotional
observances addressed to Vishnu, interspersed with
legendary illustrations. A considerable portion of the
work is taken up with accounts of various Tirthas or
places of Vaishnava pilgrimage.
13. Skanda Puranta.-This work, the most volumi-
nous of all the Puranas, is not a work in a collective
form, but exists in fragments, the aggregate of which
exceeds the limit of 81, Ioo stanzas of which the Purana
is said to consist. The Kasi Khanda is a minute de-
scription of the temples of Siva in Benares, mixed with
directions for worship and a variety of legends. The
Utkala Khanda gives an account of the holiness of Orissa
and of Jagannatha, and is no doubt a later appendage by
Vaishnava writers, who thus added an account of a
Vaishnava Tirtha to an eminently Saiva Purana. Besides
the different Khandas, there are several Sanhitas and
numerous Mahatmyas included in this very composite
Purana. •
14. Vaſleazea Puranta. –Contains an account of the
dwarf-incarnation of Vishnu. The worship of Linga is
also treated of, but the main object of the work is to cele-
brate the sanctity of holy places in India, and the Purana
therefore is little else than a succession of Mahatmyas,
Legends of Daksha's sacrifice, of the burning of Kama-
* The idea of Vishnu's twenty-four incarnations was probably origi-
nally borrowed from the story of the twenty-four Ruddhas who were
born before Gautama Buddha.
† Wilson, Preface to Vishnu Purayza, lxix.
VOL. II. 27
2 IO PURA NIC PIER JOID, [Book v.
deva, of the marriage of Siva and Uma and the birth of
Kartikeya, of the greatness of Bali and his subjugation by
Krishna as a dwarf–all come in apparently as reasons for
particular sites and Tirthas being considered holy.
15. Kurma Purana.-The name of this, as of the pre-
ceding Purana, is that of an incarnation of Vishnu, but
nevertheless Kurma is classed with Saiva Puranas, and
the greater portion of it inculcates the worship of Siva
and Durga. The first part of the Purana deals with
creation, the incarnations of Vishnu, the solar and lunar
dynasties up to the time of Krishna, the universe, and the
Manvantaras; and with these are mixed up hymns to
Mahasvara, and various Saiva legends. The second part
deals with the knowledge of Siva through contemplation
and through Vedic rites. • -
I6. Matsya Purana. —The work opens with an account
of the Matsya or fish—incarnation of Vishnu. The story
is no doubt a development of the simpler legend in the
Satapatha Brahmana, which bears so curious a resem-
blance to the story of Noah and the Deluge in the Old
Testament. In the Purana it is Vishnu who, in the shape
of a fish, preserves Manu with the seeds of all things in
an ark from the waters of an inundation. Whilst the ark
floats, fastened to the fish, Manu enters into conversation
with him, and his questions and Vishnu's replies form the
main substance of the Purana. The creation, the royal
dynasties, and the duties of the different orders, are suc-
cessively dealt with. i.egends about Siva's marriage with
Uma and the birth of Kartikeya follow, and these are
mixed up with Vaishnava legends. Some Mahatmyas
are introduced, including the Narmada-Mahatmya ; and
there are chapters on law and morals, on the making of
images, on future kings, and on gifts.
17. Garuda Purama.-It contains a brief notice of the
creation, but is mainly occupied with religious obser-
vances, holidays, prayers from the Tantrika ritual, astro-
logy, palmistry, medicine, &c. The last portion of the
CHAP. VII.] RELIGIOUS LITERATURE, 2 I I
work is taken up with directions for the performance of
obsequial rites. There is no account in the existing work
of the birth of Garuda, and it is possible that the original
Garuda Purana has been lost to us.
18. Brahmanda Purana. –This work, like the Skanda,
is no longer to be found as a collective work, but exists
in fragments; and later writers have taken advantage of
this to attach various independent treatises from time to
time to the non-existent original. A very curious work,
called the Adhyatma Ramayana, is considered to be a
part of the Brahmanda Purana.
The above rapid review of the contents of the eighteen
voluminous Puranas sufficiently indicates the nature of the
works. The eighteen works were originally composed or
recast in the Puranic Period, and existed when Alberuni
visited India in the eleventh century; but there can be
no doubt that they have been considerably modified and
enlarged since, specially by Saiva and Vaishnava writers,
who were anxious to establish, the Supremacy of their re-
spective creeds. Siva was the first popular god of the
Puranic Period, as we find in the annals of Orissa and
some other provinces, as well as in the classic literature
of the Puranic Age. Krishna, who is scarcely much
known to Kalidasa, Bharavi, Banabhatta, Bhavabhuti,
and other classic authors, became the popular god of the
Hindus at a later date; Magha and Jayadeva celebrated
his deeds in the eleventh and twelfth centuries ; and all
through the Musalman rule, Krishna was no doubt the
most favourite deity of the Hindus. Much of the Pura-
nas dwelling on the sports and loves of Krishna, as well
as all the portions dealing with the worship of Siva or
Sakti according to the Tantrika ritual, appear to be pro-
ductions of centuries subsequent to the Mahommedan
conquest. It is because the Puranas have been so much
changed and recast after the Moslem conquest, that they
are unsafe and unreliable as a picture of Hindu life and
manners in the Puranic Age. -
2 Y 2 , PURANIC PERIOD. [Book v.
Beside these eighteen Puranas, an equal number of Upa-
Puranas are mentioned, but the lists given by different
authorities vary. The Upa-Puranas are certainly more
recent than the Puranas, and have probably all been
composed since the Mahommedan conquest. The best
known among the Upa-Puranas is the Kalika, dedicated
to the worship of Siva's wife, and essentially a Sakta
work. It describes the sacrifice of Daksha and the death
of Sati, and proceeds to narrate that Siva carried his
wife's corpse about the world, that the different portions
of the corpse were scattered in different parts of India,
and that these places accordingly became sacred. Lingas
erected in these spots draw hundreds of thousands of
pilgrims year after year to the present day. Such are
the myths believed, and such are the religious rites prac-
tised by the descendants of those who sang the hymns of
the Veda, and started the deep and earnest inquiries of
the Upanishads !
III. TANTRAs.
But Hindu literature in the period of the Mahommedan
rule presents us even with a stranger aberration of
human fancy and human credulity. The Yoga system of
philosophy degenerated into various strange practices,
by which supernatural powers, it was believed, could be
obtained. We have evidence of this even in Bhavabhuti,
who lived in the eighth century A.D. ; but, later on, the
system was developed into stranger forms. The works
known as the Tantras—creations of the last period of
Hindu degeneracy under a foreign rule—give us elaborate
accounts of dark, cruel, and obscene practices for the
acquisition of supernal powers. And, by an audacious
myth, these strange products of “the mind diseased ”
were ascribed to the deity Siva himself The number of
Tantras is said to be sixty-four ; we have seen some of
them which have been published in Calcutta.
Ignorance is credulous, and feebleness hankers after
C11 Ap. VII.] RELIGIOUS I, ITERATURE. 2 I 3
power. And when a superstitious ignorance and a senile
feebleness had reached their last stage of degeneracy,
men sought by unwholesome practices and unholy rites
to acquire that power which Providence has rendered
attainable only by a free and healthy exercise of our
faculties, – moral, intellectual, and physical. To the his-
torian, the Tantra literature represents, not a special
phase of Hindu thought, but a diseased form of the
human mind, which is possible only when the national
life has departed, when all political consciousness has
vanished, and the lamp of knowledge is extinct.
CHAPTER VIII.
CAS7'E.
WE have seen in the last Book that the great Aryan
population of India (except priests and kings) was still
a united body in the Buddhist Period, and had not yet
been disunited into the profession-castes of modern times.
The tendency to disintegration was greater in the Puranic
Period, and we have frequent allusions to different profes-
sions distinctly marked off from each other. But neverthe-
less an impartial examination of the evidence available will
convince a candid reader that the profession-castes of the
modern times were not completely formed even in the
Puranic Period, and that the body of the people was still
one united caste, –the Vaisya, -engaged in various pro-
fessions. The complete disintegration of the nation into
numerous and distinct profession-castes was subsequent
to the Moslem conquest of India and the national death
of the Hindus.
It is scarcely necessary to premise that we will, in
this chapter, refer only to Yajnavalkya and one or two
other Dharma Sastras which are of the Puranic Age. On
the Dharma Sastras composed or completely recast after
the Mahommedan conquest, we cannot safely place any
reliance. -
All the Dharma Sastras of the Puranic Period refer to
the four great castes, viz., the Brahmans, the Kshatriyas,
the Vaisyas, and the Sudras. The first three castes were
still entitled to the performance of religious rites, and to
the study of the Veda. Their respective duties were
to teach the Veda, to practise arms, and to tend cattle ;
314
CIMAP, VIII.] CAST E. - 2 I 5
and their modes of livelihood were for a Brahman to
sacrifice for others and to receive alms ; for a Kshatriya
to protect the people ; and for a Vaisya, tillage, keep-
ing cows, traffic, money-lending, and growing seeds.
(Vishnu, II.) -
The duty of the Sudra was to serve the other castes,
and his mode of livelihood was to follow different
branches of art (Vishnu, II). He could also trade
(Yajnava/kya, I, 120), and no doubt followed various
other professions.
Yajnavalkya tells us the old story of the production
of mixed castes by the union of men and women of
different parent castes. His thirteen mixed castes are
here enumerated :-
{}
Father. Mother. Caste formed.
Brahman Kshatriya. Murdhabhishikta.
Do. Vaisya. Ambashta.
Do. Sudra. Nishada or Parasava.
Rºshatriya. Vaisya. Mahishya.
DO. Sudra. Ugra.
Vaisya. Sudra, IQarana.
Kshatriya. Brahman. Suta.
Vaisya. Do. Vaidehalza.
Sudra. Do. Chandala.
Vaisya. Kshatriya. Magadha.
Sudra. Do. IS shattri.
Do. Vaisya. Ayogava.
Mahisya. Karana. Rathakara.
(Yajnava//ya, I, 91-95.)
It is scarcely necessary to point out once again that
these so-called mixed castes are not the modern pro-
fession-castes of India, but are, most of them, names
of aboriginal tribes who were gradually assuming Hindu
rites and civilisation, without, however, being completely
merged in the recognised Sudra caste. It would almost
seem that Yajnavalkya had some notion of these tribes
being gradually fused with the Hindus, for immediately
after the enumeration given above, he informs us that
216 }>U RAN IC PR. R.I.O.D. [BOOK V.
inferior castes can rise in the seventh, or even in the
fifth Yuga, according to works (I, 96).
The so-called “mixed castes,” then, do not reveal to
us the origin of the profession-castes of modern India.
How have these modern castes originated P. The Puranic
Dharma Sastras will throw some light on the subject.
Kayasthas find no mention in Manu, because the
practice of appointing scribes for every law court and
public office did not generally prevail in the Buddhist
Period. In the Puranic Period the scribes were already
a numerous and influential body, attended judges in
court, attested documents, and performed all the clerical
work connected with the administration of law. Not
unoften they were engaged in more ambitious duties,
and were appointed by kings to administer finances,”
raise taxes, keep the accounts of the State, and perform
all the duties which devolve on a finance minister in the
modern day. We read, in a dramatic work called the
Mrichchhakati, that a Kayastha or record-keeper attended
the judge in court; and Kahlana, in his history of Kash-
mir, frequently speaks of Kayasthas as accountants and
tax-gatherers, and financiers under kings. They soon
incurred the wrath of the priests, for they raised their
taxes from all, and exempted none, and we accordingly
find that Kahlana himself condemns them in no measured
terms. Passing over such pardonable ebullition of the
priestly taxpayer's anger, we are grateful to learn, from
passages in the works of the Puranic Period, how the
profession arose in India, and what its original duties
were. It is probable that the class was recruited mainly
from the people—the Kshatriyas and the Vaisyas ;
Brahmans would scarcely condescend to take up such
appointments, and Sudras had not the necessary qualifi-
cation.* After the Moslem conquest, the profession was
formed into an inviolable and distinct caste.
* In this chapter and elsewhere we have stated that Kayasthas and
Vaidyas are descended from the ancient Kshatriyas and Vaisyas. A
CHAP. VIII.] CAST FE. 2 : 7
Yajnavalkya tells us (I, 336), that the king should
protect his people from deceivers, thieves, violent men,
robbers, and others, and especially from Kayasthas. If
we take the word in its modern sense of caste, the
passage has no sense, and the necessity for protection
from a particular caste is not obvious. If, on the other
hand, we take the word to mean rapacious tax-gatherers,
we can well understand the feeling of the writer who
classed them with thieves and robbers. Such compli-
ments are paid to tax-gatherers to the present day.
And it is significant that although Yajnavalkya speaks
of the Kayasthas, he does not mention them in his list
of mixed castes. This fact demonstrates that the Kayas-
thas were only a profession, not a distinct caste, in the
Puranic Age.
Our next quotation will be from Vishnu. In his
celebrated chapter on documents, he classifies them
under three heads, viz., (1) those attested by the king,
answering to the registered documents of the present
day ; (2) those attested by other witnesses ; and (3)
those not attested at all. And the writer goes on to
say that “a document is said to be attested by the king
when it has been prepared in the king’s office by the
Kayastha appointed by the king, and marked by the
hand (or signature) of the head of the office.” Here,
again, the word Kayastha has little sense if it means
controversy is going on since many years past, and reasons have been
advanced to show that Kayasthas are Kshatriyas. We have not en-
tered into the merits of this controversy, and we are unable to give an
opinion on the subject, Our main contention is that the modern
Kayasthas and Vaidyas are not Sudras, nor the product of a hybrid
mixture of castes ; that they are the sons of the ancient Aryan popu-
ation of India, and have formed separate castes, because they have
lembraced separate professions. It is possible that Kayasthas have
been mainly recruited from the Kshatriya stock, and that poor relation
of kings gladly accepted the posts of accountants and record-keepers
in the royal courts. . We are informed that to the present day the
period of impurity for Kayasthas in Northern India, on the death
of relations, is the same as is prescribed ſer Kshatriyas.
VOL. l I. 28
2 I 3 PURAN C PERIOD, | BOOK V.
a particular caste. Dr. Jolly translates it simply as
“scribe,” and he is right. Kayasthas meant in the
Puranic Period what we now mean by “Muharrars,”
and nothing more.
We next come to the Vaidyas or physicians, to whom
the Dharma Sastras are scarcely more complimentary
than to the Kayasthas. If scribes have been classed with
thieves and robbers, physicians have been classed by
Yajnavalkya with thieves, prostitutes, and others, whose
food cannot be taken (I, 162). But what we wish to
point out distinctly is that Yajnavalkya has not included
Vaidyas in his list of mixed castes; and this demonstrates
that the Vaidyas were a profession, not a caste, in the
Puranic Age. Upholders of the modern caste-system
seek to identify Vaidyas with the Ambashthas of the
ancient Sutra writers, and of Manu and Yajnavalkya.
The Ambashthas are described by Vasishtha as a mixed
caste, a cross between Brahmans and Kshatriyas, and
by Manu and Yajnavalkya as a cross between Brahmans
and Vaisyas. And Manu further adds that the Am-
bashthas practised medicine (X, 47). On this slender
ground, the modern Vaidyas are all identified with this
mixed caste ;-as if the Aryan Hindus did not practise
the healing art until amorous Brahman youths pursued
and embraced girls of a humbler class, as if the science
of medicine was unknown among Aryan Hindus until
the production of a hybrid mixed caste The modern
reader will brush aside such idle myths, and will unhesi-
tatingly recognise the fact that the modern Vaidyas are
descended from the ancient Aryan people, the Vaisyas, and
have formed a separate caste, because they have followed
a separate profession. And as in the case of Kayasthas,
so in the case of Vaidyas, it is possible that descendants
of royal Kshatriya races, like the Sena kings of Bengal,
have become merged in the modern profession-caste.
But although the different professions were not ſormed
into separate castes in the Puranic Age, yet, as we have
CHAP. VIII.] CASTE. - 2 I 9
seen in the case of Kayasthas and Vaidyas, the different
professions and trades came to be looked upon with dis-
favour. The caste-system, which unduly exalted the
powers and privileges of priests, had the inevitable result
of degrading all honest trades and industries other than
that of priests. We noted this in the pages of Manu him-
self ; we note this still more prominently in the pages of
Yajnavalkya. In a passage which we have referred to
before (I, 160-165), he condemns a large class of profes-
sions as impure, and classes physicians, goldsmiths, black-
smiths, weavers, dyers, armourers, and oil manufacturers
with thieves and prostitutes . Thus the caste-system
in its later phase has served a twofold object, as our
readers will note from passages like these. It has served
to divide the nation and create mutual ill-feeling. And
it has served to degrade the nation in order to exalt the
priests. -
CHAPTER IX.
A/VDv 21M/) /A/AWA A/CC///7/2CZ'UA' E AAWD
SC U///??'UA' /2.
WF have in a previous chapter spoken of Buddhist
architecture in India. The history of Buddhist architec-
ture closes with the fifth century, and there are few speci-
mens of any importance after 5oo A.D. On the other
hand, Hindu temple architecture, judging from existing
specimens, begins at this date and continues down to long
after the Mahommedan conquest of India. These facts,
which are recorded on imperishable stone all over India,
confirm and justify the division which we have made
between the Buddhist Period and the later Hindu or
Puranic Period.
NORTHERN INDIAN STYLE.
The earliest specimens of Hindu temple architecture,
then, date from 5oC A.D., and these specimens are to
be found in their purity, as well as in the greatest pro-
fusion, in Orissa. The student who has paid a visit to
the town of Bhuvaneswara, in Orissa, knows more of
Hindu temple architecture in its purity than pages of
description are likely to teach him.
The North Indian style has some distinct and well-
defined features, which are noticeable in all the earlier
structures all over Northern India. The outline of the
high tower of Vimana is curvilinear, and it is surmounted
by what is called an Amaſaka, from the natue of a fruit
which it is supposed to resemble, No trace of division
22O
r1|Ap, 1s. H1NDU AND JAINA ARCHITECTUR 1. 22 I
into storeys is observable, and there are no pillars or
pilasters anywhere. The porch, on the other hand, has
a conical top with a series of cornices. The illustration
in the next page will explain our remarks. Dr. Fergus-
son points out that the modern temples of Benares
(and no existing Benares temple is over two centuries
old) retain, in spite of modifications, the same charac-
teristic features as the Vimanas of Orissa built twelve
centuries ago.” -
Several hundreds of temples are said to have been
built in Bhuvanesvara, and numerous specimens still
remain, and strike the beholder with astonishment. The
most celebrated of them is what is called the Great
Temple of Bhuvanesvara, and was built between 617
and 657 A.D. The original structure, consisting of the
Vimana and the porch, was 160 feet in length ; the
Nata Mandir and the Bhoga Mandir were added in the
twelfth century. The interior of the Vimana is a square
of 66 feet, and the tower rises to 180 feet. The whole
edifice is of stone, and the exterior is covered with the
most elaborate carving and sculpture work. Every
individual stone has a pattern carved on it, and this
wonderful carving is estimated to have cost three
times as much as the erection of the building itself.
“Most people would be of opinion that a building
four times as large would produce a greater and more
imposing effect ; but this is not the way a Hindu
ever looked at the matter. Infinite labour bestowed
on every detail was the mode in which he thought
he could render his temple most worthy of the Deity ;
and, whether he was right or wrong, the effect of the
whole is certainly marvellously beautiful. . . . The sculp-
ture is of a very high order and great beauty of design "
(Fergusson, p. 422).
* It is scarcely necessary to inform our readers that all the facts
embodied in this chapter are from Dr. Fergusson’s excellent and
exhaustive work on the History of Indian and Æastern Architecture.
2
2
2
PUR ANIC 'ERIOD. ſhook v.
The ſat famed “ Black Pºgoda" of Kanarak, of which
Thll, GREAT TISM PLI. Ol' Bll UVANESVARA.
the porch now alone remains, is supposed to have been

cii Ap. ix.] HINDU AND JAINA ARCHITECTURE. 223
built in 1241 A.D. ; but Dr. Fergusson maintains, with
good reason, that it was built in 850 or 873 A.D. The
floor is 4o feet Square ; the roof slopes inward till it
contracts to about 20 feet, where it is ceiled with one
flat, stone roof supported by wrought-iron beams 2 I or
23 feet long, showing a knowledge of forging iron which
has been lost to the Hindus since. The exterior is carved
“with infinite beauty and variety on all their twelve faces,
and the antefixoe at the angles, and bricks are used with
an elegance and judgment a true Yavana could hardly
have surpassed " (Fergusson, p. 428).
Next we come to the great temple of Jagannatha at
Puri, built after the Vaishnava faith had supplanted the
Saiva religion as the prevailing creed of Orissa. It is not
merely the change in creed, but the degeneracy in the
spirit of Hinduism that is stamped on this later edifice of
I 174 A.D. “It is not, however, only in the detail, but
the outline, the proportions, and every arrangelyent of
the temple show that the art, in this province at least, had
received a fatal downward impetus from which it never
recovered " (Fergusson, p. 430).
The Vimana of this temple is 85 feet across the
centre, and rises to a height of 192 feet; with the porch
the total length is 155 feet; while with the Nata Mandir
and the Bhoga Mandir it is, like the Great Temple of
Bhuvanesvara, 3oo feet in length.
The province of Bundelkund is rich in ancient Hindu
temples, richer than any other province in Northern India,
except Orissa. Khajuraho in Bundelkund boasts of a
group of some thirty great temples, nearly all of which
belong to the century from 950 to 1 o'So A. D.; the first cen-
tury, as our readers will remember, of Rajput Supremacy
succeeding to the dark age of political convulsions. An
excellent woodcut given in Dr. Fergusson's work, of one
of these temples, shows the modification which the Orissa
style had undergone. The one tall Vimana is surrounded
by a number of smaller Vimanas, adjoining to it on all
2 24 PU IN.A N IC 121.1& IOD. [BOOK. V.
sides. The basement is high, and is surrounded by three
rows of sculptured figures. General Cunningham counted
872 statues, mixed up with a profusion of vegetable forms
and conventional details. The height of the temple is
I 16 feet, i.e., 88 feet above its floor, and the outward
appearance is elaborately ornate and rich.
In Bhopal territory there is a perfect example of a
temple of the eleventh century. It was built by a king
of Malwa in IoGo A. D. The Vimana is ornamented by
four flat bands of great beauty and elegance, and the
Amalaka surmounting it is also exquisite in design.
The carving on the temple is marked throughout by
precision and delicacy.
Pass we on to Rajputana. Among the celebrated ruins
of Chittore we have seen the temples built by the queen
of Kumbhu. Kumbhu was a great conqueror, and was a
Jaina by faith, and erected the Jaina temple at Sadri and
the marble pillar of victory at Chittore. His queen,
Meera Bye, seems to have been an orthodox Hindu, and
built two temples (1418-1468 A.D.), which are now in
ruins, and overgrown with trees. The style both of the
Vimana and of the porch is, of course, that of the Orissa
temples. There is a colonnade round the temple, with
four little pavilions at the four corners, and this is repea-
ted in the portico.
There are specimens of ancient temples in the Maha-
rashtra country, but neither so rich nor so numerous as
in Orissa. The interest of the Maharatta temples consists
in the fact that here the Orissa or North Indian style
struggles with the Dravidian or South Indian style for
supremacy. The Mahrattas are a people of the Dravidian
race, but their early contact with the Aryans and assump-
tion of Aryan civilisation inclined them to adopt the
Aryan or North Indian style. Hence traces of both
styles are observable in their structures.
While specimens of early temple architecture are thus
numerous in Orissa, in Bundelkund, in Malwa, in Maha-
CJIAP. IX.] H IN 1) U AND JA INA ARCII ITECTURE. 225
rashtra, and in Rajputana, why are they so rare in the
very home of the Indo-Aryans, in the basin of the Ganges
and the Jumna 2 The reply is obvious. In the twelfth
century the Mahommedans conquered the basin of the
Ganges and the Jumna, and not only demolished the old
existing temples to raise mosques and minars with the
stone, but effectually stopped the further progress of
temple architecture. A vigorous progress in arts is not
possible when political life is extinct ; and such feeble
attenipts as might otherwise have been witnessed were
stopped by the bigoted conquerors. Hindu independence
still lingered in Rajputana, Maharashtra, Malwa, Bundel-
kund, and Orissa ; and hence in those provinces we find
older temples left uninjured, and later temples erected.
A great temple was built at Vrindavana by Man Sing,
under the tolerant emperor Akbar ; but it is said the
lofty spire of the temple offended the eyes of the very
devout Aurungzebe, and the temple was knocked down.
Every visitor to Vrindavana has seen what remains of
this temple, which has to some extent been restored by
the British Government.
Temple architecture still adhered, though with consi-
derable modifications, to the old Orissa style, but adopted
new designs from the Saracenic style. We see this in
the modern temples of Benares, in the temple of Visves-
vara, for instance. The original Vimana of the Orissa
temple is attenuated, and multiplied so as to form a
number of small Vimanas round the central one ; and the
porch, instead of having the conical roof of Orissa, has a
dome of the Saracenic style, very elegant, but not in
keeping with the style of the temple. In Bengal a new
element of beauty was borrowed from the gracefully bent
roofs of the ordinary thatched huts of the people. Temples
built of stone are almost unknown in Bengal, but brick
temples dedicated to Siva are built, with their cornices
gracefully bent in imitation of thatched roofs, and the
walls are sometimes covered with elaborate designs in
VOL. l I. - 29
226 PUR ANYC PER Of). [Book v.
terra-cotta. The pointed arches in these temples are
borrowed from the Saracenic style, and altogether the
modern Bengal temples of Siva are about as wide a
departure from the original North Indian style as could
well be imagined.
Jaina architecture in Northern India adopted the
Orissa type of Vimana, but in course of time resorted to
the graceful Saracenic dome also. The practice of group-
ing temples is more largely resorted to by Jainas than by
the followers of any other religion. Rich individuals,
belonging to the middle classes, contribute temple after
temple from century to century ; and while each indi-
vidual temple lacks the grandeur of Hindu temples built
by royal command, the collection of temples in course of
time converts a hill-side or a sacred spot into a city
of temples. Such are the temples of Palitana in Gujrat,
some of which are as old as the eleventh century, and
the latest of which have been constructed in the present
century. The shrines in hundreds cover the summits
of two extensive hills and the valley lying between, and
the general effect of the entire collection of edifices is
Superb.
Girnar is a spot celebrated in Indian history. Asoka
the Great carved a copy of his Edicts there, and kings
of the Shah and the Gupta lines recorded their in-
scriptions. Groups of Jaina temples have been erected
here since the tenth century, one of them by the
brothers Tejpala and Bastupala, builders of one of the
famous temples of Abu. Not far from the hill of Girnar
was the ancient temple of Somnath, destroyed by Mahmud
of Guzni.
But the pride of Jaina architecture are the two un-
rivalled temples at Abu, * Alone among the temples
* Abu is not far from the nearest railway station. The present
writer visited the spot in 1883, proceeding by a winding path up the
lsill, sixteen miles in length. But another road less than halſ as long
was under construction.
CHAP. IX.] HINDU AND JAINA ARCHITECTURE. 227
of India, they are built entirely of white marble, which
must have been quarried and taken from a distance
of over 300 miles. One of these temples was built
by Vimala Shah about 1 of 2, and the other, as stated
above, by the brothers Tejpala and Bastupala between
* 197 and 1247. The porch is supported on elegant
pillars exquisitely carved, and the inside of the dome is
ornamented with elegant and exquisite designs unequalled
in India.
SOUTHERN INDIAN STYLE.
We now turn to the Southern Indian or Dravidian
style, which is entirely distinct from the Northern style.
Roughly speaking, the structures of the Peninsula south
of the Krishna river are built in this style.
No connection between the Buddhist style and the
style of the structural edifices in Northern India has
been traced. The style of the earliest temples in Orissa
shows no traces of the Buddhist style. The oldest of
those temples are perfect structural edifices—perfect in
their design and execution—and the history of the style
can be traced no further backwards.
The Dravidian or Southern style, however, is shown
to have grown out of the Buddhist style of excavation.
The earliest existing specimens of Dravidian temples
were excavated, not built. And in their latest develop-
ments, the Dravidian built edifices still bore marks of
their origin.
Ellora is far to the north of the river Krishna. There
can be little doubt, however, judging from the design
and construction, that the edifices at Ellora belong to
the Dravidian type. The temple of Kailasa was erected
in the eighth or ninth century, and the Dravidians
of the south, the mighty Cholas, are supposed to
have extended their conquests northward about this
period, during the eclipse of the power of the Chalu-
kyas. This explains the existence of this remarkable
228 PURANIC PRRIOD, [BOOK. v.
specimen of the Dravidian style so ſar to the north of
the Krishna river. -
An extensive pit 27 of et by 150 feet is excavated in
the solid rock. In the centre of this rectangle stands
the temple, with a Vimana 80 to 90 feet high, a large
porch supported by sixteen columns, a detached porch
connected by a bridge, and a Gopura or gateway. There
are besides two dipadans or lamp-posts, and cells all
round. It is on the model of a complete structural temple,
but carved out of solid rock ; and the monolithic char-
acter of these vast edifices gives to them an air of solidity,
strength, and grandeur which strikes all beholders. The
cells all round are in imitation of Buddhist edifices, but
each of the seven cells is devoted to a separate Hindu
deity. The arrangement shows the Hindu style emerg: .
ing out of the older Buddhist style.
When we turn from the rock-cut temples to the
structural temples of Southern India, we are struck
with the very recent dates which must be. assigned t(),
fill the greatest and best among them. Temple archi-
jecture in the Southern style, was carried on with re-
markable vigour and assiduity in the south of the
Krishna, river, during the long centuries when, Northern
ndia and even the Deccan were under, the Musalman.
rule. And the temple builders of the south did not rest
from their labours, until the English. and the French,
were struggling for mastery in the Carnatic in the last.
century ! One of the oldest of the great, structural
temples in the south, is the Great Pagoda, of Tanjore ;
but no earlier date than the fourteenth century, can be,
claimed for it, and it is supposed to have been built by.
a king of Conjeveram—the classic Kanchi. The perpen-
dicular base is two storeys, in height, and above this the
construction tapers, like a pyramid, rising in thirteen,
storeys to the summit, which is crowned by a dome said.
to consist of one single massive stone. The total height
is 190 feet, and the appearance of this magnificent struc-
CHAP. IX.] HINDU AND JAINA ARCHITECTURE. 220
ture is elegant and graceſul. Sufficiently removed in
style from the rock-cut temples of Ellora, it nevertheless
bears traces of the same design.
º:
º º -
º º
- ºr.
- º º *
º --~~~~
º º
º
THE GREAT PAGoDA OF TANJORE.
One of the most venerated and most ancient of the
temples of Southern India is that of Chillambaram, on
the sea-coast, a little to the north of the mouth of the

23O PU R.ANIC PERIOD. [BOOK v.
Kaveri river. It was certainly commenced in the tenth
or eleventh century, but the most imposing edifices of
the temple have been built in the fifteenth, sixteenth,
and seventeenth centuries. To these centuries must be
assigned the great Gopuras or gateways, the temple of
Parvati, and the magnificent hall of 1 ooo columns. The
porch of the temple of Parvati is remarkably elegant. The
pillars of the hall of rooo columns are arranged 24 in
front and 41 in depth, and this “forest of granite pillars,
each of a single stone, and all more or less carved and
ornamented,” produces a grandeur of effect.
The magnificent temple at Seringham, close to Tanjore,
was built in the last century ; and indeed the progress of
the building was stopped by its being occupied and forti-
fied by the French in their ten years’ struggle with the
English for the possession of Trichinopoly. The fourteen
or fifteen elaborately carved and ornamented gateways
produce an imposing effect when viewed from a distance.
But there is no central and superior structure rising above
the rest, and this is a want common to nearly all the great
temples of Southern India. They are all more or less
collections of structures, bewildering in their richness and
beauty, but the eye does not rest on any central imposing
structure, as in the temples of Northern India.
Madura boasts of a great temple, commenced, it is said,
in the sixteenth century, but the temple itself was built by
Trimulla Nayak in the seventeenth century. It is a great
rectangle, about 720 feet by 840 feet, possessing nine
Gopuras and a hall of Iooo columns, whose sculptures
and elaborate designs excel those of most other edifices
of the class. Besides the temple, Madura also has a far-
famed Choultrie, also built by the same Nayak for the
reception of the presiding deity on the occasion of his
visit of ten days to the king. It is a great hall 333 feet
by IoS feet, consisting of four ranges of columns, all of
which are different, and most elaborately carved.
In one of that chain of islands which seem to connect
c11A1, 1X.] HINDU AND JAINA ARCHITECTURE. 23 I
India with Ceylon, stands the celebrated temple of Rames-
seram, exhibiting all the beauties of the Dravidian style in
their greatest perfection. Like the structures of Madura,
this temple (with the exception of a humble and ancient
Vimana) was built in the seventeenth century. Externally
the temple is enclosed by a wall 868 feet by 672 feet and
20 feet high, with four great Gopuras on the four sides,
one of which alone has been finished. The glory of the
temple, however, is in its corridors, extending to a total
length of nearly 4ooo feet. The breadth varies from 20 to
30 feet, and the height is 30 feet. “No engraving . . . can
convey the impression produced by such a display of labour
when extended to an uninterrupted length of 7 oo feet.
None of our cathedrals are more than 500 feet, and even the
nave of St.Peter's is only 600 feet from the door to the apse.
Here the side corridors are 7 oo feet long, and open into
transverse galleries as rich in detail as themselves. These,
with the varied devices and modes of lighting, produce an
effect that is not equalled certainly anywhere in India. . . .
Here we have corridors extending to 4ooo feet, carved
on both sides, and in the hardest granite. It is the
immensity of the labour here displayed that impresses us
much more than its quality, and that, combined with a
certain picturesqueness and mystery, produce an effect
which is not surpassed by any other temple in India, and
by very few elsewhere’’ (Fergusson, p. 358).
The classic town of Conjeveram or Kanchi possesses
temples as picturesque and nearly as vast as any that are
found elsewhere. In Great Conjeveram there is the Great
Temple, with some large Gopuras and a hall of Iooo
columns, fine Mantapas, and large tanks with flights of
stairs,
Our readers will remember that the Hindu kingdom of
Vijayanagara was the last great Hindu kingdom in
Southern India, and maintained its independence for
over two centuries, from 1344 to 1565 A.D. Architecture
flourished, together with learning, and the study of the
232 PURANIC PERIOD. [Book v.
Vedas ; and there is hardly a town in all India in which
ruins exist in such profusion as in this last seat of Hindu
learning and glory.
The temple of Vitopa has an elegant and tasteful porch,
wholly in granite, and carved with a boldness and power
nowhere surpassed in buildings of this class. Numerous
other edifices and temples of great beauty and extent
attest to the power and activity of the Vijayanagara
kings. -
The master works of these kings, however, are not
in the town, but in a place called Tarputry, about 1oo
miles to the south-east of Vijayanagara. Two Gopuras
belonging to a now deserted temple stand there, one of,
them quite finished, and the other not carried beyond
the perpendicular part. “The whole of the perpendicular
part is covered with the most elaborate Sculpture, cut
with exquisite sharpness and precision in a fine close-
grained hornblende stone, and produces an effect richer,
and on the whole, perhaps, in better taste than anywhere
else in this style” (Fergusson, p. 375).
Turning 11ow to the architecture of the Southern
Jainas, we find that they generally adopted the Dravidian
style, as the Northern Jainas adopted the Orissa style.
On the Chandragiri hill there is a group of fifteen temples.
Inside each temple is a court surrounded by cloisters,
at the back of which rises the Vimana over the cell con-
taining the principal image of the Tirthankara.
Besides the temples, the Southern Jainas have in some
places erected colossal statues such as are wholly un-
known in the north. They are said to be statues of
a Gomata Raja, and it is supposed that some vague
recollections of Gautama Buddha as a prince or raja
have given rise to the construction of these images.
One of them at Sravana Belgula attracted the atten-
tion of the Duke of Wellington, then Sir A. Wellesley,
when he commanded a division at the siege of Seringa-
patam. It is a statue 7o feet 3 inches in height, hewn, it
chap. ix.) HINDU AND JAINA ARCHITECTURE. 233
is supposed, out of a solid hill which formerly stood there.
“Nothing grander or more imposing exists anywhere out
of Egypt, and even there no known statue surpasses it in
height ° (Fergusson, p. 268).
DECCAN STYLE.
We have spoken of two distinct styles of Hindu archi-
tecture, one the Orissa or Northern Indian style, prevail-
ing in the country north of the Vindhya mountains, and
the other the Dravidian or Southern Indian style, prevail-
ing in the country south of the Krishna river. There is
a third style, however, which Dr. Fergusson calls the
Chalukyan style, and which prevails between the Vindhya
range and the Krishna river, i.e., in the country now
known as the Deccan. The style has not been thoroughly
studied yet, as the Nizam's dominions are comparatively
speaking yet unexplored ; and it is probable, too, that few
ancient Hindu monuments have there survived the unin-
terrupted reign of Musalmans during several centuries.
The best examples of that style yet known are preserved
in the province of Mysore, which, though south of the
Krishna, developed the Chalukyan style.
The peculiar feature of this style is that the temples
have a polygonical or star-shaped base; the walls rise
perpendicular to some height, and then the roof is pyra-
midical, tapering to a point.
Our readers will remember that the Ballalas ruled
supreme in Mysore and the Carnatic from about 1 ooo
A.D. to 13 Io A. D., and three remarkable groups of temples
were erected by this great dynasty. The first one, at
Somnathpur, was built by Vinaditya Ballala who ascended
the throne in Io.43. The height of this temple is only 30
feet, but it is characterised by a remarkable elegance of
outline and elaboration of detail. The second, at Baillur,
was erected by Vishnu Vardhana about I I I 4, and consists
of a principal temple surrounded by four or five others,
and numerous subordinate buildings, enclosed by a high
wall, with two fine Gopuras. The richness and variety of
*WOL. II. 3O
234 PURAN TC PER10ſ, ſt:(YYK. W.
pattern displayed in the twenty-eight windows are remark-
able : and the richly carved base on which they rest is
still more so. The third and last group of temples of the
Pallala kings is at Hulkabid. A tenople here, called Kaet
Isvara, was probably erected by Vijaya, the fifth king of
the dynasty. “From the basement to the summit it is
covered with sculptures of the very best class of Indian
art, and these so arranged as not materially to interfere
with the outlines of the building, while they impart to it
an amount of richness only to be found among specimens
of Hindu art. If it were possible to illustrate this temple
in anything like completeness, there is probably nothing in
India which would convey a better idea of what its archi-
tects were capable of accomplishing ” (Fergusson, p. 397).
The temple of Kaet Isvara is, however, surpassed in
magnificence by its neighbour, the great double temple at
Hullabid. Had this double temple been completed, it is
one of the buildings on which, as Dr. Fergusson puts it,
the advocate of Hindu architecture would desire to take
his stand. Unfortunately the work was never completed,
having been stopped by the Mahommedan conquest in
1310 A.D., after it had been in progress for eighty-six years.
“It is of course impossible to illustrate completely so
complicated and so varied a design . . . The building
stands on a terrace ranging from 5 feet to 6 feet in height,
and paved with large slabs. On this stands a frieze of
elephants, following all the sinuosities of the plan, and
extending to some 7 to feet in length, and containing not
less than 2000 elephants, most of them with the riders
and trappings sculptured as only an Oriental can repre-
sent the wisest of brutes. Above these there is a frieze
of “Shardulas,” or conventional lions, the emblems of the
Hoisala Bellalas who built the temple. Then comes a scroll
of infinite beauty and variety of design ; over these a frieze
of horsemen and another scroll, over which is a bas-relief
of scenes from the Ramayana, representing the conquest
of Ceylon and all the varied incidents of the epic. This,
• A * • -- ~ *
on ºf 18 || || INDU AND JAINA ARCHITECTURE.
2.35
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KAET ISV Alvº TLMPLE,

2 36 PU R A NIC PER1OD. [BOOK. Y.
like the other, is 7oo feet long. . . . Then come celes-
tial beasts and celestial birds, and all along the east front
a frieze of groups from human life, and then a cornice
with a rail divided into panels, each containing two
figures. Over these are windows of pierced slabs, like
those of Baillur, though not so rich or varied. . . . In
the centre, in place of the windows, is first a scroll, and
then a frieze of gods and heavenly Apsaras, dancing girls,
and other objects of Hindu mythology. This frieze,
which is about 5 feet 6 inches in height, is continued all
round the western front of the building, and extends to
some 4oo feet in length. Siva, with his consort Parvati
seated on his knee, is repeated at least fourteen times.
Vishnu in his nine Avatars, even oftener, Brahma
occurs three or four times, and every god of the Hindu
Pantheon finds his place. Some of these are carved with
a minute elaboration of detail which can only be repro-
duced by photography, and may probably be considered
as one of the most marvellous exhibitions of human labour
to be found even in the patient East ’’ (Pergusson, p. 401).
We have made this long extract from Dr. Fergusson's
work to give our readers an idea of the sculptures and
elaborate carving of which we have spoken so often in
describing almost every temple and Vimana, porch and
Gopura. A Hindu temple is nothing if not profusely
ornate and elaborately carved ; and that wonderful and
endless carving and sculpture work covers every religious
edifice in India, from Orissa and Rajputana to Mysore
and Ramesseram. We will now conclude this chapter
with some thoughtful observations which the elaborate
carving of the Hullabid temple suggests to our author,
whom we have so often quoted in this chapter.
“If it were possible to illustrate the Hullabid temple to
such an extent as to render its peculiarities familiar, there
would be few things more interesting or more instructive
than to institute a comparison between it and the Parthe-
non at Athens. Not that the two buildings are at all like
cr; Ap. ix.] HINDU ANI, JAINA ARCHITECTURE. 237
one, another ; on the contrary, they form the two opposite
poles, the alpha and omega of architectural design : but
they are the best examples of their class, and between
these two extremes lies the whole range of the art.
“The Parthenon is the best example we know of pure
refined intellectual power applied to the production of an
architectural design. Every part and every effect is cal-
culated with mathematical exactness, and executed with a
mechanical precision that never was equalled. . . . The
sculpture is exquisitely designed to aid the perfection of
the masonry, severe and god-like, but with no conde-
scension to the lower feelings of humanity.
“The Hullabid temple is the opposite of all this. It is
regular, but with a studied variety of outline in plan and
even greater variety in detail. All the pillars of the
Parthenon are identical, while no two facets of the Indian
temple are the same ; every convolution of every scroll is
different. No two canopies in the whole building are
alike, and every part exhibits a joyous exuberance of fancy
scorning every mechanical restraint. All that is wild in
human faith or warm in human feeling is found portrayed
on these walls ; but of pure intellect there is little, less
than there is of human feeling in the Parthenon. . .
“For our purpose, the great value of the study of
these Indian examples is that it widens so immensely our
basis for architectural criticism. It is only by becoming
familiar with forms so utterly dissimilar from those we
have hitherto been conversant with, that we perceive how
narrow is the purview that is content with one form or
one passing fashion. By rising to this wider range,
we shall perceive that architecture is as many-sided as
human nature itself, and learn how few feelings and how
few aspirations of the human heart and brain there are
that cannot be expressed by its means” (Fergusson, p. 403).
These thoughtful and philosophical observations on
architecture naturally suggest some reflections to the
student of history. Why is it that the architecture of
238 PU l'. A N I (" !? J. R. I () |). [book v.
India displays what l)r. Fergusson calls a lack of “pure
intellect " ? Why is it, again, that the same architecture
displays such a joyous exuberance of fancy and “pure
feeling”—such an uncontrollable desire to represent on
religious edifices the teeming millions of living creatures,
with all their humble feelings and hopes and fears, their
every-day occupation, their wars and triumphs, their toil
and their sorrows, and even their sins P
The first question is easily answered. There was no
lack of “pure intellect” in the land of Kapila and Kalidasa,
but there was a disinclination, unfortunately, among the
upper classes to apply themselves to vocations requiring
manual exertion. And when the caste-system was once
fully formed, this disinclination to physical exertion be-
came a part of the social rules for the upper castes. It was
impossible that the thinking population, the Kshatriyas
and the Brahmans, should apply themselves to carving
and sculpture, and intellect of the higher order was thus
divorced for ever from these fine arts. The artisan
classes possessed that wonderful skill in decorative art
which characterises the Hindus in all branches of in-
dustry, and they acquired that facility in workmanship
which the experience of centuries teaches. No labour
was too gigantic for them to attempt; no design was too
minute or elaborate for them to accomplish. But, never-
theless, to the very close of the Hindu period they re-
mained artisans—generations of skilled workers, and
nothing more. The wonderful edifices with which they
have covered India, under the bidding of the priest or
the king, are remarkable, more for the gigantic labour and
the minute and endless elaboration which they display,
than for any lofty intellectual conception, any design of a
creative mind. And among the thousands of graceful,
pleasing, and natural figures and faces of men and women,
which simple observation of nature taught the artisans to
copy in stone in every temple and porch, we shall in vain
seek for that high order of intellectual conception which
(11AP. IX.] I I IN 1) U \N 1) JAINA A [RC | | | | | C'ſ (JR 1. 239
marks the marbles of Greece and Rome. A Phoedias and
a Michael Angelo were in possible in India.
For a reply to the second inquiry, we must seek for
deeper causes. Not only in the temples of Greece, but in
the churches of mediaeval and modern Lurope, religious
designs and subjects have been thought appropriate for
religious edifices, Painted windows, representing scenes
from the life of Christ and other holy subjects, beautify
the churches of Protestant nations ; and marble images
of the Virgin and the Child, of Saints and of holy persons,
decorate and fill Catholic cathedrals. In India the count-
less temples of gods are sculptured, not only with the
images of gods and goddesses, but with a representation
of the whole universe, animate and inanimate ; of men
and women in their daily Occupations, their wars, tri-
umphs, and processions ; of aerial and imaginary beings,
Gandharvas and Apsaras, and dancing girls ; of horses,
snakes, birds, elephants, and lions ; of trees and creepers
of various kinds; of all that the sculptor could think of
and his art could depict.
To the Hindu the problem suggest its own solution,
The idea of religion in Europe is connected with the
glory of God and the teachings of Christ, with sermons
in churches and pious acts. To the Hindu, his whole
life in all its minute acts is a part of his religion. Not
only moral precepts, but the rules of social and domestic
life, of eating and drinking and behaviour to feilow-men
and fellow-creatures, are a part of his religion. It is his
religion which teaches the warrior to fight, the learned,
man to prosecute his studies and contemplation, the
artisan to ply his trade, and all men to regulate their
conduct towards each other. The very conception of
Brahman in the Upanishads, and in all later religious
writings, is the all-embracing universe : all is an emanation
from Him ; all returns to Him. The very signification of
the word Dharma in the ancient Dharma Sastras is not
religion in the modern sense of the word, but the totality
24 O PUR,\ NIC PERIO D. (BOOk v.
of human duties and of human life in all its occupations,
pursuits, and daily actions. Dharma regulates studies,
occupations, and trades. Dharma regulates eating and
drinking and the enjoyments of life. Dharma lays down
civil and criminal law, and the rules of inheritance.
Dharma rules men and the animal and vegetable king-
doms below, and Saints and gods above. So compre-
hensive is this term, that it denotes even the qualities of
inanimate objects; it is the Dharma of the fire to burn,
of trees to grow, of water to seek the lowest level. And
though the modern Hindu is far removed in ideas from
his ancestors, yet even to this day the whole life of an
orthodox and religious Hindu is controlled by rules and
sanctions which he calls his Dharma, rules regulating
every act and every word in political, social, and domestic
life. The distinction between the sacred and the secular
is foreign to the spirit of Hinduism. Every rule of con-
duct is a part of Dharma.
Such being the absorbing notion of religion annong the
Hindus, they endeavoured to represent this idea in their
architecture and sculpture. Nothing was excluded from
the sacred precincts of temples, not even the humblest
Occupation of the daily labourer, not even sorrows, suffer-
ings, and sins. The universe has emanated from the Deity
to whom the architects dedicated their temples, and, as far
as their humble skill and untiring industry permitted, they
sought to represent the universe on those temples. The
proud and the lowly, the rational and the irrational, the
animate and the inanimate, yea the whole world with its
joys and sorrows, are comprehended in the notion of
Hindu religion ; and the Hindu sought to realise that
all-embracing notion, and to depict the universe on the
imperishable monuments of his industry and his faith !
CHAPTER X.
AS 7'A'OAVO,7 V, .4/. CAEA RA A/VZ) .4/º/Z'//.]//Z Z'/C.
CoLEBROOKE was the first European writer who thoroughly
inquired into the subject of Hindu algebra, arithmetic,
and astronomy; and no more careful or impartial writer
has written since on the subject, though it has been
repeatedly discussed by later scholars. We make no
apology, therefore, in quoting some remarks which Cole-
brooke recorded over seventy years ago on Hindu
algebra.
“The Hindus had certainly made distinguished pro-
gress in the science so early as the century immediately
following that in which the Grecians taught the rudi-
ments of it. The Hindus had the benefit of a good
arithmetical notation ; the Greeks the disadvantage of
a bad one. Nearly allied as algebra is to arithmetic, the
invention of the algebraic calculus was more easy and
natural where arithmetic was best handled. No such
marked identity of the Hindu and Diophantine systems
is observed as to demonstrate communication. They are
sufficiently distinct to justify the presumption that both
might be invented independently of each other.
“If, however, it be insisted that a hint or suggestion,
the seed of their knowledge, may have reached the Hindu
mathematicians immediately from the Greeks of Alexandria
or mediately through those of Bactrin, it must, at the same
time, be confessed that a slender germ grew and fructified
rapidly, and soon attained an approved state of maturity
in Indian soil.” " -
*Algebra, &c., from ſhe Sanscrit. London, 1817, p. xxii.
WOL. II. 24 I 3 &
2.42 PU R ANIC PERIOD, [Book. v.
Equally worthy of our consideration are the same
author’s remarks on Hindu astronomy. “The Hindus had
undoubtedly made some progress at an early period in the
astronomy cultivated by them for the regulation of time.
Their calendar, both civil and religious, was governed
chiefly, not exclusively, by the moon and sun ; and the
motions of these luminaries were carefully observed by
them : and with such success, that their determination of
the moon's synodical revolution, which was what they were
principally concerned with, is a much more correct one
than the Greeks ever achieved. They had a division of
the ecliptic into twenty-seven or twenty-eight parts,”
suggested evidently by the moon's period in days; and
seemingly their own : it was certainly borrowed by the
Arabians. Being led to the observation of the fixed stars,
they obtained a knowledge of the position of the most
remarkable ; and noticed for religious purposes, and from
superstitious notions, the heliacal rising with other pheno-
mena of a few. The adoration of the sun, of the planets,
and of the stars, in common with the worship of the
elements, had a principal place in their rehigious observ.
ances enjoined by the Vedas; and they were fed constantly
by piety to watch the heavenly bodies. They were par-
ticularly conversant with the most splendid of the primary
planets, the period of Jupiter being introduced by them,
in conjunction with those of the Sun and moon, into the
regulation of their calendar, Sacred and civil, in the form
of the celebrated cycle of sixty years.” + -
While Hindu astronomy is as old as the Vedas, ther
can be little doubt that after the Christian Era the
science received much development from Greek sources.
We have seen in the last Book that the Siddhanſas of
the Buddhist Age were greatly indebted to Greek astro-
momy. -
* This Lunar Zodiac was fixed, as we have seen before, in the
Epic Period, about 1200 B.C.
+ Hindee Algebra, &c., p. xxii. et seq.
CHAP, X.] ASTRONOMIY, ETC. 24.3
The Solar Zodiac, for instance, adopted by the Hindus,
was undoubtedly of Greek origin. This Hindu “divi-
sion of the zodiac into twelve signs, represented by
the same figures of animals, and named by words of
the same import with the zodiacal signs of the Greeks,”
leaves little doubt that the Hindus after the Christian
Era “received hints from the astronomical schools of
the Greeks.” -
Aryabhatta is the first Hindu writer on algebra and
astronomy in the Puranic Age. He was born, as he tells
us himself, in A.D. 476. He wrote the Aryabhattiya,
consisting of the Gitikapada, the Ganitapada, the Kala-
kriyapada, and the Golapada. -
The work has now been edited by Dr. Kern, and in
this work the astronomer boldly maintains the theory of
the revolution of the earth on its own axis, and the true
cause of solar and lunar eclipses. “As a person in a
vessel, while moving forward,” says Aryabhatta, “ sees an
immovable object moving backward, in the same nanner
do the stars, though immovable, seem to move daily.”
Aryabhatta's explanation of the eclipses seems to have
been generally known to his contemporaries, for we find
Kalidasa in his Raghuvansa (XIV, 40) weaving the astro-
nomical discovery into one of his apt similes, and stating
“what in reality is only the shadow of the earth is regarded
by the people as an impurity of the pure moon.” In his
Golapada, Aryabhatta gives us the names of the twelve
divisions of the Solar Zodiac. Aryabhatta's calculation of
the earth's circumference (3300 Yojanas, of four Krosas
each) is not wide of the mark.
Aryabhatta was born in Pataliputra, the ancient
capital of Asoka the Great, and wrote early in the
sixth century. The revival of learning in that century
was not confined to Ujjayini, although that city carried
away the palm under the auspices of the illustrious
Vikramaditya.
* Hindie A/ºehra, &c., p. xxiv.
244 PUR ANIC PRERIOD, [BOOK V.
Aryabhatta's successor, Varahamihira, was a true born
son of Avanti. He was born in Avanti, and was the son
of Aditya Dasa, himself an astronomer. The Ujjayini list
compiled by Dr. Hunter, as well as Alberuni, give A.D. 505
as Varahamihira's date, and it is probable that this was
the date of his birth. We have already stated before that
he was one of the “nine gems ” of Vikrama's court, and it
has been ascertained by Dr. Bhao Daji that the astronomer
died in 587 A.D. -
He compiled in his famous Panchasiddhantika five
older Siddhantas, viz., Paulisa, Romaka, Vasishtha, Saura,
and Paitamaha. We have spoken of these Siddhantas,
in the last Book. t ,
Varahamihira is also the author of . Brihat Sanhita,
which has been edited by Dr. Kern. . It is a work con-
sisting of no less than 1 oé chapters, dealing, with various
subjects. The first twenty chapters relate to the sun,
moon, earth, and planets; chapters 2 I to 39 deal with
rain, winds, earthquakes, meteors, rainbow, dust-storms,
thunderbolts, &c. ; chapters 40 to 42 treat of plants and
vegetables, and commodities which are available in dif-
ferent seasons; chapters 43 to 6o speak of various mis-
cellaneous matters, including portents, house-building,
gardening, temples, images, &c.; chapters 61 to 78 deal
with various animals, and with men and women, &c.;
chapters 79 to 85 treat of precious stones, furniture, &c.;
chapters 86 to 96 treat of various Omens ; and chapters
97 to 106, of various matters, including marriages, the
divisions of the zodiac, &c.
The above enumeration of contents carries no adequate
idea of the encyclopaedic nature of this great work. The
amount of general information which it contains, apart
from its merit as an astronomical work, is of the utmost
value to the historian. Thus, chapter 14 is a complete
geography of India of the sixth century, and mentions the
names of numerous provinces and towns. Chapters 41
and 42 contain an enurneration of a vast number of com-
CHA p. x.] ASTRONOMY, ETC, 245
modities, vegetable and manufactured, which is of the
utmost value for a detailed examination of the civilisation
of the age. So chapters 61 to 67 speak of various animals,
and chapters 79 to 85 of various articles, from a diamond
to a toothbrush | Chapter 58 is of special interest to us,
because it lays down rules for the construction of various
images, viz., Rama, Bali, Vishnu with 8 or 4 or 2 hands,
Baladeva, a goddess between Krishna and Baladeva,
Samba, Brahma with four faces, Indra, Siva and his con-
sort, Buddha, the god of the Arhats (Buddhist saints), the
Sun, the Linga, Yama, Varuna, Kuvera, and Ganesa with
his elephant head. And in chapter 6o we are told that
Bhagavatas worship Vishnu, the Magas worship the Sun,
and the twice-born, smeared with ashes, worship Siva ;
the Matris are worshipped by those who know them, and
Brahmans worship Brahma. The Sakyas and the naked
Jainas worship the all-benevolent and calm-Souled god
(Buddha). “Each sect should worship, according to its
peculiar rules, the deity whom it worships.” These pas-
sages attest the toleration of the sixth century A.D. ;
a Hindu after the time of Sankaracharya would not
thus enumerate the “all-benevolent” and “calm-souled ”
Buddha in the list of deities.
In the following century Brahmagupta wrote (in 628
A.D.) his Brahma Sphuta Siddhanta. The work comprises
twenty-one chapters. The first ten contain an astronomical
system, describing the true places of the planets, the cal-
culation of lunar and solar eclipses, the position of the
moon’s cusps, the conjunctions of planets and stars, &c.
The next ten chapters are supplementary; and the last
chapter explains the astronomical system in a treatise on
spherics. The twelfth and eighteenth chapters have been
translated by Colebrooke.
After Brahmagupta came the long period of the dark
age and political convulsions. When these ended in the
establishment of Rajput power in India, another great
mathematician arose. The renowned Bhaskaracharya was
246 PURANIC PERIOD. [BOOK v.
born, as he tells us, in I I 14 A.D., and completed his great
work known as the Siddhanta Siromani in 1150 A.D. The
preliminary portions of this work are the Vijaganita.
(algebra) and the Lilavati (arithmetic), and have been
translated by Colebrooke ; and the Goladhyaya portion on
spherical trigonometry has been translated by Wilkinson
and revised by the renowned mathematician, Pundit
Bapudeva Sastri.
There are solutions of remarkable problems in Bhas-
karacharya which were not achieved in Europe till the
Seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.* The science of
algebra indeed received a remarkable degree of develop-
ment in India ; the application of algebra to astronomical
investigations and to geometrical demonstrations, is a
peculiar invention of the Hindus ; and their manner of
Conducting it has received the admiration of modern
European mathematicians. ! t =
While such was the progress made in India in astro-
nomy, algebra, and arithmetic, the science of geometry
was lost ! The Hindus has discovered the first elemen-
tary laws of geometry in the eighth century before Christ,
and imparted it to the Greeks ; but as the construction
Of altars according to geometrical rules fell in to disuse,
geometry was neglected, and geometrical problems were
solved by algebra.
Arabian writers translated Hindu works on algebra in
the eighth century A.D., and Leonardo of Pisa first intro-
duced the science into modern Europe. In trigonometry,
* A striking history has been told of the problem, to find x so
that ax” + 6 shall be a square number. Fremat made some progress
towards solving this ancient problem, and sent it as a defiance to the
English algebraists in the seventeenth century. Euler finally solved
it, and arrived exactly at the point attained by Bhaskara in II 50 ! A
particular solution of another problem given by Bhaskara is exactly
the same as was discovered in Europe by Lord Brounker in 1657;
and the general solution of the same problem given by Brahmagupta
in the seventh century A.D. was unsuccessfully attempted by Euler,
and was only accomplished by De la Grange in 1767 A.D. The
favourite process of the Hindus known as the Ku'takz was not
known in Europe till published by Bachet de Mezeriac in 1624 A. D.
CHAP, X.] ASTRONOMY, ETC, 247.
too, the Hindus seem to have been the earliest teachers in
the world ; and in arithmetic they invented that system of
decimal notation which the Arabians borrowed from them
and taught in Europe, and which is now the property of
the human race, - -
C H A P T E R IX.
A/AE/D/C/AWAZ.
THE Hindu medical science unfortunately received less
attention from the earlier antiquarians than the other Indian
sciences, and the facts collected even up to the present
date are not nearly exhaustive. As early as 1823, Pro-
fessor H. H. Wilson published in the Oriental Magazine
a brief notice of Hindu medicines and medical works.
The indefatigable traveller and devoted scholar Csoma de
Koros gave a sketch of Hindu medical opinions as trans-
lated into the Thibetan language in the Journal of the
Asiatic Society for January 1835. Heyne and Ainslie
also collected much information on the subject of Hindu
medicines. And in 1837, Dr. Royle, of the King's College,
London, combined all the information available from the
above works, with many original researches of his own,
in his celebrated essay on the antiquity of Hindu medicine.
Our distinguished countryman, Madhusudan Gupta, who
first broke through modern prejudices against dissection,
and was Lecturer of Anatomy to the Medical College of Cal-
cutta, edited the ancient work on Hindu surgery known as
Susruta, and proved that the ancients had no silly preju-
dices against the pursuit of science in a scientific way. Dr.
Wise, late of the Bengal Medical Service, published in
1845 a commentary on the ancient Hindu system of medi-
cine; and later on he treated the subject ably and fully in
his Review of the History of Medicine published in London
in 1867. The subject has received more attention from
248
CHAP. XI.] , MEI) ICINE, 2.49
our countrymen since this date, and the patriotic physician,
Abinas Chandra Kaviratna, is now editing valuable editions
of Charaka and Susruta with commentaries.
In Europe the antiquity of Hindu medicine is not yet
generally known and recognised, and the habit of tracing
the origin of all Aryan culture to the Greeks still impedes
an impartial inquiry. As Dr. Wise justly remarks, “Facts
regarding the ancient history of medicine have been sought
for only in the classical authors of Greece and Rome,
and have been arranged to suit a traditional theory which
repudiated all systems which did not proceed from a
Grecian source. We are familiar from our youth with
classical history, and love to recall events illustrated by
the torch of genius and depicted on our memories ; and
it requires a thorough examination of a subject, a careful
weighing of new evidence, and a degree of ingenuousness
not always to be found, to alter early impressions. Still
candour and truth require us to examine the value of
new facts in history as they are discovered, so as to
arrive at just conclusions.” ”
The Greeks themselves did not lay claim to the honour
(which is now often claimed for them by modern writers)
of originating ancient culture generally, or the science of
medicine in particular. Nearchus (afted Arrian) informs
us that “the Grecian physicians found no remedy against
the bite of snakes, but the Indians cured those who
happened to incur that misfortune.” Arrian himself tells.
us that the Greeks “when indisposed applied to their
sophists (Brahmans), who, by wonderful, and even more
than human means, cured whatever would admit of cure.”
Dioscorides, who lived in the first century A.D., is the most
copious author on the Materia Medica of the ancients, and
Dr. Royle has in an exhaustive inquiry shown, how much
of his Materia Medica was taken from the more ancient
Materia Medica of the Hindus. # The same remark
* Review of the History of Medicine, Zn/roduction.
t Antiquity of Æindu Medicine, pp. 82 to IO4.
WQL. II,
3
2
25o PURANFC PERIOD. [BOOK v.
holds good with regard to Theophrasus, who lived in the
third century B.C., while even the physician Ctesias, who
lived in the fifth century B.c., wrote an account of India
which, Dr. H. H. Wilson has shown,” contains notices of
the natural products of India. But the chain of evidence
is complete when Hippocrates, called the “Father of
Medicine,” because he first cultivated the subject as a
science in Europe, is shown to have borrowed his Materia
Medica from the Hindus. We refer our readers for
evidence to Dr. Royle's excellent essay. “It is to the
Hindus,” says Dr. Wise, “we owe the first system of
medicine.”
Unfortunately, of the earliest system of Hindu medicine,
which was cultivated from the time of the Kurus and the
Panchalas to the age when all Hindu learning received
a scientific treatment (B.C. 14oo to 4oo), very little has
been left to us. Ancient medical science is generally
spoken of in later treatises as the Ayurveda. The word
probably never meant any particular treatise or work,
but was a collective name for ancient medical science,
as the ZOhanurzeda is a collective name for the ancient
science of archery and arms. The ancient Ayurveda or
medical science is said to have been divided into the
following sections or branches, which we take from Dr.
Wilson's analysis :—
(1.) Salya, the art of extracting extraneous substances,
like arrows, wood, earth, &c., with the treatment of the
inflammation and suppuration thereby induced ; and by
analogy, the cure of all phlegmonoid tumours and ab-
SCéSSCS.
(2.) Salakya, the treatment of external organic affec-
tions, or diseases of the eyes, ears, nose, &c. The word
is derived from Salaka, a thin sharp instrument, which
must have been in use from ancient times.
(3.) Kaya Chikitsa, the treatment of the body answer-
* In a paper read to the Ashmolean Society of Oxford.
CHAP. XI.] MEDICINE, 25 E
ing to the modern science of medicine, while the two pre-
ceding sections constitute surgery.
(4.) Bhuta widya, or the restoration of the faculties.
from a disorganised state supposed to be induced by
demoniacal possession. * - x
(5.) Aumara Öhritya, i.e., the care of infancy, compre-
hending the management of infants and the treatment
of disorders in mothers and nurses.
(6.) Aagda, the administration of antidotes.
(7.) Rasayana or chemistry.
(8.) Bajikarana, professing to promote the increase of
the human race.
Medical science, like all other sciences, made consi-
derable progress in course of time, and exhaustive and
scientific works were written in the Buddhist Age. But
nevertheless, with that loyalty to the past which has ever
characterised Hindu writers, the authors of these later
works alluded reverently to the earlier seience under the
collective name of Ayurveda, the gift of the gods, and
professed only to explain that ancient knowlede and
wisdom to the less favoured men of later ages. Among
these later and more scientific works, those of Charaka
and Susruta are the best known, and their works are
now the most ancient works extant. There are reasons.
to believe that these eminent authors lived in the
Buddhist Age, but that their works were recast in the
Puranic Age, when there was a general revival of Hindu
learning and science. The fame of their works travelled
into foreign countries, and the Arabs were acquainted
with the translations of the works at the time of Haroun-
al-Rashid in the eighth century. One of the earliest of
the Arab authors, Serapion, mentions Charaka by name
as Xarch. Another Arab writer, Avicenna, quotes him
as Scirak, while Rhazes, who was prior to Avicenna,
calls him Scarac,” It was thus that Hindu medical
works, compiled as early as the Buddhist Age, were
* Royle, p. 37.
25.2 PURAW FC PERFOD, [BOOK V.
first published to the world by the Arabs in the
Puranic Age. t
Charaka's work is divided into eight books, which are
enumerated below.
(I.) Sutra Sthana, explaining the origin of medicine,
the duty of the physician, the use of medicine, the cure
of disease, materia medica, diet, &c. - -
(2.) AWidana S/hazia, containing a description of dis-
eases, as fever, discharges of blood, tumours, diabetes,
leprosy, consumption, mania and epilepsy. -
(3.) Vimana Sthana, treating of epidemics, the nature
of food, the symptoms and diagnosis of disease, the use
of medicines, and the peculiarities of the fluids of the
body. * *
(4.) Sarira Sºhama, treating of the nature of the soul,
conception, the varieties of species, the qualities of ele.
nients, a description of the body and the connection of
the body and soul.
(5.) Andriya Sharea, describing the organs of sense
and their diseases, the colour of the body, defects of
speech, diseases of the body and of organs, loss of strength
and death.
(6.) Chikitsa Sthana, considering the treatment of
disease and the means of improving the health and enjoy-
ing long life. It also treats of fever, dropsy, swelling, piles,
diarrhoea, jaundice, asthma, cough, dysentery, vomiting,
erysipelas, thirst, and the effects of poisons. It speaks
of remedying the effects of drinking, of inflammation, dis-
eases of vital parts, abscesses, rheumatism and paralysis.
(7.) Kalpa Sthana, treating of emetics and purgatives,
and of antidotes and medical charms, w
(8.) Siddhi Sthana, treating of evacuating medicines,
of injections for the urethra, vagina, and rectum, of ab-
scesses, of the use of clysters, of the vital parts, &c.
The whole work is in the form of instruction imparted
by the Rishi Atreya to Agnivasa. We are told in the
introduction that Brahma first imparted the Ayurveda to
cłIAT. xi.] MEDICiNE. 253
Prajapati, that Prajapati imparted it to the two Asvins,
and the Asvins imparted it to Indra. Bharadvaja learnt
it from Indra, and imparted it to six Rishis, of whom
Agnivasa was one.
Susruta is probably a later work than Charaka, and
a similar story is told that Indra imparted the know-
ledge to Dhanvantari, the medical practitioner of the gods,
and Dhanvantari imparted it to eight Rishis, among
whom Susruta was chosen to record the instructions
correctly.
The divisions of Susruta's work are very similar to:
those of Charaka. Charaka, however, treats mainly of
medicines, while Susruta treats mainly of surgery in his
six divisions, which are enumerated below.
(r.) Sufra Shana treats of medicines, of the elements
of the body and various forms of disease, of the selec-
tion of Surgical instruments and medicines, and of the
practice to be followed after surgical operations. Then
follows the description of the humours and the surgical
diseases, the removal of extraneous substances, and the
treatment of wounds and ulcers, Various other matters.
are touched upon.
(2.) AWidana Sthana treats of the symptoms and diag-
roses of diseases. The causes of rheumatism, piles,
stone, fistula in ano, leprosy, diabetes, and ascites are
spoken of. The symptoms of unnatural presentations in
midwifery, internal'abscesses, erysipelas, scrofula, hydro.
celé, and diseases of the organs of generation and of the
mouth are considered.
(3.) Sarara Sºhana, oranatomy, treats of thestructure
of the body. The soul and the elementary parts of the
body, puberty, conception, and growth of the body are
considered. Bleeding and the treatment of pregnancy,
and of infants are also considered.
(4.) Chikişa Shama describes thesymptoms and treat-
ment of diseases, wounds, ulcers, inflammations, fractures,
rhetºmatism, piles, stone, fistula in ano, leprosy, diabetes,
254 PURANIC PERIOD, EBOOK v.
and dropsy. The manner of extracting the child from
the uterus in unusual positions and other matters are
described. The use of clysters, of errhines, and of the
smoke of medicinal substances is also described.
(5.) Aalpa Sthana speaks of antidotes. The means of
preparing and preserving food and drink, and of distin-
guishing poisoned food are explained, and the different
mineral, vegetable, and animal poisons and their antidotes
are explained. -
(6.) Uttara Sthana, or supplemental section, treats of
various local diseases, like those of the eye, ear, nose, and
head. The treatment of various other diseases, like fever,
dysentery, consumption, tumours, diseases of the heart,
jaundice, discharges of blood, fainting, intoxication, cough,
hiccough, asthma, hoarseness of voice, worms, stertorous
vomiting, cholera, dyspepsia, dysuria, madness, demoniacal
possession, epilepsy and apoplexy, are described.
The above brief enumeration of the contents of Charaka
and Susruta will indicate the progress of the Hindu medi-
cal science and the nature of the diseases which engaged
the attention of Hindu physicians in ancient days. Many
of the ancient theories are of course now shown to be
fanciful, and many of the views then held are now shown
to be mistaken. But nevertheless the exhaustive treat-
ment of diseases in medical works compiled two thousand
years ago shows the progress of the science in Ancient
India; and the medicines and preparations prescribed
in these works are equally numerous and varied. It is
not our intention to give anything like a complete account
of the Hindu system of medicine and treatment of dis-
eases; we will only here mention a few of the medicinal
preparations and surgical instruments which were known
to the ancient Hindus.
The Hindus were early familiar with Rasayana, i.e.,
chemistry, and with the preparation of various chemical
compounds. Nor is this surprising, as the materials for
preparing many chemical products have abounded in
cHAP. XI.] MEDICINE, 255
India. Rock-salt was found in Western India; borax was
obtained from Thibet; saltpetre and sulphate of soda were
easily made ; alum was made in Cutch ; and sal ammonia
was familiar to the Hindus ; with lime, charcoal, and sul-
phur they were acquainted from time immemorial.
The alkalies and acids were early known to the Hindus,
and were borrowed from them by the Arabians. The
medicinal use of metals was also largely known. We have
notices of antimony and of arsenic, of medicines pre-
pared with quicksilver, arsenic, and nine other metals.
The Hindus were acquainted with the oxides of copper,
iron, lead, tin, zinc, and lead ; with the sulphurates of iron,
copper, antimony, mercury, and arsenic ; with the sulphates
of copper, zinc, and iron ; with the diacetate of copper
and the carbonates of lead and iron, “Though the ancient
Greeks and Romans used many metallic substances as
external applications, it is generally supposed that the
Arabs were the first to prescribe them internally . . . .
But in the works of Charak and Susruta, to which, as has
been proved, the earliest of the Arabs had access, we find
numerous metallic substances directed to be given inter-
nally.” + -
From positive directions respecting the formation of
several substances, it is clear that the ancient Hindus
were familiar with several chemical processes, as
solution, evaporation, calcination, sublimation, and dis-
tillation. - - * ,
With regard to drugs and plants, we find that Susruta
arranges them under the following heads :—tuberous
and bulbous roots ; roots ; bark of roots ; bark of large
trees ; trees possessing a peculiar smell ; leaves; flowers;
fruits; seeds; acrid and astringent vegetables ; milky
plants; gums and resins, Susruta probably contains the
earliest notice respecting botanical geography, mention-
ing the sites and climates where the plants grow. He
also prescribes the weights and measures to be used,
... • * Dr. Royle's Essay, p. 45. - -
256 PURANHC PERIOD. {:3OOK v.
and gives directions for expressing juice from fresh vege-
tables, making powder of well-dried plants, and preparing
infusions and decoctions of various kinds. The vegetable
resources of India are practically unlimited, and it is need-
less to add that Hindu physicians were acquainted with a
vast variety of vegetable medicines. Most of them are
assuaging and depuratory medicines, suited to the climate
of the country and the unexcitable constitution of the
nation, For sudden and severe cases there were drastic
and mild purgatives, emetics, diaphoretics, and baths ;
while acrid poisons were used with arsenic and mercu-
rial preparations, as well as stimulants, sedatives, and
narcotics.
Turning now to the subject of surgery, it will no doubt
excite surprise (says Royle) “to find among the operations
of those ancient surgeons those of lithotomy and the
extraction of the foetus ex utero ; and that no less than
127 surgical instruments are described in their works.”
Surgery was divided into Chhedana, scission ; Bhedana,
excision ; Zekhana, Scarification and inoculation ; Vyad-
Žana, puncturing ; Æshyam, probing ; Aharya, extraction
of solid bodies; Visravana, extraction of fluids; and
Sezana, sewing. These various operations were per-
formed by a large variety of surgical instruments, which
Dr. Wilson classifies under the following heads — Yan-
£ras, implements ; Sastras, instruments ; Kshara, alkaline
solutions or caustics ; Agni, actual cautery ; Salaža, pins ;
Sringa, horns; Alabu, gourds used for Gupping ; and
Jalauka, or leeches. Besides these, we have thread,
leaves, bandages, pledgets, heated metallic plates for
erubescents, and a variety of astringent or emplient
applications. - i.
We are told that the instruments should be of metal,
always bright, handsome, polished, and sharp, sufficiently
so “to divide a hair longitudinally.” And the young prac-
titioner is recommended to acquire proficiency in the
use of such instruments by making incisions, not only on
CAIAP. N. J \{EDIC; N.E., 25%
vegetable substances, but also on the fresh hides of animals
and on the vessels of dead animals. -
It will be of some interest to Hindu readers to know,
when foreign scientific skill and knowledge are required
in every district in India for sanitary and medical work,
that twenty-two centuries ago Alexander the Great kept
Hindu physicians in his camp for the treatment of diseases
which Greek physicians could not heal, and that eleven
centuries ago Haroun-al-Rashid of Bagdad retained two
Hindu physicians, known in Arabian records as Manka
and Saleh, as his own physicians, - - - -
VOL. ii. 33
CHAPTER XII.
A2A2A /l/A.
MORE remarkable than the progress made in science in
this period is the wonderful development which poetry and
the drama received in this the Augustan Era of Sanscrit
Literature. Kalidasa and Bhavabhuti stand higher in the
estimation of the Hindus and of the world than Arya-
bhatta and Charaka.
It is neither possible nor desirable to attempt within
our limits to write a history of later Sanscrit literature.
All that we shall attempt to do will be to indicate the
names of the most illustrious writers, and describe as
briefly as possible their most remarkable work. This
will give our readers a bird’s-eye view of the literary
character of the epoch ; and this is all that we can ven-
ture to attempt within our limits. We will speak of
dramatic literature in this chapter, and of poetry and
fiction in the following chapters.
The brilliant period of which we are speaking opens
with the illustrious Kalidasa, and that gifted son of the
Muses, although the author of several works of great
excellence, is known to the civilised world chiefly as the
author of Sakunfa/a. He who has read this drama in
Sanscrit need not necessarily be a Hindu to hold the
opinion that no sweeter or lovelier creation has emanated
from the human fancy than the gentle and tender-Souled
forest maiden, Sakuntala. !
King Dushyanta goes on a hunting expedition, and
arrives at the hermitage of Kanva. Walking in a humble
258 s’
cIIAP. XII.] f) RAM.A. 259,
attire among the groves, he espies three damsels engaged
in watering plants; needless to say that these maidens are
Sakuntala, daughter of a nymph by a human parent, and
her two companions. Sakuntala had been brought up.
by the sage Kanva from her infancy, and had attained the
bloom of her youthful loveliness in these woodland re-
treats among her rustic companions, her plants, and her pet
animals. Dushyanta, accustomed to the artificial grace
of court beauties, is ravished at the sight of this simple
child of nature, dressed in bark, which almost heightens
her charms, like a veil of leaves enfolding a radiant flower.
He finds a suitable occasion to appear before the maiden
and her companions ;. some words are interchanged, and
the gentle Sakuntala feels an emotion unknown to her
simple life before.
Love tells on her gentle frame, and when he comes to
meet her again, “she resembles a Madhavi creeper whose
leaves are dried by a sultry gale; yet even thus trans-
formed she is lovely and charms my soul.” The lovers.
meet, and a marriage ceremony, the Gandharva rite, seals
their union. Dushyanta then departs, leaving a signet-
ring with his bride, and promising to convey her to his
capital almost immediately after.
Then begins the interest of the drama. Sakuntala,
when deeply musing on her absent lord, forgets to pay
proper homage to an irritable sage who had come to the
hermitage as a guest. The angry sage resents the neglect,
and utters a curse that he of whom she thinks so abstrac-
tedly will forget her. Pacified by the entreaties of her
companions, the sage modifies his sentence, and says.
that he will call her back to mind on her showing the
signet-ring. Dushyanta accordingly forgets his rustic:
love, and poor Sakuntala, then gone with child, pines and
droops in her lonely retreat. -
Her foster-father Kanva comes to know all,and arranges
to send the girl to her lord. Touching as this drama is
throughout, there is no part of it so truly tender and touch-
26o t
PURANIC PERIOD. ' [BOOK V.
ing as Sakuntala’s parting with her companions and pets
in the peaceful hermitage where she had lived so long.
The heart of Kanva himself is big with grief and his eyes
overflow with tears. The invisible wood-nymphs bid her
a sad adieu ; the two gentle companions of Sakuntala
can scarcely tear themselves from their loved and depart-
ing friend. Sakuntala herself is almost overpowered as
she takes her farewell from all she had so long loved and
cherished so well.
“Sak. Father 1 when yon female antelope, who now moves
slowly from the weight of the young ones with which she is preg-
nant, shall be delivered of them, send me, I beg, a kind message
with tidings of her safety—Do not forget.
“A amaza. My beloved, I will not forget it.
“Sak. (advancing and then stopping). Ah what is it that
clings to the skirts of my robe and detains me? (She turns round
and looks.)
“Aanva. It is thy adopted child, the little fawn whose mouth,
when the sharp point of the kusa grass has wounded it, has been
so often smeared by thy hand with the healing oil of Ingudi ; who
has been so often fed by thee with a handſul of Syamaka grains,
and now will not leave the footsteps of his protectress.
“Sak. Why dost thou weep, tender fawn, for me, who must leave
our common dwelling-place P As thou wast reared by me when
thou hadst lost thy mother, who died soon after thy birth, so will
my foster-ſather attend thee, when we are separated, with anxious
care—Return, poor thing, return. We must part. (She bursts
nto tears.)”—SIR WILLIAM JONES.
The plot thickens. Sakuntala's lord has forgotten her,
and the ring which would alone have called her back
to his mind is lost in the way. Dushyanta receives
Sakuntala and her party politely, but declines to receive
as a bride a woman whom he cannot recognise and who
is with child. Poor Sakuntala almost sinks under this
calamity, for she knows not its cause. She did not hear
the curse which was uttered by the sage, nor the partial
modification of it to which he consented on the entreaty
of her companions. She tries in vain to bring to Dush-
CHAP. X11.] DRAM. A. 26 I
yanta's recollection those too-well remembered events
which marked their brief days in the hermitage, and at
last breaks out in mortification and grief. Her companions
leave her in the palace, and separate quarters are allowed
to her, but she is saved further humiliation by a miracle.
A celestial nymph descends in the form of light, and
carries her away from the earth, where her fate had been
sad and bitter indeed.
An accident now brings the past to the king's recol-
lection. A fisherman caught a fish which had swallowed
the ring, which Sakuntala had dropped in a stream ; and
on sight of that gem the past comes thronging into the
king’s recollection The love he bore for Sakuntaka flames
forth tenfold, and the cruel injustice he had done to that
gentle and loving and confiding soul maddens him with
pain. He relinquishes his royal duties, forgets food and
sleep, and loses himself in bitter agony.
He is roused from his stupor by the god Indra’s
charioteer, who on behalf of Indra asks the king's succour
against Danavas. The king mounts the celestial car and
conquers, and is then taken to the celestial hermitage of
Kasyapa, father of the gods, residing there in holy retire-
ment with his consort Aditi.
While waiting there the king sees a powerful little boy
playing with a lion's whelp.
“Ah ! (he thinks) what means it that my heart inclines to this boy
as if he were my own son P (meditating). Alas ! I have no son, and
this reflection makes me once more soft-hearted.”—Jon Es.
The reader no doubt perceives that the boy was the
king's son. Sakuntala had been carried away by the
pitying gods and kept here until the king's clouded re-
collection was clear again. And when Sakuntala appears,
Dushyanta Craves her forgiveness on his knees and is
forgiven by the too-loving Sakuntala. The reconciled
pair are then taken with the boy to the divine pair
262 PU R.VNIC PIERIO;), [Book. v.
Kasyapa and Aditi, and the play closes with the blessings
of those holy personages.
Two other dramatic works of Kalidasa are left to us.
Viáramorzyasi describes the loves of the hero Pururavas
and the celestial nymph Urvasi. We know that the story
is as old as the Rig Veda, and is in its first conception a
myth of the Sun (Pururavas = bright-rayed) pursuing the
Dawn (Urvasi = wide-expanding). But the origin of the
story has long since been lost to the Hindus, and Purura-
was of Kalidasa and the Puranas is a mortal king who
rescued a celestial nymph named Urvasi from demons,
and felt for her a tender love which was reciprocated. So
smitten was the gentle nymph with the charms of the
mortal, that when she appeared in the court of Indra
to enact a play, she forgot her part and betrayed the
secret of her heart by uttering the name of the mortal
she loved.
Urvasi played Lakshmi. Menaka was Varuni. The
latter says :—
“ Lakshmi, the mighty powers that rule the spheres
Are all assembled ; at their head appears
The blooming Kesava ; confess, to whom
Inclines your heart P”—H. H. WILSON.
Her reply should have been—“To Purushottama; ”
but, instead of that, “To Pururavas' escaped her lips.
For this error the gentle nymph was punished ; but
Indra, with considerate care, modified the punishment
into a blessing, and directed the nymph to go and live
with her beloved mortal until he beheld an offspring
born by her.
Pururavas vainly tried to conceal his new love from
his own queen, and vainly expressed a penitence he did
not feel by falling at her feet. The queen somewhat
unceremoniously replied—
“You make, my lord, an awkward penitent; I cannot trust
you.”—WILSON. º
CHAP. XII.] { IDRAMA. 263
And she left the king to the very cruel but very wise
reflection—
“I might have spared myself the pains. A woman is clear-
sighted, and mere words touch not her heart. Passion must give
them credit. The lapidary, master of his craft, with cold indif-
ſerence eyes the spurious gem.”—WILSON.
But the queen soon perceived that her husband's love
was beyond control, and her resentment was unavailing.
With a Hindu wife's self-abnegation, she contrived, under
the guise of a religious performance, to make amends for
her former behaviour, and even to permit her lord to re-
linquish himself to his new attachment. Clad in white,
with only flowers for her ornaments, she came slowly to
worship her lord and king, who almost felt a return of his
previous fondness for her on seeing her in this attire.
“In truth she pleases me. Thus chastely robed in modest white,
her clustering tresses decked with sacred ſlowers alone, her
haughty mien exchanged for pure devotion ; thus arrayed she
moves with heightened charms.”—WILSON.
But she knew her charms were unavailing ; she pre-
sented oblations to the king, fell at his feet, and then
called the moon and the Rohini star to
‘‘IIere and attest the sacred promise that I make my husband,
Whatever nymph attract my lord's regard, and share with him the
mutual bond of love, I henceforth treat with kindness and com-
placency.”—WILSON. *
Even Urvasi's companion was struck with this magna-
nimous self-abnegation, and remarked—
“She is a lady of an exalted spirit, a wife of duty most exem.
plary.”—WILSON. w . # , ,
The loves of the king and the nymph, and their tem-,
porary separation through a supernatural incident, are
then described with all the power of Kalidasa's pen,
264 Y’U RAN ID PERIOD, ' [BOOK V.
He pined during the separation, wandered in the forest,
and addressed birds and beasts and inanimate objects.
“I have sued to the starry-plumed bird,
And the ſoil of love-breathing song ;
To the lord of the elephant herd,
And the bee as he murmured along ;
To the swan, and the loud waterfall,
To the cha/.20a, the rock and the roe :
In my search have I sued to them all,
But none of them lightened my woe.”
—WILSON.
He recovered her after his wanderings, but was again
likely to lose her. For the boy whom Urvasi had borne
to her lord, but had concealed so long, was seen by
chance by his father ; and according to Indra's orders the
nymph must return to the skies as soon as her lover saw
the child she bore him. But Indra again modified his
commands, and Narada descended from the skies to carry
Indra’s mandate to Pururavas –
“And Urvasi shall be through life united
With thee in holy bonds.”—WILSON.
The third and last play, said to be Kalidasa's, is
Malavikagnimitra, or the loves of Malavika and Agni-
mitra. But we greatly doubt if this play is from Kali-
dasa's pen. Agnimitra and his father Pushpamitra are
historical characters ; the latter was the general of the
last king of the Maurya dynasty, and he put that king
to death and founded the Sunga dynasty of the Magadha
kings. i.
Malavika is a beautiful attendant of the queen Dharini,
and learns dancing and music. The queen jealously
guards her from the king Agnimitra's eyes, but has
unwisely caused her picture to be painted in the Chit-
rasala or picture gallery, and a view of this picture
inspires the king with a desire to see the original.
Malavika appears before the king to display her skill.
CHAP. St I.] DRAMA. 265
in singing and dance, and the king contracts a passion
for her. -
º The jealous queen locks up the amorous and lovely
girl, but Malavika is taken out by a contrivance, and has
an interview with the king. -
News is received that the king's son has gained a
victory over the Yavanas on the banks of the Indus, and
the queen is so pleased that she distributes gifts to all,
and feeling perhaps that it is useless to try to stem the
king's love, bestows on him the lovely Malavika. Thus
the piece ends happily; but neither in its plot nor in
its poétry is it on a level with Sakureta/a, or even with
Vikramoroasi. -
Kalidasa lived in the sixth century, and graced the
êourt Óf Vikramaditya. A century after his time, an
Emperor of India, and a worthy successor of Vikrama-
ditya both in prowess and in letters, tried to emulate
the renowned Kalidasa. Siladitya II, called also Sri
Harsadeva, reigned from 6 to to 650, and received the
Cininese traveller Houen Tsang. He was not only the
Emperor of all Northern India, but was himself a man of
letters. He is reputed to be the author of Æatnavali,
though.it is probable the celebrated novelist of his court,
Banabhatta, composed that play. Kalidasa's fame had
spread all over India by that time, and humbler poets
unconsciously designed their works on the plots of the
great master. This is specially apparent in the Ratnavali,
in which plagiarisms from Kalidasa's plays are obvious.
The play opens with an account of the spring festival, .
when the god of Love was worshipped, and coloured
water was showered by merry men and mirthful maids
on each other. The custom of throwing red powder and
coloured water still obtains all over India, but Krishna
has now appropriated to himself the worship which in
ancient times was offered to the god of Love.
The queen goes to the garden to offer worship to the
god of Love and requests the presence of the king, A
VOL. II. 34
266 IPU R A NIC Plºx (OI), [BOOK W.
lovely attendant of the queen, Sagarika by name, whom
the queen had jealously guarded from the king's eyes,
cemes also to the garden, and she looks on the king from
behind a tree and falls in love with him.
Sitting alone in the garden, the love-stricken maiden
draws the likeness of him who has stolen her heart, but
is discovered by a fellow-attendant who is equally pro-
ficient in painting, and who draws by the portrait of the
king a likeness of Sagarika herself. The double portrait
is lost through carelessness and is picked up by the king,
who falls in love with the maiden whose picture he finds
by his own. It is impossible aot to find to this plot a
counterpart of the story of Agnimitra, who falls in love
with his queen's attendant on looking at her portrait.
Like Kalidasa's Dushyanta, the king picks up the
lotus leaves which had been applied on Sagarika's
feverish person, and finds in the pallid circles therein
the contour of the maiden's well-proportioned bosom.
Soon after the lovers meet, but as usual the meeting is
interrupted by the untimely approach of the queen. Once
again the queen finds undeniable evidence of the king's
love for Sagarika ; the king, like Kalidasa's Pururavas,
falls at her feet, but the queen retires with ill-suppressed
resentment. -
The amorous Sagarika is, like Malavika, locked up by
the angry queen. A magician then comes from Ujjayini
and shows off his feats. Soon after the palace seems to
be on flame, and the king rushes to save Sagarika, who
was enchained inside, and rescues her ; but the flames
disappear; it was only a feat of the magician | When
Sagarika is brought out, she is recognised to be Ratnavali,
the princess of Ceylon; and, like Malavika, Ratnavali is
at last made over to the king by the queen herself.
A still more remarkable play, the AVagananda, is also
attributed to Siladitya II., but is probably, like AEatnazali,
the work of some poet of his court. We call it a remark-
able work, because it is probably the only Indian Buddhist
chap. xII.] DRAM.A. 267.
drama which has come down to us. In this Buddhist
play we find Hindu gods and goddesses mixed up with
Buddhist objects of veneration. It is this which gives
the work its special value. -
Jimutavahana, prince of the Vidyadharas, finds Mala-
yavati, princess of the Siddhas, engaged in the worship
of Gauri (a Hindu goddess), and falls in love with her.
He appears before her, as Dushyanta appeared before
Sakuntala, and is received with courtesy, and the maiden;
we need hardly say, falls in love with the prince. The
usual symptoms of love, as in Sakuntala, affect Mala-
yavati; she is feverish, and Sandal-juice is applied to her
person, and she is fanned with plantain-leaf.
Jimutavahana employs himself with drawing a portrait
of the maiden who had stolen his heart. He asks for a
piece of red arsenic to draw the portrait, and his com-
panion picks up from the ground and brings some pieces,
from which five colours (blue, yellow, red, brown, and
variegated) could be obtained. From this account it
would appear that the ancient Hindus, like the ancient.
painters of Pompei, used coloured earth and minerals.
for their painting.
Malayavati watches the young prince as he draws the
picture, and thinking it was the portrait of some other
maiden whom he loved, becomes jealous, and faints. In
the meantime Malayavati's father sends a message to
Jimutavahana offering his daughter as his bride ; but
Jimutavahana does not yet know that the maiden he
had seen was the princess herself, and desiring to be
true to the maiden he had seen, refuses the hand of the
princess t
The mistakes of both the lowers are soon removed:
The prince discovers that the maiden with whom he had
fallen in love is the very princess whose hand is offered
to him, and the princess too soon discovers that the
portrait which the prince had drawn is her own portrait,
Wedding follows with great pomp and ceremony,
268 TU R AN IC PR R1OI), [Book v.
We have an amusing account here of a parasite of the
king's, court, Sekharaka, who has regaled himself too
freely with wine during the festivities, and makes some
ludicrous blunders. He declares that there are only two
gods for him, Baladeva and Kama—the former being a
Hindu god known for his drinking exploits, and the latter
being the Hindu god of love ; and the valiant knight goes
out to meet his lady-love, a female slave with whom he
is in love, Instead of meeting that sweet damsel, he
meets the prince’s companion, a Brahman, who had put
his garment over his head to keep out insects, and so
looked like a veiled woman. Sekharaka, not very keen
in his perception, embraces the Brahman as his mistress,
to the utter disgust of the latter, who stops his nose at
the smell of liquor Confusion is worse confounded
when the sweet damsel herself appears on the spot ; the
not very discriminating lover is taxed with courting
another maiden, and the Brahman is treated to some
choice epithets as “tawny monkey,” has his sacred thread
torn, and offers to fall at the feet of the slave-girl in
order to get out of the scrape. Everything, however, is
at last explained satisfactorily. -> i
We are then introduced to the bride and bridegroom
in the raptures of their young love ; the latter politely
asks for a kiss in these words—
“ O lovely one : if this face of thine with its pink flush as it is
lighted up by the sun's rays, and with its soft down revealed by
the spreading gleam of its teeth, is really a lotus, why is not a bee
seen drinking the honey from it P”—BOYI). t
But the lover is rudely interrupted by news about
his kingdom which takes him away. .
so far the story is like the story of other Hindu plays;
but the last two Acts (V. and VI.) are essentially JRud-
dhistic, and illustrate, of course in an extravagant form,
the real virtue of self sacrifice for the good of others.
- Jimutavahana goes to the Western Ghats, and sees on
CJJ A P. XII.] º T R A M.A. 269
the sea-shore a heap of bones of Nagas killed by Garuda,
the king of birds. Nagas are snakes, but in the con-
ception of Hindu and Buddhist poets they are formed
like men, except that they are scaly and have hoods
rising from their backs. A compact has been made with
Garuda that a Naga will be sent to him daily for his food,
and as Jimutavahana sees a Naga tearing himself from
his weeping mother and preparing himself as Garuda's
food, his heart bleeds within him. He manages to offer
himself up to the ferocious Garuda in place of the Naga,
and the bird flies away with him. f
There is wailing and lamentation in Jimutavahana’s
household when the Naga runs there and reports that
the prince has offered himself a sacrifice. His old parents
and his newly-married wife rush to where Garuda is still
eating the prince's flesh, his life all but extinct. The
real Naga, also rushes in there and offers himself up to
save the innocent prince, and thus proves, his identity.
“Not to mention the mark of Svastika on the breast, are there
not the scales on my body ? Do you not count the two tongues
as I speak 2 nor see these three hoods of mine P”—Boy D. t
Garuda then discovers his mistake and is horrified.
“Alas! alas ! his own body has been of his own accord pre-
sented for my food by this noble-minded one, through pity to save
the life of a Naga who had fallen within the reach of my voracity.
What a terrible sin have I committed . In a word, this is a
Bodhisatva" whom I have slain.”—BOYD.
Jimutavahana, instructs Garuda how the sin can be
expiated.
“Cease for ever from destroying life; repent of thy former
deeds; labour to gather together an unbroken chain of good actions
by inspiring confidence in all living beings.”—BOYD.
The heroic prince expires after giving these instructions,
|
* A Bodhisatva is a potential Buddha, or one who has only one
more birth remaining before he becomes a perfect Buddha.
27,o PU R ANIC PH.R.I.O.D. [BOOK v.
as he had been more than half eaten up. His parents
prepare to mount the funeral pyre to depart from this
world. The lamenting young widow invokes Gauri, the
goddess whom she invoked before marriage.
All ends happily. Gauri restores the prince to life,
and Garuda prevails on Indra—a Hindu god—to revive
to life all the Nagas whom he killed before. Harm not
Ziving creatures;–that is the moral of this Buddhist play.
Another century rolled on from the date of Siladitya
II., and a truly great poet arose—not a plagiarist of
Kalidasa, but his worthy peer in merit and in fame.
Bhavabhuti, also called Srikantha, was a Brahman, born
in Vidarbha or Berar, but soon attached himself to the
learned court of Kanouj, then the literary capital of India.
From his native region “stern and wild” the poetic child
had imbibed that appreciation of Nature in her wild
magnificence which distinguishes him from all other
Sanscrit poets. From the cultured court of Kanouj he
no doubt learnt that art of poetry and the rules of drama
which set off the effusions of his genius. He was not
destined, however, to pass his days in Kanouj. Yasovar-
man, the king of Kanouj, was defeated by the powerful
Lalitaditya, king of Kashmir, and the poet accompanied
the conqueror to Kashmir.
Three of Bhavabhuti's pieces have come down to us.
We will begin with the Malaţimadhava, or the loves of
Malati and Madhava, n
Nſadhava is the son of Devarata, the minister of the
poet's own country, Vidarbha or Berar, and has come
to Padmavati or Ujjayini to complete his studies. In
that town, as he walked along the streets, Malati, the
daughter of the minister of the place—
“From her casement has beheld the youth, –he graceful as the
god of love, herself love's blooming bride,-nor seen in vain.”—
H. H. WILSON.
On the occasion of the annual festival of the god of
CIIAP. XII.] - D R A M.A. 27 I
Love, the people flock to the shrine of Love to pay their
homage. Malati too repairs to the shrine on an elephant,
and meets Madhava, and the youth and maiden gaze on.
each other, and fall in love.
But the course of true love never does run smooth ;
and the king of Padmavati has promised Malati’s band
to a favourite, Nandana, and the king's minister, Malati’s
father, dares not openly refuse his consent. The news
is a bolt from the blue to the love-stricken maiden, and
Ramandaki, a Buddhist priestess or abbess, exclaims in
pity—
“What can I aid P Fate and her sire alone exact obedience from
a daughter. True Sakuntala, of Kusika’s high race, bestowed her
love on a self-chosen lord, the king Dushyanta. A bright nymph
of heaven espoused a mortal monarch, Pururavas, and the fair
princess, Vasavadatta, scorned the husband of her father's choice,
and fled with Prince Udayana. So poets tell, but these were
desperate acts.”—WILSON.
It is apparent that the priestess, or rather the poet,
refers here to his great predecessor Kalidasa's two
works, and also to the story of Vasavadatta, which was
so popular a theme of fiction and drama in the court of
Siladitya II. . -
The Buddhist priestess, however, had made up her
mind to help Malati and Madhava. They have an in-
terview in the house of the priestess, but Malati is torn
away thence by the order of the queen. Madhava in
despair determines to apply to mysterious rites for gain-
ing his end, and this leads us to a scene of awful
Tantrika worship. The genius of Bhavabhuti never
appears to greater advantage than when depicting a scene
of magnificence or terror. -
In a field in which dead bodies are burnt is situated
a temple of the terrific goddess Chamunda, and the
malignant priestess, Kapala Kundala, with her necklace
sf skulls (as her name implies), is engaged in worship.
272 l’UR ANIC I?]; R I Ol). [BOOK v.
There goes Madhava with his offering of raw flesh, to
obtain from ghosts some help towards the attainment
of his end. He offers the flesh to ghosts and goblins
and exclaims— - I
“Now wake the terrors of the place, beset
With crowding and malignant ſiends ; the flames
1°rom funeral pyres scarce lend their sullen light,
Clogged with their fleshly prey, to dissipate
The fearſul gloom that hems them in. Pale ghosts
Sport with ſoul goblins, and their dissonant mirths
In shrill respondent shrieks is echoed round.
Well, be it so. I seek and must address them.
Demons of ill, and disembodied spirits,
Who haunt this spot, I bring you flesh for sale ;
The flesh of man, untouched by trenchant Steel,
And worthy your acceptance. (A great noise.)
IIow the noise,
High, shrill, and indistinct, of chattering sprites
Communicative, fills the charnel ground !
Strange forms like foxes ſlit along the sky :
Tºron, the red hair of their lank bodies darts
The meteor blaze ; or from their mouths that stretch
From ear to car, thick set with numerous fangs,
Or eyes or beards or brows, the radiance streams.
And now I See the goblin host : . . . .
They mark my coming, and the half-chewed morsel
es. Walls to the howling wolf, and now they fly.
(Pauses, and looking round.)
Race, dastardly as hideous ! All is plunged
In utler gloom. The river flows before me,
The boundary of the funeral ground, that winds
Through mouldering bones its interrupted way.
Wild raves the torrent as it rushes past
And rends its crumbling banks ; the wailing owl
IIools through its skirting groves, and to the sounds
The loud long-moaning jackal yells reply.”—WILSON.
Suddenly Madhava hears the voice, musical and wild,
of a young woman in distress— . . . .
CHAP. XII.] WX R A M A. 273
“Ah, cruel ſather | She you meant an offering
To the king's favour, now deserted dies.”—WILSON.
That voice is not unfamiliar to Madhava's ears; he
bursts into the temple and finds Malati dressed as a
victim and about to be sacrificed by Aghoragbanta, the
terrible priest of Chamunda. Some Tantrika rites require
the sacrifice of a virgin, and the Sweetest and purest
virgin in Padmavati 'town had been selected and kid-
napped for this sacrifice. Malati herself does not know
that she was stolen : -
“I reposed,” she says,
“At eve upon the terrace : when I woke
I found myself a prisoner.”—WILSON.
Madhava rescues his beloved and slays the malignant
priest. But the more malignant priestess Kapala Kun-
dala vows revenge. - f -
We pass by a great many minor incidents. At last
Malati elopes with Madhava. The king sends his guards
to arrest the culprits ; but Madhava beats back the
guards, and the king generously forgives him in considera-
tion of his valour, -
Here the play might happily have ended with the
marriage of the lovers with the king's sanction ; but
Bhavabhuti prolongs the story to bring in some power-
ful description of nature and of human feelings. Fºlis
incidents and plot, as usual, are extravagant, but his
descriptions are matchless in power, Malati is once
more kidnapped by the foul priestess Kapala Kundala,
and Madhava goes in search of her among the Vindhya
mountains. Saudamini, who was a Buddhist priestess
before, but has now acquired supernatural powers by."
the practice of Yoga, resolves to help Madhava ; and
from her lips we have a powerful description of the
locality :— . . w f
“How wide the prospect spreads,-mountain and rock,
Towns, villages and woods, and glittering streams
There where the Para and the Sindhu wind, º
VOI, II, - 35
f
274 PURANIC PERIOD. BOOK V.
The towers and temples, pinnacles and gates,
And spires of Padmavati, like a city
Precipitated from the skies, appear,
Inverted in the pure translucent wave.
There flows Lavana's frolic stream, whose groves
By early rains refreshed, afford the youth
Of Padmavati pleasant haunts, and where
Upon the herbage, brightening in the shower,
The heavy uddered kine contented browse.
Hark! how the banks of the broad Sindhu fall,
Crashing, in the undermining current,
Like the loud voice of thunder-laden clouds ;
The sound extends, and like Heramba’s roar,
As deepened by the hollow echoing caverns,
It floats reverberating round the hills.
Those mountains, coated with thick clustering woods
Of fragrant sandal and ripe Malura • -
Recall to memory the lofty mountains
That southward stretch, where Godavari
Impetuous flashes through the dark deep shade
Of skirting forests, echoing to her fury.”—WILSON.
Saudamini, by her magical powers, at last rescues
Malati, and Malati is happily wedded to Madhava.
The other two plays of Bhavabhuti are taken from the
Ramayana. One of them, the Mahavira Charita, narrates
the story of Rama from his boyhood to his Conquests
in Ceylon and return with Sita to his native country.
This play is decidedly inferior to the other plays of Bhava-
bhuti, but nevertheless contains passages of great power.
There is a ring of true poetry in the passage in which
the ancient king Janaka (the promulgator of the Upani-
shads and the proud asserter of the Kshatriya's equality
with Brahmans in learning) is roused to indignation by
the pretensions of Parasurama, the son of Jamadagni.
The old king indignantly exclaims: “Although he hates
us, still we have had patience with him so long. When
he shakes us again like a blade of grass, then let the
bow be bent against him, although he be a Brahman.”
The source of the Godavari, in the poet's own native
land, is thus described :-
CHAP. XII.] * D R A M.A. • 275
“Where, amid Janasthana's frowning woods,
The tall Prasravana uprears his head,
Dark tinctured in the clouds, and bathes his brow
With their descending dews ; thence through his caves,
He culls the oozing moisture, and sends forth
The pure Godavari to win her way,
Stately and clear, through ancient trees that shade,
Impervious tangling, her majestic course.”—WILSON.
The other play, Uttara Rama Charita continues the
story of the Ramayana to Sita’s exile, and to the recon-
ciliation of Rama with his children Lava and Kusa. In
power and in graphic description, this play is equal to
the Malati Madhava, while in pathos and tenderness.
it will compare with anything in the whole range of
Sanscrit literature.
The story is the story of the Ramayana, and need.
not be told in detail. The play opens with a conversation
of Rama and Sita, now returned from Ceylon, and seated
on the throne of Ayodhya or Oude. In the second scene,
Lakshmana exhibits to them a series of paintings repre-
senting the past occurrences of Rama’s life, and the gentle
Sita can scarcely look over the scenes of her past suffer-
ings without sorrow. The poet, of course, has a word to,
say about his beloved Godavari, which
“Bursts forth, and down the mountain wends her way
Through gloomy shades and thick entangling woods.”
—WILSON.
And Rama reminds Sita of their happy days passed,
there in touching lines,
“Recall'st thou, love, our humble happy dwelling
Upon the borders of the shining stream
Where every hour infond endearments wrapped,
Or in Sweet interchange of thought engaged,
We lived in transport, not a wish beyond
Each other, reckless of the flight of time P”
—WILSON.
276 PUR AN IC PER } {}T), [BOOR v.
The languid Sita, then gone with child, wants repose,
and Rama lovingly addresses her—
“Be these arms thy pillow,
Thine, ever since the nuptial knot united us,
Thine, in the days of infancy and youth,
In lonely thickets and in princely palaces,
Thine, ever thine.
Sita. True, true, my ever kind and cherished lord. [See&s.
Aaſma. Her latest waking words are words of love,
And nought of her but is most dear to me.
Her presence is ambrosia to my sight ;
Her contact fragrant sandal, her fond arms
Twined round my neck are a far richer clasp
Than costliest gems ; and in my house she reigns
The guardian goddess of my fame and fortune.
Oh I could never bear again to lose her.”—WILSON.
The last sentiment is artfully put in here by the poet,
for Rama is on the eve of losing Sita again. Weak, as
he is loving and gentle, he hears with distress, imme-
diately after leaving Sita in her sleep, that his subjects
are ill-pleased with his conduct in accepting Sita again,
after she had been carried away by Ravana. Too weak
to bear popular dissatisfaction, he submits to their
desires, and sends poor Sita to exile. |
Twelve years have since passed and gone. The
twins to whom Sita gave birth soon aſter her exile have
grown to be sturdy boys, versed in arms as in learning
under the tuition of Valmiki. Sita leads a pensive life
in the forests, her face
‘‘ Pale and wan and wet with tears,
She moves along like Tenderness
Invested with a mortal dress ;
Or like embodied Grief she shines,
That sad o'er love in absence pines.”—WILSON.
It is arranged that Sita, rendered invisible by divine
power, should have an intery.iew with Rama, and the
CHAP. XII.] - DRAMA. 277
poet must needs have the interview on the banks of the
Godavari. There Rama strays, accompanied by Vasanti,
of friend of Sita, and Sita and Tamasa,—invisible to
Rama,-also repair there. Every scene there recalls to
Rama the bygone days when Rama and Sita lived there
together, and fills him with grief; and Vasanti does not
fail, by cruel though gentle hints, to bring home to Rama
his injustice towards Sita. Bhavabhuti is too spirited
not to feel indignant at Rama's extreme weakness in
yielding to popular clamour, and at his unspeakable in-
justice in sending an innocent and helpless and loving
wife to exile. And though the poet shares a Hindu's
feeling of general respect for Rama, yet the reader can
perceive the poet is determined to give Rama “a bit of
his mind,” for his unparalleled feebleness and crime.
Vasanti takes care to remind Rama, - &
“Here in this plantain grove
Behold the marble which in happier days
Supported thee and Sita. Here she sat,
And from her hands gave fodder to the deer
That boldly crowded round their gentle mistress.
Rama. I cannot bear to look upon it.” [Weeps.
- - —WILSON.
Poor Sita, who is present, though invisible to Rama,
can bear it no longer; she exclaims— -
“ Vasanti, this is cruel :
My lord demands respect from all, and most
From those who love me.”—WILSON.
But Vasanti is inexorable, and goes on speaking to Rama.
“How hadst thou the heart
To drive that gentle being from thee? Once
She was thy love, thy other dearer life,
Light of thine eyes, and nectar of thy soul.” “-Wilson.
* No student of Sanscrit who has read these lines in the original,
has ever forgotten their matchless beauty, rhythm, and tenderness.
278 PURANIC PERIOD. [I300 K V.
In vain does Rama plead the people's will. Vasanti
goes on, and makes horrible suggestions as to the fate
which has probably overtaken Sita after her exile in the
forest. Rama shudders and weeps aloud. Sita can
witness her lord's sufferings no longer, and exclaims to
Tamasa, “Alas! he weeps aloud.” But Tamasa answers—
** "Tis better thus
To give our sorrows way. Sufferers should speak
Their griefs; the bursting heart that overflows
In words obtains relief.”—WILSON.
We almost think we are perusing a paraphrase of
Shakespeare's matchless lines in Macbeth,
“Give sorrow words; the grief that does not speak,
Whispers the o’erfraught heart and makes it break.”
And yet the bard of Vidarbha lived eight centuries
before the bard of Avon -
The cruel lesson is administered to Rama until he
faints. Sita, herself invisible, touches his forehead, and
at that loving touch Rama revives, exclaiming, “Joy, joy,
Vasanti! wilt thou share my joy P" and declares that he
has felt the touch of Sita’s hand—
“I could not be deceived,
Too well I know the touch of that dear hand.
The marriage rite first placed in mine ; even now
Cool as the snow drift to my fevered palm, e
And soft as jasmine buds, I grasp it.”—WILSON.
But Sita gets away. She and Tamasa must depart,
but she can scarcely tear herself away.
“Oh, let me look,
A little moment longer, on a form,
I never, never, may behold again '2'-WILSON.
And before leaving, she exclaims—
“l bow me to the feet of my dear lord,
The Source of every blessing.”—WILSON.
CHAP. XI [...] I)]&A M.A. 279
Yes, the poor, banished, injured Sita bows to the feet
of her dear lord, –that lord who had heedlessly, feebly,
cruelly sent her to the forest, — alone, helpless, on the eve
of her confinement Female Self-abnegation can go on
further; undying love has never been more forcibly
represented ; human imagination has never pictured a
nobler, purer, saintlier character than that of the gentle,
ever-loving, all-forgiving Sita.
Once again, in another place, the poet gives vent to his
indignation at Rama’s feeble conduct. The ancient king
Janaka, revered as much for his prowess as for his holy
life and his Vedic lore, grows indignant when he re-
members his daughter's sufferings. The warm blood
tingles in his old veins when he ponders on Rama’s
conduct, and he bursts out in rage—
“Shame on the thankless race that wronged thy fame,
And Rama’s haste to listen to their calumnies.
The cruel blow that has overwhelmed my child
Arouses all my soul, and tempts my wrath
To deal with arms, or direr imprecations,
Destruction on my Sita’s persecutors.”—WILSON.
- )
The story of Rama’s Asvamedha sacrifice is well
known. The horse is let loose, and Rama’s sons dare
to detain it, and thus unwillingly provoke hostilities with
Rama’s forces. The meeting of Lava and Chandraketu
is well described. Both are young heroes, full of ardour
for battle, but displaying chivalrous courtesy and respect
towards each other. Chandraketu descends from his car,
—why P
“To pay my homage to this valiant youth,
And do a soldier's duty. To assail
At such advantage one who fights on foot
The god of arms forbids.”—WILSON.
And this was written centuries before chivalry was
developed in Europe, - * *
28o Pl] RANIC PERIOD. [BOOK. V.
The Sage Valmiki arranges a happy reconciliation with
which the play is to conclude; but the poet must have
another hit at Rama before he lays down his pen. A
theatrical performance is to take place before Rama, and
the subject is Rama's desertion of his wife Sita on the
stage calls for help when deserted, and in her distress
and agony throws herself in the Ganges. Rama can
bear it no longer, and starts up exclaiming—
“Dear love, forbear ! I fly to thy assistance.”—WILSON.
His brother Lakshmana reminds him—
“Does my lord remember, what he views is but a fiction P
A'a'na. Alas ! that such a portion should have been the gift of
Rama to his tender bride, the dear companion of his forest
dwelling.”—WILSON.
The reader is herein reminded of the stage in Hamlet,
which was contrived to convict Hamlet’s uncle of his
guilt. The play ends happily, Rama receives back Sita
and his boys Lava and Kusa, and the people of Ayodhya
are penitent, and bend “in prostrate homage to the
Queen.”
When we have spoken of Kalidasa and of Bhavabhuti,
we have spoken of all that is best in the Sanscrit dramatic
literature. Several hundreds of plays must have been
composed and enacted in what we may call the Augustan
Era of Sanscrit literature, but the works of genius only
survive; polished imitation and lifeless pieces do not stand
the test of time. Some of the masterpieces of Shake-
speare will be read even after Shakespeare's language
becomes a dead language, but Peel, Green, and Marlowe,
or even Ben Jonson will scarcely be remembered twelve
centuries after the date of Elizabeth. - -
The total number of Hindu plays which exist, or which
are alluded to by writers on the Drama, is estimated by
H. H. Wilson to be not more than sixty. Most of these,
however, are of a comparatively recent date, and very few
TH AP, XII.] 1) R A M A. 28 ſ
are of any merit, or are generally known or read. The
only pieces (besides the ſpoken of above) which are
generally known and read ſº the present day are the
Mrichchhakati, the Mudra Rakshasa, and the Veni
Samhara. A word or two about them will suffice.
The Mrichchhakati is ascribed to a king Sudraka, and
the time of its composition is unknown. Internal evidence
Heads us, however, to think that it must be referred to the
brilliant literary period which commenced with the sixth
century. Its style is not widely different from the style
of composition of the other plays, of this period, and, like
many of them, it has its scene at Ujjayini. The Puranic
Trinity-–Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva–is recognised (Act
VI), Buddhists have already become objects of aversion,
though persecution has not yet commenced (Act VII),
and the Code of Manu is the recognised law for the
administration of justice (Act IX). For the rest, the
Mrichchhakati deals not with princes and princesses, but
with men and women in the ordinary walks of life ; it
gives us an insight into the town life of the olden days,
with its system of justice and police, its gambling and
other vices; and it is a fairly correct picture of the people
and their manners. We shall have to allude to the play
frequently when we come to the subject of the manners
and civilisation of this Period. -
The Mudra Rakshasa is a more recent play, and the
author is ‘Visakha, Datta. The closing speech of the
drama would seem to show that the Musalmans were
already masters of India when this play was composed.
Its chief interest lies in the fact that it refers to the
political revolution by which Chanakya helped Chan-
dragupta to secure the throne of the Magadhas about 320
B.C. The contrast between the character of Chanakya,
who is scheming, vindictive, violent, and inexorable, and
that of Rakshasa, who is generous, straightforward, noble,
and faithful, is finely drawn.
The play of Veni Sanhara is attributed to Bhatta
VOL. II. w - 36
282 PURANFC. PERIOT). [BOOK V.
Narayana, who is said to have been one of the Brahmans
who came on Adisura's invitation from Kanouj to Bengal.
Many Brahmans in Bengal still claim descent from the
author of this piece. The subject is taken from the
Mahabharata. Draupadi, when lost by Yudhisthira at
dice, was dragged in the public assembly by Duhsasana
by her Veni or braided hair, and she resolved that her
hair would remain dishevelled until that insult was re-
venged. The insult was revenged when Bhima killed
HDuryodhana, and Draupadi’s hair was bound up again.
There are passages which are vigorous, but on the whole
the play is harsh in style and rude in execution, and
it belongs obviously to a period not very long before the
Mahommedan conquest of India.
CHAPTER XIII.
Z’O/27'A' V.
THE name of Kalidasa stands foremost in poetry as in
drama. There is a series of Mahakazyas or epics in
Sanscrit belonging to the period of which we are now
speaking, and the two best of them are Kalidasa's. One
is called Meaghuzamsa or the race of Raghu, and the
other is Åumara Sambhaza or the birth of Kumara,
the war god.
The first is a long account of the royal race of Ayodhya,
beginning with the founder of the dynasty and ending
with the last kings of Rama’s race. The subject is one
more suited for history than for poetry, but the genius.
of the poet enlivens the whole story. Scenes from the
lives of kings are painted with all the skill of a great
master ; the descriptions are always rich and spirited, and
often rise to true poetry ; and the reader remains from
the first to the last under the spell of Kalidasa's rich and
superb fancy, and his inimitable sweetness of versification.
One of the happiest and most remarkable passages in
the whole work is that in which Rama, after winning
back Sita from Ceylon, travels through the air in a celes-
tial car all the way to Ayodhya. All India with her
rivers and forests and mountains and the blue waters of
the ocean lie below, and Rama points out the different
places to his gentle and loving consort. Apart from the
beauty of the passage, it is interesting as giving us some
notion of the geography of India as known to the literary
men of Ujjayini in the sixth century.
283
284 PU R A NIC PER HO D. [Book v.
In our opinion Kalidasa takes a bohder flight, in his
Kumara Sambhava. Here he does not narrate the his-
tory of a race of kings, but paints from the exhaustible
storehouse of his imagination the love of Uma for the
great Siva, and their happy union. *
Uma was born the daughter of the deity of the
Himalaya mountains, and a sweeter child never saw
the light.
“Blest was that hour, and all the world was gay,
When Mena’s daughter saw the light of day.
A rosy glow filled all the brightening sky,
And odorous breeze caume sweeping softly by,
Breathed round the hill a sweet unearthly strain,
And the glad heavens poured down their flowery rain.”
——GRIFFIT II.
The early years of the gentle maiden are described
with exquisite grace and sweetness ; but a great future
awaits her. The gods intend her as a bride to the mighty
Siva, for unto them will be born a child who will lead the
gods to victory against the Asuras. Siva is now engaged
in pious contemplation in the Himalaya mountains, and it
is arranged that the youthful Uma will wait on the
mighty god as a handmaiden, and look after all his needs.
We can remember nothing lovelier and fresher in the
creations of fancy than the image of Uma clad in chaste
garments and decorated with flowers, attending on the
great god in his devotions, collecting flowers for him,
and doing him due obeisance. In doing obeisance she
Stooped so low
“That from her hair,
Dropped the bright flower that starred the midnight there.”
• . —GRIFFITH.
And Siva, pleased with her homage, blessed her.
“Surely thou shalt be
Blessed with a husband who loves none but thee.”
—GRIFFITH.
Everything might have gone on Smoothly to the desired
CHAP. xIII.] POETRY. 285
end, if the mischievous god of Love had not interfered.
He marks the moment of Siva's weakness, and lets go his
unerring shaft. Let the poet narrate the effect on the
hermit-god Siva :— -
“Like the moon’s influence on the sea at rest,
Came passion stealing over the hermit’s breast,
While on the maiden’s lip that mocked the dye
Of ripe red fruit he bent his melting eye.
And oh I how showed the lady’s love for him,
The heaving boson, and each quivering limb 1
Like young Kadambas, when the leaf buds swell
At the warm touch of spring they love so well,
But still with downcast eyes she sought the ground,
And durst not turn their burning glances round.
Then with strong effort Siva lulled to rest
The storm of passion in his troubled breast,
And seeks, with angry eyes that round him roll,
Whence came the tempest over his tranquil soul.
He looked and saw the bold young archer stand,
His bow bent ready in his skilful hand,
Drawn towards the eye, -his shoulder well depressed,
And the left foot thrown forward as a rest.
Then was the hermit-god to madness lashed,
Then from his eye red flames of fury flashed.
So changed the beauty of that glorious brow,
Scarce could the gaze support its terror now.
Hark I heavenly voices sighing through the air :
“Be calm, great Siva, O be calm and spare l’
Alas ! the angry eye's resistless flashes
Have scorched the gentle king of love to ashes
—GRIFFITH.
(??
Love's bride laments the death of her lord, and Uma
in mortification and grief retires into a wood and begins
penances and prayer. The poet launches again into a
description of the gentle and tender girl subjecting her-
self to hard penances unsuited to her frame. Summer
is passed amid scorching fires,-in autumn she remains
exposed to the rains,—and the blasts of winter see her
still unshaken in her purpose.
A young hermit comes to inquire the reason of these
286 PU R ANIC PERIOD, [BOOK v.
severe penances undertaken by a young and tender
damsel. Unna's maidens explain to him the cause, but
the hermit can scarcely believe that so gentle a creature
should be in love with so unlovable a god as Siva,
who remains smeared with ashes, and wanders about in
funeral places.
“Impatient Uma listened ; the quick blood
Rushed to her temples in an angry flood.”—GRIFFITH.
She explains to the unmannerly hermit with passion-
ate eloquence the glories of the great deity whom none
knows and none can comprehend, and she rises to depart
from the place in anger and scorn.
“She turned away, with wrath her bosom swelling,
Its vest of bark in angry pride repelling,-
But sudden lo, before her wondering eyes
In altered form she sees the Sage arise ;
'Tis Siva's self before the astonished maid
In all his gentlest majesty arrayed !”—GRIFFITH.
Yes, it is Siva himself, who had refused to be forced
into love, but is now propitiated and pleased with Uma's
penances, and now humbly craves a return of his affec-
tion from Uma the mountain maid : *
Among the shorter poems of Kalidasa, the best and
sweetest is the Meghaduſa or the Cloud Messénger. The
story is simple. A Yaksha is banished by royal order
from his home for being too fond of his wife and neglect-
ing his duties; and in his exile he gazes on the dark
cloud of the rainy season and bids it carry a message of
love to his dear beloved at home. The lover indicates
the way by which the cloud should proceed, and the
poet describes the various parts of India from the Vindhyas
to the Himalaya mountains in verse, which, for richness
of fancy and melody of rhythm, has never been excelled
in the literature of the world. ."
CHAP, XIII.] POETRY. 287
“On Naga Nadi's banks thy waters shed,
And raise the feeble jasmine's languid head.
Grant for a while thy interposing shroud,
To where those damsels woo the friendly cloud ;
AS while the garland’s flowery stores they seek,
The scorching Sunbeams tinge their tender cheek,
The ear-hung lotus fades, and vain they chase,
Fatigued and faint, the drops that dew the face.
What though to northern climes thy journey lay,
Consent to track a shortly devious way.
To fair Ujaini’s palaces and pride
And beauteous daughters turn awhile aside ;
Those glancing eyes, those lightning looks unseen,
Dark are thy days, and thou in vain hast been.
Behold the city whose immortal fame
Glows in Azanti’s or Visala's name !
Renowned for deeds that worth and love inspire,
And bards to paint them with poetic fire :
The fairest portion of celestial birth,
Of Indra’s paradise transferred to earth,
The last reward to acts austerest given,
The only recompense then left to heaven.
Here as the early zephyrs waft along,
In swelling harmony, the woodland song,
They scatter sweetness from the fragrant flower,
That joyful opens to the morning hour;
With friendly zeal they sport around the maid
Who early courts their vivifying aid,
And cool from Sifra's jelid waves embrace
Each languid limb and enervated grace.”—WILSON.
Bharavi, who was a contemporary or a successor of
Kalidasa, is by a long way inferior to him in all the quali-
ties which make a great and a true poet. In the richness
of a creative fancy, in true tenderness and pathos, and
even in the sweetness and melody of verse, Kalidasa is
incomparably a greater poet. But nevertheless Bharavi
boasts of a vigour of thought and of language, a spirited
and lofty eloquence in expression, which Kalidasa
seldom equals. Only one Mahakavya, the Kiradar-
juniam of Bharavi, has been left to us, and it is one
288 PURAN 10 PERIOD, [BOOK W.
of the most vigorous and spirited poems in the Sanscrit
language.
The story is taken from the Mahabharata. Yudhis-
thira is in exile, and his spirited wife Draupadi urges
him to break the treaty with his cousins and to win back
his kingdom. With the burning eloquence of a proud
and a wronged woman, she points out to him that peace
and submission ill become a Kshatriya ; that faith is not
to be kept with the faithless ; that kingdoms and glory
are not won by meekness and resignation.
“Counsel to a saintly monarch
Is rebuke from woman weak,
“But, ignoring woman's duty,
Pardon if my feelings speak |
“Spurn this sloth, assume thy prowess,
Dire destruction quick devise,
“Hermits saintly, not proud monarchs,
Ever-during patience prize 1
“If forgiveness thou wilt cherish
Quelling pride and noble ire,
“ Forego this bow of royal glory,
Plait thy locks and worship Fire l’”
(An unpublished translation by the present writer.)
Yudhisthira's spirited brother Bhima supports Drau-
padi ; but Yudhisthira is not to be moved from his
plighted word, and recommends resignation. In the
meantime Vyasa, the mythical compiler of the Vedas,
comes to see the king in his exile, and advises Arjuna to
seek by penance those celestial arms, with which he will
conquer his foes in the hour of battle. Arjuna accord-
ingly takes leave of his brothers, and Draupadi of course
urges him on to the task with her persuasive eloquence.
The hero retires into the solitudes of the Himalaya moun-
tains to perform his penances.
No part of the poem brings out Bharavi's merits as a
poet to greater advantage than the account of Arjuna's
penances in this wild solitude. His innate pride and
CHAP. XIII.] POETRY. 289
prowess are admirably contrasted with his present peace-
ful vocation ; and the influence of his presence is felt by
the animate and inanimate creatures of the peaceful her-
mitage. Indra's messenger sees this strange hermit, and
reports to the god accordingly.
“Like a luminary of the sky,
Though clad in barks, on yonder hill,
“A man, intent on purpose high,
Doth penances ! And earth is still !
“II is arms, whose muscles snake-like coil,
Hold a mighty powerful bow ;
“But gentle are his deeds and toil,
No gentler hermit lives below !
“The wind blows soft, the sward is green,
And gentle rains the dust allay.
“By worth subdued, the elements
In one accord obeisance pay !
“The forest beasts their strife forget,
And listen to his beck and word ;
“For him the trees with blossoms wait,
The mountains own him as their lord '
“His toil bespeaks a purpose high,
IHis mien denotes success is near.
“A gentle hermit !—But his eye
Instils a sense of awe and fear !
“If from saints he is descended,
From Daityas sprung, or kingly line,
“I know not, lord l Nor why in woods
He penance doth and rites divine.”
(Onpublished trans/a/ion.)
Indra is pleased with the message, for Arjuna is his son,
and Indra wishes him success. But nevertheless he is
resolved to try the mortal as he tries all anchorites, and
sends celestial nymphs to lure the hero from his austere
rites. Our author launches into a description of these
lovely nymphs in four cantos, describing how they gather
VQI., II, - 37
29O. PURANIC PERIOD. [BOOK V.
flowers and plunge into a river, and appear with renovated
beauty before the solitary anchorite.
Pale with penances and rites,
In arms accoutred, calm and great,
Peaceful as the mighty Vedas
Arjun’s self at last they met !
Resplendent in a robe of light,
Alone upon a hill he stood,
Like the beauteous lord of night !
And seemed the god of all the wood
Pale with penances,—but great
Unapproachable, in his peaceful bower
Alone,—but strong as hosts in might !
A Saint, but wielding Indra’s power
(C/mpublished translation.)
Such was the hero whom the nymphs meet, and such
was the saint whom they vainly try to tempt. The celes-
tial beauties retire, somewhat humbled, and then Indra
himself comes in the guise of an old anchorite to dis-
suade Arjuna from his penances; even as Kalidasa's
Siva comes in disguise to dissuade Uma from hers. The
mutability of worldly grandeur, the folly of seeking power
and fame, the wisdom of seeking true virtue and salva-
tion—all these are pleaded by the disguised god with
convincing eloquence ; but Arjuna remains unconvinced
and unshaken in his purpose.
“Father thy advice is holy, gº
But alas it suits not me,
As the starry sky of night
Doth not suit the light of day.
For I seek to wash our stain,-
Stain for which this heart hath bled,—
With the teardrops for the slain
By their sorrowing widows shed
If the hope on which I’ve rested
Be unreal, idle, vain,
Be it so ;—thy words are wasted |
Pardon, if I cause thee pain.
CHAP. XIII.] POETRY, 29 I
Till I conquer, crush my foe,
Win again our long-lost fame,
Salvation’s self to me were vain, –
Hind’rance to my loſty aim ’’
(C/republished translation.)
Indra is not ill-pleased with this unshaken determina-
tion, which yields neither to temptation nor to reason ;
and the god discloses himself and points out to the hero
the way to win the celestial arms he seeks, by the worship
of Siva, who alone can bestow them.
Once more Arjuna engages in penances and severe
austerities, until the fame of his rigid piety is carried to
Siva himself. , Siva now comes to meet the pious Ksha-
triya—not in the guise of an old man to dissuade him
from his religious performances, but as a warrior wishing
to try a warrior's steel. He assumes the guise of a Kirata
or wild hunter, and a mighty boar which came to attack
Arjuna is slain. Both Arjuna and the disguised god
claim the merit of having slain the animal, and thus a
quarrel is picked up which leads to a fight, which our
author describes in no less than six cantos.
The battle, though full of striking and spirited passages,
is nevertheless described in the extravagant style common
to Hindu poets. Arms of snakes, arms of fire, and arms
of clouds and rain are discharged until the firmament is
filled with hissing serpents, roaring flames, or copious
torrents of "rain But all these miraculous weapons are
of little avail to Arjuna ; to the hero's great astonishment,
the wild hunter replies to every weapon with a mightier
one, and is more than a match for the most skilled
warrior of the period
Astonished at the hunter's skill,
Arjun, conqueror of his foes,
Paused in silence and in doubt,
Misgivings such as these arose
“Warriors great, of matchless power,
I have met and beaten all.
292 IPU R ANIC ["ERIOI). [ſ;OOK v.
“Doth the sun bow to the moon P
Before this swain shall Arjun ſall 2
“Is this magic, is this dream P
Ann I great Arjuna still P
“Why conquers not my mighty power
This mountaineer’s untutored skill 2
“Rending the sky, as if in twain,
Shaking the wide earth’s solid frame,
“I low ſights this boorish mountaineer :
Deeds a man, disguised proclaim :
“Not Bhishuna’s self nor Drona owns
Such skill to shield, to schd his dart :
“Can a simple mountain swain
Possess such superhuman art P’’
(CVNAugblished translation.)
At length, deprived of all arms, Arjuna springs on his
invincible foe to wrestle him down. The wrestling goes
on long, and Siva, no mean wrestler, Springs into the air
to attack Arjuna, and the latter holds him by the feet
to pall him down. This appeal the mighty god cannot
withstand ; a faithful worshipper holds him by the feet,
Siva reveals himself, and blesses the Saintly warrior, and
bestows on him the coveted arms by which he is to win
back his kingdom and his fame,
Such is the celebrated poem of Bharavi, which does
not boast of any interesting plot or any striking creations
of fancy, but which is characterised by a force and vigour
of sentiment and expression which have given the poem
a place among the unperishable works of the ancient
Hindus,
Coming now to the seventh century, we know on the
authority of the Chinese traveller I-tsing that the poet
Bhartrihari graced the age of Siladitya II. Bhartrihari's
Sata/as show that he was a Hindu, but they are never-
theless marked by the Buddhist Spirit of the time in
which he lived. Professor Tawncy of Calcutta has ren-
dered some of them into elegant and spirited English
CHAP XIII.] POETRY. 29.3
verse, and a few extracts will convey an idea of the
original to the reader :—
“Not to swerve from truth or mercy, not for life to stoop to
shame ; -
From the poor no gifts accepting, nor from men of evil ſame ;
Lofty faith and proud submission—who on fortune's giddy ledge,
Firm can tread this path of duty, narrow as the sabre's edge P.”
“Abstinence from sin of bloodshed, and from speech of others’
wives,
Truth and open-handed largess, love for men of holy lives,
Freedom from desire and avarice,—Such the path that leads to
bliss,
Path which every sect may travel, and the simple cannot miss.”
“Treachery is of crimes the blackcst,
Avarice is a world of vice,
Truth is nobler far than penance,
Purity than sacrifice.
Charity 's the first of virtues,
Dignity doth most adorn,
Knowledge triumphs unassisted,
Better death than public scorn.”
“You are a lord of acres
I3ut we are lords of song ;
And we subdue the subtle,
If you subdue the strong :
The rich of you are speaking,
In me the wise believe,
And if you find me irksome,
Why then—I take my leave.”
“What profit are the Vedas,
Or books of legal lore,
Or thos; long-winded legends
Repeated o'er and o'er P
What gain we by our merits?
A dwelling in the skies—
A miserable mansion,
That men of sense despise-
2.94 PURAN F C (PERIOD, [BOOK V.
All these are huckstering methods—
Give me that perfect way—
Of self-contained fruition,
Where pain is done away.”
“A hermit’s forest cell, and fellowship with deer,
A harmless meal of fruit, stone beds beside the stream ;
Are helps to those who long for Siva's guidance here;
But be the mind devout, our homes will forests seem.”
—C. H. TAwNEY.
The extracts of Bhartrihari given above will enable the
reader to appreciate the opinion of Professor Lassen, that
it is the terse and epigrammatic character of Bhartrihari's
short poems which make them conspicuous among the
productions of the Indian muse; and the perfect art with
which they are composed make them worthy of being
ranked among the masterpieces of Indian genius.
We have seen before that a Mahakavya known as
Bhattikavya is also probably the work of Bhartrihari.
It is the story of the Ramayana told briefly ; the remark-
able feature of the work is that it has been written to
teach grammar ! All the conjugational forms of verbs
which are difficult to remember, and all other difficult
derivations of words have been interwoven in melodious
verse, so that the student who knows the poem knows
Sanscrit grammar also. The poetry does not aspire to
the beauty of Kalidasa's poems, or the dignity of Bharavi's
work, but the mastery of words and the art of composition
are perfect and matchless, and worthy of the author of
the epigrammatic Satakas.
Two other Mahakavyas are also generally studied by
Hindu students ; but both these are later productions,
and belong probably to the eleventh and twelfth centuries,
when the Rajputs had become masters of India. One
of them is Maishadha of Sri Harsha, and the other is
Sisupalavadha of Magha. The stories of both are taken
from the Mahabharata. .
Naishadha is the well-known story of Nala and Dama-
GHAP. X11 I.] POETRY. 295
yanti, one of the most touching episodes of the great
epic. Dr. Buhler fixes the dates of this poem in the
twelfth century. The poet is said by Rajasekhara to have
been born in Benares, but he was certainly familiar with
Bengal; and Vidyapati, a Bengali poet of the fourteenth
century, claims Sri Harsha to be a Bengali. It is possible,
as has been conjectured, that he migrated from the North-
West to Bengal.
Sisupalabadha, as its name implies, is the story of the
destruction of the proud king Sisupala by Krishna. It
is a distant imitation of Bharavi's Kiratarjuniya ; and the
name Magha (a winter month) is probably assumed by
the author to indicate that he takes away the glory of
Bharavi (which means the sun). According to the Bhoja
Prazſandha, he was a contemporary of King Bhoja of
Dhara in the eleventh century.
The most melodious song that has ever been written
in Sanscrit is the Gita Govinda, written by Jayadeva of
Bengal in the twelfth century.
Jayadeva was a poet of the court of Lakshmana Sena,
as has been proved by the colophon of an ancient copy
of his poem discovered by Dr. Buhler in Kashmir, and
he obtained from the king the title of Kaviraja. His
poem relates to the loves of Krishna and Radha, and
has been rendered with matchless grace and beauty
into English verse by Sir Edwin Arnold. One
extract will suffice. It describes erring Krishna’s
amours with other nymphs, and describes the grati-
fication of the five senses ; smell, sight, touch, taste,
and hearing :—
“One with star blossomed champac wreathed, woos him to rest
his head, s
On the dark pillow of her breast so tenderly outspread ;
And o'er his brow with roses blown she fans a fragrance rare,
That falls on the enchanted sense like rain in thirsty air ;
While the company of damsels wave many an odorous spray,
And Krishna laughing, toying, sighs the soft Spring away.
296 PURANIC TPERIOD. [BOOK V.
Another gazing in his face, sits wistfully apart, -
Searching it with those looks of love that leap from heart to
heart ;
Her eyes—afire with shy desire, veiled by their lashes black–
Speak so that Krishna cannot choose but send the message
back ;
In the company of damsels whose bright eyes in the ring
Shine round him with soft meanings in the merry light of Spring.
The third one of that dazzling band of dwellers in the wood—
Body and bosom panting with the pulse of youthful blood—
Leans over him, as in his ear a lightsome thing to speak,
And then with leaf-soft lip imprints a kiss below his cheek ;
A kiss that thrills, and Krishna turns at the silken touch
To give it back,-Ah, Radha 1 forgetting thee too much.
And one with arch smile beckons him away from Jumna's banks,
Where the tall bamboo bristle like spears in battle ranks,
And plucks his cloth to make him come into the mango shade,
Where the fruit is ripe and golden, and the milk and cakes care
laid ;
Oh ! golden red the mangoes, and glad the feasts of spring,
And fair the flowers to lie upon and sweet the dancers sing.
Sweetest of all that temptress who dances for him now
With subtle feet which part and meet in the Ras measure slow,
To the chime of silver bangles, and the beat of rose-leaf hands,
And pipe and lute and cymbal played by the woodland bands;
So that wholly passion-laden—eye, ear, sense, Soul o'ercome—
Krishna is theirs in the forest ; his heart forgets its home.”
ſº,
CHAPTER XIV.
AP/C 77OAV.
INDIA was not better known to the ancient nations for
her science and poetry than as the birthplace of fables
and fiction. The oldest Aryan fables that are to be
found anywhere are in the Jataka tales, dating from some
centuries before Christ, and Dr. Rhys Davids has pointed
out that many of them have travelled to different parts of
Europe, and have assumed various modern shapes.
The fables of the Panchatanțra were probably current
in India for many centuries before they were compiled
in their present shape in easy and graceful Sanscrit prose.
The work was translated into Persian in the reign of
Nausharwan (53 I-572 A.D.), and it is certain, therefore,
that the Sanscrit compilation was made in the sixth
century, if not earlier. The Persian translation was
rendered in Arabic, and the Arabic translation was
rendered into Greek by Symeon Seth about 1 o80. The
Greek version was again rendered into Latin by Possinus.
A Hebrew translation of the work was made by Rabbi
Joel about 1250. A Spanish translation of the Arabic
versión was published about 12 15. The first German
translations were published in the fifteenth century, and
since then the work has been rendered into all the
languages of Europe, and is known as the fables of
Pilpay of Bidpai.” Thus for many centuries the juvenile
population of the world was amused with the simple but
* See Tawney's translation of Katha Sariº Sagara, vol. ii. p. 43, noſe.
- 297
VOL. II. - 38
298 I?Uſ ANIC Plēlē IOI). [BOOK. V.
ingenious tales of animals which a Hindu compiled from
the current folklore of his country men.
When we proceed from the sixth to the seventh century,
we find a great change in Sanscrit prose. More ambitious
works were composed, in a style which is more ornate
and elaborate, but stilted and artificial. Dandin composed
his Dasakumaracharita probably at the very commence-
ment of the seventh century. The work, as its name
signifies, is the story of ten princes who meet with
various adventures, most of which are of course super-
natural. The style, though sufficiently ornate and arti-
ficial, is yet less extravagant than that of Kadamvari.
Banabhatta, the renowned writer of the Kadamvari,
was, as we have seen before, a courtier of Siladitya II.,
and was the author of the Ratnavali drama, and of a life
of the emperor called Harshacharita. Banabhatta's father
was Chitrabhanu, and his mother was Rajyadevi ; and
Chitrabhanu died when young Bana was only fourteen
years of age. Bhadranarayana, Isana, and Mayura were
among Bana's early friends. . . • - | -
The story of Kadamvari is wild and weird, and too
long to tell ;--the same couple of lovers go through more
than one life, and still feel the same irresistible attraction
for each other. Scenes of overwhelming passion, intense
Sorrow, irresistible love, and austere penances in wild
solitudes are depicted with power and with a wonderful
command of language. There is little of character in the
various personages. They are all carried away by the
vicissitudes of fortune, or by torrents of feeling which
have the power of fate. It is this which Hindu writers
delight in depicting; of determined efforts of the will in
supporting or combating the ordinary ills of life, there
are few descriptions in Hindu works of imagination. For
the rest, the style of composition, in spite of its wonderful
power, is ornate and redundant, laboured and extrava-
gant, beyond all reasonable bounds ; and often the same
verbose sentence, with strings of adjectives and long
CHAP, RIV.] . FICTION, 299
by her husband.
compounds, with a profusion of similes and figures of
speech, runs through Séveral pages
. Subandhu also lived in the same reign, and wrote the
Vasavadatſa, a shorter tale. Prince Kandarpaketu and
Princess Vasavadatta fell in love on dreaming of each
other; and the prince went to Kusumapura (Pataliputra),
met the princess, and carried her away on an aerial steed
to the Vindhya mountains. There he fell asleep, and
when he awoke he found her not. On this Kandarpaketu
was about to commit suicide, when a voice from the sky
prevented him, and promised him eventual reunion with
his beloved bride. After long wanderings, he found a
Stone figure resembling his long-lost wife; he touched it,
and lo! Vasavadatta waked to life. A holy saint had
turned her into stone—with the merciful provision, how-
ever, that she would be restored to life on being touched
We have yet one or two other important works of
fiction to speak of. The /3rihatſ A atha is a collection of
fables and tales which were long current, annong the
people in Southern India in the Paisachi dialect. In
the twelfth century, Somadeva, a Kashmirian by birth,
abridged it and put it into Sanscrit in order to console
Queen Suryavati of Kashmir, on the death of her grand-
son Harshadeva ; and this abridged compilation is known
as the Katha Strit Sagara. In the preface to the work,
we are told that the tales were originally told by Katy-
ayana, the critic of Panini and a minister of Chandragupta,
king of the Magadhas ; and that they were carried to
Southern India by a Pisacha and repeated in the Paisachi
language to Gunadhya, who compiled and published
them. It is needless to remark that the story connecting
the tales with Katyayana is a fiction ; the tales are a
product of Southern India, and were originally in the
Paisachi dialect. - 3. -
Somadeva's Sanscrit version, the Katha Sarit Sagara,
is divided into eighteen books and 124 chapters, and
3oo |PURANIC PERIOD. [BOOK v.
contains nearly everything in the way of folklore known in
India . We find in it occasional stories from the Maha-
bharata and the Ramayana, some tales from the Puranas,
much of the fables of the Panchatantra, the whole of the
twenty-five tales of a demon known as the Betal Pachisi,
some of the tales which we believe occur in the Sinhasan
Batisi, and many adventures of the great Vikramaditya
of Ujjayini. The tales throw much light on the manners
and customs and the domestic life of the people.
With regard to Vikramaditya of Ujjayini, we are told
that he was the son of Mahendraditya by the queen
Saumyadarsana, and that he had a second name Vishama
Sila (Siladitya P). We are also told that he was sent to
the earth, because the gods complained of the oppression
of Mlechchhas in India, –and Vikrama fulfilled his
destiny and slew the Mlechchhas.
The only other well-known work of fiction is the
Aſifo/adesa, which is merely a compilation of a portion
of the older Panchatantra. It is remarkable that all
these works of fiction are in Sanscrit, although the
Prakrits were the spoken tongues in India in the Puranic
Period. 4.
Vararachi, one of the “nine gems” of Vikramaditya’s
court, is the oldest grammarian who treats of the Prakrit
dialects. He distinguishes four distinct dialects, viz., the
Maharashtri or Prakit, properly so called ; the, Sauraseni,
very similar to the Maharashtri, and like it derived from
the Sanscrit; the Paisachi, and the Magadhi, which last
two are said to be derived from the Sauraseni.
These Prakrit dialects gradually came into use in
Northern India from the older Pali language, which was
the sacred language of the Buddhists, and had been the
spoken tongue for a thousand years. Indeed, the politi-
cal and religious causes which ushered in a new form
of Hinduism in the place of declining Buddhism had
undoubtedly some influence in establishing the newer
Prakrit dialects in the place of the older Pali.
CHAP. xiv.] FICTION. 3o I
Political and religious changes have generally been
attended in India and elsewhere, —not indeed with
sudden changes in the spoken tongue, – but with such
changes (slow and gradual in themselves) being authori-
tatively and suddenly recognised. When the vigorous
colonists on the banks of the Ganges and the Jumna left
their old mother country, the Punjab, behind in learning
and civilisation, the Sanscrit of the Rig Veda was
replaced by the Sanscrit of the Brahmanas. With the
rise of Magadha and of Gautama Buddha, Pali replaced
the Sanscrit of the Brahmanas. With the decline of
|Buddhism and the rise of Puranic Hinduism under
Vikramaditya, the Prakrits took the place of the Pali.
And lastly, with the fall of ancient races and the rise of
the Rajputs in the tenth century was witnessed the rise
of the Hindu language which is still spoken in Northern
India.
All this is intelligible. But the readers of Kalidasa
and of Bhavabhuti will naturally inquire, Did those poets
write in a dead language P Is it possible to compose a
Sakuntala, or an Uttara Charita in a dead language P
Does the history of other nations furnish us with one
single instance of such works of matchless beauty being
composed in a dead language P
Those who have compared the Prakrits with Sanscrit
will find no difficulty in answering these questions. San-
scrit was not a dead language in the Puranic Period
in the sense in which Latin is now a dead language in
Europe. The difference between Sanscrit and the Prakrits
is far less than the difference between the Latin and even
the Italian. When the Prakrits were commonly spoken,
Sanscrit was still understood and even spoken in courts.
Learned men carried on oral controversies in Sanscrrt.
All proclamations and state manifestoes were in Sanscrit.
Pandits carried on conversation in the Court as in the
schoolroom in Sanscrit. Poems were recited and plays
were rehearsed in Sanscrit, All men of education and
3O2 PUR.ANIC PIERIOD. [BOOK W.
culture understood Sanscrit and often spoke Sanscrit.
Probably the common people in towns who spoke the
Prakrits understood ordinal y easy Sanscrit. The edu-
cated and the learned were certainly perfectly at home
with Sanscrit. It was the language which they always
read, which they often spoke, and in which they composed
and thought, and even conversed. Sanscrit was not
therefore a dead language, in the Puranic Period in the
sense in which it is a dead language now. And Kalidasa
and Bhavabhuti did not compose in a dead language,
properly so called, when they wrote Sakuntala or Uttara
Charita.
CHAPTER XV.
CLOSAE O/7 TW/º A/VC/AEAVT AGAE.
WE will now close this rapid and imperfect History of
Civilisation in Ancient India. It was impossible within
our limits to attempt anything like a comprehensive or
exhaustive account of this vast subject. We have rather
tried to connect together only the leading facts of Indian
History, and to present a connected series of outbine
sketches, illustrating Hindu Civilisation in successive
ages. If in these portraits our countrymen have re-
cognised the features of our ancient forefathers, however
indistinctly, our labour has not been thrown away. We
now crave their attention for a few moments longer to
the last pages of our album, illustrating the social manners
and civilisation of the last age of Hindu History, anterior
to the Mahommedan conquest.
This last age of Hindu History divides itself into two
well-marked periods. The manners of the Rajputs of
Delhi and Ajmir in the eleventh and twelfth centuries
belong to the Modern Age, and were somewhat different
from those of the times of Vikramaditya and Siladitya,
which belong to the Ancient Age. The Rajputs belong to
modern history; Vikramaditya and Siladitya belong to
ancient history. The dark ages which intervened, in the
ninth and tenth centuries, divide the ancient period from
the modern period in India. - -
In the present chapter, we will confine our observations
therefore to the civilisation of the Hindus at the close of
- 303
3O4. PURANIC PRRIOD, [BOOK V.
the Ancient Age, from the sixth to the eighth century.
We will attempt to paint the social life of the Hindus of
the time of Kalidasa and Bhavabhuti ; and the immortal
works of these and other poets of the period will furnish
us with the materials of our picture. In the following
chapter we will try to portray the civilisation of the time
when the modern age begins, from the tenth to the
twelfth century, and we shall obtain our materials from
the notes of a thoughtful, learned, and sympathetic
foreigner who has left us records of his impressions.
Kalidasa himself has, in his character of Dushyanta,
given us a picture on the great kings of the time, of
Vikramaditya, for instance. We can conceive to some
extent the life that was led by the great Emperor of
Northern India in the midst of his luxurious and learned
court, his guards and his soldiers. Martial in his de-
meanour and active in his habits, he delighted in war and
in hunting, and often took his soldiers, his chariots, his
horses and his elephants in great hunting expeditions in
the primeval jungles of India. A fool was as invariably
the companion of Hindu kings as of European monarchs
in the Middle Ages, and the Indian fool was a Brahman,
whose stupid apprehension, gross tastes, and Occasional
witty sayings regaled the leisure hours of the king.
Soldiers guarded his palace night and day, while in the
inner apartments female guards waited on the king, and
were under the orders of an aged and faithful chamber-
lain. To judge from the poet’s account, the great Con-
queror of Sakas did not dislike the company of Saka
women, who guarded his palace and accompanied him in
hunting with bows and arrows, and gracefully decked
with flowers. Indeed, if we can rely on the tales of the
katha Sarit Sagara, which are valuable because based on
the older work Brihat Katha, the Emperor of Ujjayini
was not very particular as to the race or caste of the
lovely damsels whom he wedded one after another,
after bis numerous adventures. Madana Sundari, a
CHAP, XV.] ANCIENT AGE, 305
Bail princess was one of the number, and at her wedding
her father declared, “And I, my sovereign, will follow
you, as your slave with twenty thousand archers.” The
amorous emperor, we are told in the same work, fell in
love with Malayavati, princess of Malayapura, on seeing
her picture, and with Kalingasena, princess of Bengal,
on seeing her figure sculptured in stone in a Vihara; and
it is needless to state that both princesses eventually
found admission into the great king’s extensive seraglio.
(K. S. S., Book XVIII.) - -
The poet of Vikramorvasi and Malavikagnimitra
must have somewhat softened the passionate jealousies
and discords which were not unoften witnessed in the
royal harem. Royalty always indulged in a plurality of
wives, often for political purposes ; and besides these
stately ladies, many a humble and pretty attendant of the
queen won the favour of the king and was punished by
her mistress. In spite of all this, the chief queen was
always held in high honour and esteem ; she was the
mistress of the household and the share of the king's
glory on every state Occasion. -
Women in humbler life had, like queens, their inner
apartments separate from those of the men. The same
custom was observed in Europe in the olden days of Rome
and Pompei, and Sanscrit poets often describe the peace-
ful domestic life of the fair inmates of these apartments.
But the absolute seclusion of women was unknown even
in the Puranic Period. Sakuntala and Malayavati did
not precipitately retreat when strangers like Dushyanta
and Jimutavahana appeared before them. Malati in the
bloom of her youth rode on an elephant to a temple on a
festal day, in the midst of a great concourse of citizens,
and there met the youth to whom she gave away her
heart, and who reciprocated the feeling. In the first or
introductory book of Katha Sarit Sagara we find that
Katyayana’s mother received two unknown Brahmans as
her guests and freely conversed with them, and Varsha's
vol. II. 39
306 PURANIC PERIOD. [BOOK V,
wife too had previously received the same strangers, and
had narrated to them the story of her husband's mis-
fortunes. In the numerous tales contained in this volu-
minous work, we nowhere find any instance of women
in ordinary life being kept in such absolute and unhealthy
Seclusion as became the custom in later times under the
rule of the Moslems. In Mrichchhakati, Charudatta's
virtuous and modest wife freely converses with Charu-
datta's friend Maitreya, and in Kadamvari, in Nagananda,
in Ratnavali, and in every other classical work, we find
the heroine frequently conversing with the friends of her
husband. Ladies of the royal household were of course
kept under a greater degree of restriction ; but even they
were allowed, to see the friends of the king. When the
ministers of Naravahana Datta came to see his new
queen, Ratnaprabha, they were announced before they
were admitted to her presence. The queen rebelled
even against this necessary formality and said, “The
door must not again be closed against the entrance of
my husband's friends, for they are as dear to me as my
own body " (K. S. S., Chap. 36).
Marriage was arranged by the parents of the bride and
the bridegroom. Thus when an offer of marriage was
made to Jimutavahana, his companion said, “Go to his
parents and ask them,” and the parents gave their consent
without consulting the young man's inclinations. If, how-
ever, we can trust the poets of the period, the ceremony
was often performed at a proper age. Malati, the heroine
of Bhavabhuti's drama, was still a maiden after she had
reached her youth ; Malavika, and Malayavati, and Ratna-
vali were unumarried even when they were in the bloom of
their beauty, and the pious Rishi Kanva did not think of
giving Sakuntala in marriage until in youth she met.
Dushyanta and lost her heart. The ceremony of marriage
was the same as it was in ancient days, and as it continues
to the preset day. The stepping round the fire, the
offering of grain as sacrifice, and the utterance of some
cIIAP. XV.] ANCIENT AGE, 307
promises by the bride and the bridegroom were consi-
dered the essential rites,
Girls were taught to read and to swrite, and there are
numerous examples in the classical works of girls writing
and reading epistles. In Mrichchhakati, Maitreya says
he always laughs when he hears a woman read Sanscrit
or a man sing a song; and however much Maitreya may
have disliked it, there can be little doubt from the passage
itself that women did often read Sanscrit, as men did
often learn to sing. Music is frequently alluded to as a
female accomplishment. In one remarkable passage in
Nagananda we are told that the princess Malayavati sang
a song, possessing the treble and bass tones duly deve-
loped ; and soon after we learn that she played with her
fingers, keeping good time in due divisions of siow,
medium, and quick, the three pauses rendered in proper
order, and the three modes of playing shown in the slow
and quick accompaniments.
In the Katha Sarit Sagara (Chap. IX.) we learn that
the princess Mrigavati attained wonderful skill in dancing,
singing, and other accomplishments before she was given
in marriage. Numerous such passages are to be found in
classical literature.
Painting too is frequently alluded to as an accom-
plishment possessed both by men and women ; and we
have already alluded to a passage in Nagananda showing
that coloured earth was used for painting in ancient India.
as in ancient Pompei. Uttara Rama Charita opens with.
an account of some paintings which Lakshmana showed
to Sita : and we learn from the Katha Sarit Sagara (Chap.
ſt 22) that Nagara Swamin was the painter-laureate of the
court of Vikramaditya, and presented the king with
pictures illustrating different types of female beauty.
Connubial love has never been described with deeper
feeling than by the poets of India. We have already
quoted the passage from Uttara Rama Charita describing
the tender love of Rama for Sita ; and the reader familiar
308 PURANIC PERIOD. {BOOK W.
with Sanscrit literature will no doubt call to mind hun-
dreds of such passages portraying the regard and love of
Hindu husbands and the devotion of Hindu wives.*
Domestic life, however, is not all poetry, and we get
a truer idea of domestic sorrows and troubles from the
tales in the Katha Sarit Sagara than from the poetry of
Bhavabhuti or Kalidasa. Poverty, bereavement, the
contempt or hatred of relations and neighbours, the
cruelty of husbands, or the uncontrolled temper of wives,
often poisoned the peace of home and made life a burden.
Not the least galling of all evils were the differences and
disputes amongst members of joint families, or the heart-
less cruelty of the mother-in-law and sisters-in-law towards
a submissive wife. The gentle and virtuous Kirti Sena,
suffering from such domestic tyranny, exclaimed in
sorrow, “This is why relations lament the birth of a
daughter, exposed to the terrors of the mothers-in-law and
sisters-in law” (K. S. S., Chap. 29).
Many passages can be quoted to show that widows
were not prohibited from marrying again in the Puranic
Age. Yajnavalkya tells us that “a woman who is married
a second time is called a remarried woman” (I, 67).
Vishnu tells us that a woman who, being still a virgin, is
married for the second time, is cabled a remarried woman,
Punarbhu (XV, 7 and 8). And even Parasara, although a
modern writer allows the remarriage of a woman whose
husband is dead, or has lost caste, or is become an ascetic
(IV, 26). A droll story is told of the daughter of a house-
holder of Malava who married eleven husbands succes-
sively ; and on the death of the eleventh husband the
plucky widow would probably have welcomed a twelfth,
* “The Hindu poets rarely dispraise their women ; they almost
invariably represent them as amiable and affectionate. In this they
might give a lesson to the bards of more lofty nations, and particularly
to the Greeks, who, both in tragedy and comedy, pursued the fair sex
with implacable rancour. Aristophanes is not a whit behind Euripides,
although he ridicules the tragedian for his ungallant propensities.”—
Wilson, Theatre of the Aindus (London, 1871), vol. i. p. 77, 1zote. ,
CHAP. xv.] ANCIENT AGE, 309
but “even the stones could not help laughing at her,” so
she took to the life of an ascetic (K. S. S., Chap. 66).
We have spoken before of the love and devotion of
Hindu wives. With the decline of the national spirit and
of a due respect for women, this female devotion degene-
rated into a barbarous custom in the Puranic Age. There
is no allusion to the rite of Safi in the literature of India
previous to the Puranic Period ; there is no mention of it
in the Code of Manu, or even of Yajnavalkya. H is in
Puranic literature that we first trace the rise of this
|CUlStom.
Suicide by entering the fire was known in India from
the time of Alexander the Great, and even earlier. When
in the Puranic Age the devotion of wives to their husbands
was insisted upon to a greater extent than the regard of
husbands for their wives, the form of suicide spoken of
above was recommended as a meritorious act more to
widows than to others. Thus Varahamihira praises
women in his Astronomy because they enter the fire on
losing their husbands, while men go and marry again on
losing their wives. Nevertheless, the custom was not
restricted to women or to widows, even in the Puranic
Age. In Malati Madhava, Malati’s father makes prepara-
tions for mounting the funeral pyre for the grief of his
child ; and in Nagananda, Jimutavahana’s father, mother,
and wife resolve to perish on the pyre for the loss of the
prince. - -
In Katha Sarit Sagara we find a maiden disappointed
in love preparing to enter the funeral pyre (Chaps,
I 18 and 122). And turning from fiction to history,
we know that kings perished on the pyre, because
they were disgraced in the eyes of their countrymen
for submission to Mahmud of Ghazni. It was, in fact,
an ostentatious form of suicide when grief or disgrace
became unsupportable, and life was cheerless and void.
Reprehensible as such suicide always was, it became a
cowardice and a crime when men ceased to perform the
3 Io PURANIC PERIOD. [BOOK. v.
rite, and imposed it as an honourable act on women alone,
to be performed on the death of their husbands. Such
practice became a settled custom when the Hindus ceased
to be a living nation.
Courtesans of great beauty and accomplishments re-
ceived in ancient India, as in ancient Greece, a higher
regard, and lived a more intellectual and elevated life, than
their degraded sisters of modern times. Ambapali, who
vied with Lichchavi lords in pomp and pride, and who
invited the holy Gautama Buddha to her house, reminds
one of Aspasia receiving Socrates in her house. Similarly,
Vasantasena, the heroine of the Mrichchhakati, lived in
great pomp and splendour ; she received the young men
of Ujjayini in a public court furnished with a gaming-
table, books, pictures, and other means of recreation ; she
employed skilled artisans and jewellers in her house; she
relieved the needy and the unfortunate ; and, in spite of
her trade, was -
“Of courteous manners and unrivalled beauty,
The pride of all Ujjain l’—WILSON.
In the same way we learn from the Katha Sarit Sagara
(Chap. 38) that the courtesan Madanamala of Pratishthana,
the capital of Southern India, lived in a mansion “that
resembled the palace of a king,” and had guards and
soldiers, horses and elephants; and she honoured King
Vikramaditya (who had come in disguise) with baths,
flowers, perfumes, garments, ornaments, and rich viands.
And again from Chap. 124 of the same work we learn that
Devadatta, a courtesan of Ujjayini, lived in her “palace
worthy of a king.” -
Ujjayini, we need hardly say, was the proudest town in
India in the days of which we are speaking. Genius and
beauty, wealth and royal power, combined to shed a rare
lustre on this ancient city in the sixth century. Good
reasons had the Yaksha in the Meghaduta to ask the cloud
C11AP. N.V.] ANCIENT AGE, 31 I
not to pass by without a visit to Ujjayini, or else “dark
are thy days, and thou in vain hast been.”
Not daring to disobey such high injunction, we paid a
visit to the classic town Some years ago. Its ancient glory
in gone, the very memories of the past dwell not in its
precincts. But nevertheless, as we strolled through its
rough-paved stony Streets, looked at the quaint old houses
darkening the lanes, saw the crowd of simple-hearted people
in their native joyousness, and visited the ancient temple
of Mahakala, probably built on the very site of the older
temple of that name alluded to by Kalidasa in Meghaduta,
we felt that it was possible, feebly and faintly, to revive
the past in one's imagination, and to form some conception
of what this town was in olden days. And certainly the
exceptionally realistic account of the town given in the
Mrichchhakati helps one's innagination not a little. That
play will be our guide in our attempt to delineate the past.
Under the shadow of the royal power dwelt the peaceful
merchants and bankers in the Exchange or merchants’
quarters, Sreshthi-chatvara as the poet calls it. Quiet
and unostentatious as Hindu merchants always were, these
banker merchants probably had their branch firms in the
great towns all over Northern India, carried on extensive
operations in Silks, jewels, and valuable goods, and con-
cealed in their dark vaults in crowded and narrow lanes
enormous treasures and money, which kings and emperors
did not disdain to borrow in times of need. Ostentatious
only in their charity and religious works, they beautified
the town with many a graceful temple, fed and supported
priests and Brahmans, and earned a name among their
fellow-citizens by their good works. To the present day
the Setts and merchants of Northern India are respected
for their wealth and their pious acts, and build many a
holy temple where Jaina and Hindu worship is performed
day by day.
Jewellers and artists flocked in the vicinity of merchants,
In the words of the poet, “Skilful artists examine pearls,
3I 2 IPU RANIC PERH OD, [BOOK. v.
topazes, sapphires, emeralds, rubies, the lapis lazuli, coral,
and other jewels ; some set rubies in gold, some work gold
ornaments on coloured threads, Some string pearls, some
grind the lapis lazuli, some pierce shells, and some cut
coral. Perfumers dry the saffron bags, shake the musk
bags, express the Sandal juice, and compound essences.”
These artists found a market all through the known world,
and the products of their skill were appreciated in the
court of Harun-ar-Rashid in Bagdad, and astonished the
great Charlemagne and his rude barons, who, as an IEnglish
poet has put it, raised their visors and looked with wonder
on the silks and brocades and jewellery which had come
from the far East to the infant trading marts of Europe,
Humbler traders filled other streets, and displayed their
cloths and garments and Sweetmeats and various other
commodities. A stream of joyous and simple-hearted
people filled the busy streets all through the livelong
day. -
But the markets and bazaars were not the only places
of public resort ; there were others of a more questionable
character, Gambling-houses were established under the
king's orders, as is still the case in the continent of
Europe, the master of the table was appointed by the
king to maintain order, and was entitled, according to the
Agni Purana, to one-fifth or one-tenth of the winnings, as
the king's dues. The money which a gambler loses at a
gambling-table in the Mrichchhakati is reckoned as ten
Suvarnas; and a suvarna was undoubtedly a golden coin,
which Dr. Wilson estimates at Rs. 8-14. -
We know from Sakuntala that there were grog-shops,
which were frequented by the very lowest castes ; while
among the courtiers of a luxurious court, and among the
profligate and the gay, drinking was not unknown.
Bharavi has a canto on the joys of drinking, and Kalidasa
too often speaks of ladies whose mouths were scented
with the perfumes of liquor But the mass of the middle
classes and of the cultivating, trading, and industrial
CI) A P. XV.] ANCIENT' A.G.H.
3
I
3
classes of Hindus abstained from drink, as they do to
this day.
Other vices of large towns were not unknown in
Ujjayini. “At this time of evening,” says Maitreya in
Mrichchhakati, “the royal road is crowded with loose
persons, with cut-throats, courtiers, and courtesans;” and
elsewhere in the same play we have a rather elaborate
account of a theft performed in Charudatta's house, and
the footsteps of the night-watch were heard (as is often
the case to the present day) just after the thief had
finished his job and retired with the booty . In another
place in the same play we are told—
“The road is solitary, save where the watch
Performs his wonted round: the silent night,
Fit season only for dishonest acts,
Should find us not abroad.”—WILSON.
Wealthy citizens rejoiced in a large number of retainers,
in spacious courts, and in unquestioning hospitality. We
have in Mrichchhakati a somewhat exaggerated account of
a wealthy house, from which we can form some concep-
tion of wealthy houses generally. The outer door is
pretty, the threshold is coloured and well swept and
watered, flowers and garlands are hung over the gate,
and the doorway is a lofty arch. On entering the first
court, is seen a line of white buildings, the walls covered
with stucco, the steps made of various stones, and the
crystal windows looking down on the streets of the city.
In the second court are carriages, oxen, and horses and
elephants, fed by their ſna/outs with rice and g/hee / In
the third court is the assembly hall, where the visitors
are received ; in the fourth there is music with dancing,
and in the fifth is the kitchen. In the sixth court live
artists and jewellers employed in the house, and in the
seventh is an aviary. In the eighth court lives the owner
of the house. It is not likely that any but the most
wealthy indulged in such profuse magnificence; but the
V() I., II. - 4O
3 ſ 4 PU IX \ NIC [2].R 1 () {}. [BOOK W. .
account gives us some idea of pompous Hindu households.
Behind the house is a lovely garden, Such as was the
delight of Hindu ladies of olden days. Sakuntala was
fond of watering her plants herself, and the Yaksha’s wife
used to sit in her garden and think of her absent lord.
Besides such extensive residence inside the town,
wealthy men had their garden-houses and villas in the
suburbs, “far beyond the city,” and a taste for such rural
villas continues to the present day.
Among the possessions of wealthy men, slaves were
reckoned as a very important item. Domestic slaves
were bought and sold in aneient India as in every ancient
country, and probably most domestic servants in ancient
times were slaves. In Mrichchhkati a ruined gambler
proposes to sell himself in order to pay his deat. Still
more remarkable is another passage in which the para-
mour of a female slave asks her what money will procure
her manumission from her mistress. The well-known
story of Harishchandra goes on to say that the Raja sold
his wife and child and himself as slaves to pay off a ruth-
less Brahman’s debt, and there are numerous other stories
to the same effect. Slavery in a mild form continued in
India until recent times.
The ordinary conveyance of well-to-do persons in towns
was a kind of covered litter drawn by oxen. Both men
and women travelled in such litters, and Vasantasena
went in such a litter to meet her beloved Charudatta in a
garden outside the town. Any one who has travelled in
a bullock-cart (as the present writer has) over the rough-
paved streets of Ujjayini must know that the lady's
journey, like the course of her true love, was not particu-
larly smooth. Horses were not unoften used as means
of conveyance, and in Chapter 124 of the Katha Sarit
Sagara we find that a Brahman Devasvamin fetched his
wife from her father's house, the lady being mounted on
a mare, and having a maid with her. Cars drawn by
horses were probably only used by kings and lords and
cy, AP, XV.] ANC[].NT AG). 3.15.
*
warriors in battle, or in hunting expeditions, as we find
in Sakuntala.
A solitary and invaluable picture of the practical ad-
ministration of justice in the ancient Hindu times is given
in Mrichchhakati. A Brahman, Charudatta, is falsely
accused by a profligate villian with the murder of Vasan-
tasena, the heroine of the play. The villain, we should
mention, calls himself the king's brother-in-law. Kings
were not very particular in their amours, and thus it
happened that brothers and relations of the women of
low caste whom kings took into their palaces were pro-
vided with high places in the police. From numerous
descriptions of such characters by Kalidasa and other
poets, we learn that such upstarts made themselves the
pests of society, obnoxious to good men, and the terror
of the humble and lowly.
Such a cruel upstart, Vasudeva by name, had done his
best to kill Vasantasena, whose love he had vainly courted
before, and then falsely accused Charudatta with the
crime, because the woman had loved Charudatta. The
judge enters the court with the provost and the scribe
(Kayastha), and Vasudeva enters his charge against
Charudatta. The judge is unwilling to take up the case.
on that day, but knowing the influence of the complainant
with the king, takes it up, and even puts up with his.
insolent behaviour in court. Charudatta is summoned.
The simple and good-hearted Brahman enters the
court, and his description of it will amuse many a modern
reader, and will also give us some idea of the imps of the
law who were employed in olden days : —
“The prospect is but little pleasing.
The court looks like a sea ; its councillors
Are deep engulphed in thought; its tossing waves.
Are wrangling advocates; its brood of monsters
Are these wild animals, Death’s ministers.
Attorneys skim like wily Snakes the surface.
Spies are the shell-fish cowering midst its weeds,
And vile informers, like the hovering curlew,
316 PURANIC PERIOD. [Book v.
Hang fluttering o'er, then pounce upon their prey.
The beach that should be justice, is unsafe,
Rough, rude, and broken by oppression’s storms.”
—WILSON.
We need not go into the details of the evidence, but
appearances certainly go very much against Charudatta.
Nevertheless the judge refused to believe that good man
guilty of the abominable crime, and says to himseif, “It
were as easy to weigh Himalaya, ford the ocean, or grasp
the wind as to fix a stain on Charudatta’s reputation.”
But the circumstantial evidence becomes stronger, and the
judge feels that by law he ought to decide against Charu-
datta, but nevertheless does not feel convinced as to the
facts. According to his homely but forcible simite, “the
points of law are sufficiently clear here, but the under-
standing still labours like a cow in a quagmire.” -
In the meantime Charudatta’s friend enters the court,
and with him are discovered the ornaments of the woman
said to be murdered. This seals Charudatta’s fate. The
judge presses him to speak the truth, and even threatens
him, and Charudatta, heart-broken at his own disgrace,
overwhelmed by the evidence which is heaped against
him, and sick of life on hearing that his beloved Vasan-
tasena is no more, confesses, as many an innocent man
has confessed, to a murder he has not committed.
The judge orders “the convicted culprit, being a
Brahman, he cannot according to Manu be put to death,
but he may be banished from the kingdom with his
property unattached.”
* “That the translator may not be thought to have had an English
rather than an Indian court in his eye, he enumerates the terms of the
original for the different members of which it is said to consist. Man-
frins, councillors; ZXučas, the envoys or representatives of the parties;
the wild animals, Death’s ministers, are AWagas and Aszas, elephants
and horses employed to tread or tear condemned criminals to death ;
the Charas are spies or runners; AVanazasakas, disguised emissaries
or informers ; and Æayasthas are scribes by profession who discharge
the duties of notaries and attorneys.”— Wilson.
CHAP. XV.] ANCIENT AGE. 3I 7
The king, however, cruelly modifies this sentence into
one of death. The cruel order of the king is introduced
by the poet as a sin which he expiates soon after. A
revolution overturns his rule, he is killed in battle by an
usurper, and Charudatta is saved when on the point of
being executed, and gets back his beloved Vasantasena,
who had been left as dead by the cruel Vasudeva him-
self, but who had not died. The infuriated mob wish to
kill the base culprit, the relation of the late king, but the
magnanimous Charudatta saves his life from the mob,
and says “Set him free.” “Why so P” asks the mob,
Charudatta replies with the genuine Hindu maxim —
“A humbled foe, who prostrate at your feet
Solicits quarter, must not feel your sword.”
—WILSON.
CHAPTER XVI.
CO///l/ACAVCAA/AEAV7" OA. TA/A) /l/O/D/EA’AV AC/2.
IN the last chapter we have tried to give a brief sketch
of Hindu life and civilisation at the close of the Ancient
Age from the writings of the great Hindu authors who
flourished in the sixth and succeeding centuries. But
it is always a gain to see ourselves as others see us, and
we propose in the present chapter to draw a similar
sketch of Hindu civilisation at the commencement of
the Modern Age, from materials supplied to us by a
cultured and larger-hearted foreigner, Alberuni, who wrote
in the eleventh century.
The value of Alberuni's work on India has long been
known to scholars, but a scholarlike edition and transla-
tion of it had hitherto been wanting. Dr. Edward C.
Sachau has now removed the want, and has performed
an eminent service to the cause of Oriental research and
of Indian history.
Alberuni, or, as his compatriots called him, Abu Raihan,
was born in 973 A.D. in the territory of modern Khiva.
When Mahmud of Ghazni conquered Khiva in Io 17, the
eminent scholar was brought to Ghazni as a prisoner of
war. It is probably this circumstance which made him
look on Hindus with the sympathy due to fellow-sufferers
from the conquests and oppression of Mahmud ; and
while he never hesitates to point out what he considers
blemishes in Hindu civilisation and literature, he has at
least taken the pains to study that civilisation and lite-
rature in a catholic spirit rare among later Mussalman
3.18
ç11 Ap. XVI.] . . MOIDI. RN AG.I. 3 I 9
writers, and he never withholds the meed of praise
where praise is due.
Of Mahmud's reckless work of destruction in
India, Alberuni speaks with deserved animadversion.
“Mahmud,” he says, “utterly ruined the prosperity of
the country, and performed those wonderful exploits
by which the Hindus became like atoms of dust
scattered in all directions, and like a tale of old in
the mouths of the people. Their scattered remains
cherish, of course, the most inveterate aversion towards
all Muslims. This is the reason, too, why Hindu
sciences have retired far away from those parts of the
country conquered by us, and have fled to places which
our hand cannot yet reach, to Kashmir, Benares, and
other places” (Chap. I.). -
With regard to the Hindus, the fact which struck
Alberuni most unfavourably was their complete isolation
from other nations of the earth, their ignorance of the
outside world, their want of sympathy and communi-
cation with other peoples whom they call M/ech:/ias.
“They are,” says Alberuni, “by nature niggardly in
communicating that which they know, and they take
the greatest possible care to withhold it from men of
another caste among their own people, still much more,
of course, from any foreigner. According to their
belief, there is no other country on earth but theirs, no
other race' of man but theirs, and no created being
besides them have any knowledge of Science whatever.
Their haughtiness is such that if you tell them of any
science or scholar in Khorasan and Persia, they will
think you to be both an ignoramus and a liar. Af they
trave/ed and mixed with other nations, they would soon
change their mind, for their ancesſors Zvez e not as narrow-
minded as the present generation is” (Chap. I.).
In political matters, too, India was in the last days of
her decline when Alberuni wrote. The vast country
which had owned the sway or the Supremacy of the
32O PURANIC PERIOD. [BOOK. v.
great Vikramaditya in the sixth century, was now
parcelled out among petty kings and chiefs, all in-
dependent of each other, and often warring with each
other. Kashmir was independent and was guarded by
its mountains ; Mahmud of Ghazni had tried to conquer
it, but failed ; and the brave Anangapala, who had vainly
tried to oppose the march of Mahmud, had at one time
fled to that secluded region. Sindh was cut up into petty
principalities ruled by Moslem chiefs. In Gujrat, Mah-
mud's invasion of Somnath or Pattan had left no lasting
result ; the Rajput dynasty, which had wrested the ruling
power in the land from the Chalukyas before the time
of Mahmud, continued to rule there after Mahmud's
invasion of Somnath. Malwa was ruled by another
Rajput race, and Bhojadeva, who ruled for half a century,
from 997 to IoS3, was an enlightened patron of letters,
and revived in his capital at Dhara the memories of the
reign of Vikramaditya the Great.
Kanouj is said to have then been subject to the Pala
kings of Bengal, who generally resided at Monghyr.
Rajyapala of Kanouj had been plundered by Mahmud
in Io 17, and in consequence of this a new capital had
been founded at Bari, where Mahipala lived and ruled
about I O 26. Both these rulers, like all the Palas of
Beugal, are said to have been of the Budddist persuasion ;
but Buddhism as a national religion had almost died out
in India in Alberuni's time. Q
The country round Kanouj was called the Madhyadesa
by the people, because it formed the centre of India, a
Centre, as Alberuni states, “from a geographical point of
view,” and “it is a political centre too, because in former
times it was the residence of their most famous heroes.
and kings” (Chap. XVIII.). -
Alberuni gives distances from Kanouj to several,
important places which continue to be important towns
to the present day. He speaks of Mathura, which “has
become famous by Vasudeva;” of Prayaga or Allahabad.
::11A1. Nvf.j \l ())) ERN A (; f.
3
2
T
“where the Hindus torment themselves with various
kinds of torture which are described in the books about
religious sects;” of “the famous Banarasi’ or Benares ;
of Pataliputra, Monghyr and Gangasagara or the mouths
of the Ganges. In the south he speaks of Dhara and
Ujjayini; in the north-west of Kashmir and Multan and
Lahore; and away from the centre of India he speaks of
the fabled causeway of Rama, and of the pearl banks of
Ceylon, as also of the Maldive and Laccadive islands
(Chap. XVIII).
From an account of the country we turn to an account
of the people, Alberuni makes some brief remarks on
the caste-system, from which we are able to see that
the Vaisyas—the great body of the Aryan people—
were fast degenerating to the rank of Sudras. In one
place we are told that between the Vaisyas and the
Sudras “there is no very great distance” (Chap. IX).
Elsewhere we learn that the Vaisyas had already been
deprived of their ancient heritage of religious learning;
that the Brahmans taught the Veda to the Kshatriyas;
but “the Vaisya and Sudra are not allowed to hear
it, much less to pronounce or recite it” (Chap. XII).
Again, we are told that “every action which is considered
as the privilege of the Brahman, such as saying prayers, -
the recitation of the Veda, and offering sacrifices to the
fire is forbidden to him, to such a degree that when ~~
e.g., a Sudra or a Vaisya is proved to have recited the
Veda, -he is accused by the Brahmans before the ruler,
and the latter will order his tongue to be cut off (Chap.
LXIV).
Let the reader compare this account of the Vaisya's
status with that given by Manu, and he will have before
him the history of the gradual degeneracy of the nation,
and the growing power of priests. The descendants
of the Vaisyas, who had an equal right with Brahmans
to learn and recite the Veda and to sacrifice to the fire,
came, after the religious and political revolutions of the
VO L II. - 4 I
322. PURANIC PIERIOI). [BOOK. v.
ninth and tenth centuries, to be classed with Sudras, and
considered unworthy of religious knowledge Kshatri-
yas still held their own as long as India was a free
country, but lost their glory and independence after the
twelfth century. And then the bold myth was proclaimed
that the Kshatriyas too as a caste had, like the Vaisyas,
ceased to exist, that all who were not Brahmans were
Sudras—all equally incapable of reciting the Veda and
sacrificing to the fire Does the modern reader wish
to go beyond this specious myth of the extinction of the
J&shatriyas and Vaisyas, and desire to know what has
really become of them and their descendants? He will
find them classed under new names (Kayastha, Vaidya,
Vanik, Svarnakara, Karmakara, &c.), as new castes un-
known to Manu and Yajnavalkya. And room has been
kindly provided for these new castes, formed out of
As/afriyas and Vaisyas, in the growing list of “mixed
castes” which Manu had reserved for aſ origines like
AVſs/adas and Chandalas / But modern education is
gradually opening the eyes of the people, and the great
Hindu nation is learning to demand its ancient religious
and social privileges as it is rising to a consciousness of
its national and political life, -
Below the Sudra, eight Antyaja castes are recounted
by Alberuni, viz., the fuller, the shoemaker, the juggler,
the basket and shield maker, the sailor, the fisherman,
the hunter of wild animals, and the weaver. The Hari,
Donna, and Chandala were considered as outside all castes
(Chap. IX). -
It is a relief to turn from the subject of caste to that of
the manners and customs of the people ; but even here
we find Hinduism in its last stage of degeneracy. We are
told that “Hindus marry at a very young age,” and that
“if a wife loses her husband by death, she cannot marry
another man. She has only to choose between two
things—either to remain a widow as long as she lives, or
to burn herself.; and the latter eventually is considered
GAHP. xvi.) , MODERN AGE. 323
the preſerable, because as a widow she is ill-treated as long
as she lives” (Chap. LXIX). We have seen that early
marriage was not the usual custom in the Puranic Age,
and it is clear therefore that it became the general custom
among Hindus at the commencement of the Modern Age.
The same remark applies to the rite of Sati.
About marriage customs we are told that parents
arranged marriages for their children, that no gifts were
settled, but the husband made a gift in advance which
was the wife's property (stridhana) ever after. Mar-
riage was forbidden among parties who were related
to each other within five generations. Every man of a
particular caste could, under the ancient law, marry a
woman of his own caste, or one of the castes below his.
But this practice had fallen into disuse ; caste had become
more rigid, and “in our time, however, the Brahmans,
although it is allowed to them, never marry any woman
except one of their own caste” (Chap. LXIX).
The account of the festivals, given by Alberuni, of
the Hindus of the eleventh century reads not unlike
an account of Hindu festivals in the present day. The
year commenced with the month of Chaitra, and on the
eleventh day of the moon was the Hindoli Chaitra (the
modern Dola), when the image of Krishna was swung
to and fro in a cradle. On the full-moon day was the
spring festival (the modern Holi), a festival specially for
women. We have found some account of this festival.
in the dramatic literature of the early Puranic Age. Both
the Ratnavali and the Malatiºnad/ava open with an
account of this festival, which was sacred to the god of
Love. But Krishna, in modern times, has supplanted the
ancient god of Love, and the modern Holi represents the
festival of that ancient god. . -
The third day of the moon in Vaisakha was the Gaur;
Tritiya, when women performed ablutions, worshipped
the image of Gauri, and lighted lamps before it, offered
perfumes, and fasted. From the tenth day of the moon.
3.24. PU RANIC PERT OD, [BOOK. Y.
to the full moon, sacrifices were performed before plough-
ing fields, and commencing the annual cultivation. Then
came the vernal equinox, when a festival was held and
Brahmans were fed.
Jaistha is the month for fruits in India, and on the first
day of the moon the first-fruits of the year were thrown
into the water for obtaining a favorable prognostic. On
the full-moon day there was a festival for women, called
A'upa Pancha.
The month of Asadha was devoted to alms-giving, and
households were provided with new vessels.
On the full-moon day in Sravana banquets were again
given to Brahmans.
In the month of Asvayuja Sugar cane was cut, and at
a festival called the Mahanavami, the first-fruits of sugar
and other things were presented to the image of Bhaga-
vati. On the fifteenth, sixteenth, and twenty-third day
of the moon there were other festivals, accompanied by
much merriment and wrangling.
The month of Bhadrapada was full of celebrations. On
the first day of the moon alms were given in the manes
of the fathers. On the third day there was a festival
for women. On the sixth day food was distributed to
prisoners. On the eighth day there was a festival called
Dhruvagriha, and pregnant women celebrated it to obtain
healthy children. On the eleventh day there was a festi-
val called Parzait, in which a thread was offered to the
priest. And after the full-moon day the whole half-month
was devoted to festivals. These festivals of the eleventh
century have now been replaced by more pompous Pujas,
— those of Durga and other goddesses and gods.
On the first day of the moon in Kartika was a festival
called Dewali. A great number of lamps were lighted,
and it was believed that the goddess Lakshmi liberated
Bali, the son of Virochana, in that one day in the year.
This was the ancient form of the Dewali festival, with
which the worship of Kali is now connected, just as the
CHAP. XVI.] MODERN AG E. 325
worship of Krishna is now connected with the ancient
festival to the god of Love.
On the third day of the moon in Margasirsha (Agra-
hayana) there was a feast for women in honour of Gauri.
And there was another feast for women on the full-moon
day. f
Pausha was celebrated in those days, as it is now, with
a variety of sweet dishes. We have seen that this very
sensible way of celebrating in winter was known even in
the centuries previous to the Christian Era.
On the third day of the moon is Magha, there was
a feast for women in honour of Gauri. Other festivals
followed in this month. -
On the eighth day of the moon in Falguna, Brahmans
were fed, and on the full-moon day was the Dola. The
following night was the Sivaratri dedicated to Mahadeva
(Chap. LXXVI).
The account of festivals given above will convey some
idea of popular religion and religious practices. There
were idols and temples, too, scattered broadcast all over
India, which attracted numerous pilgrims and devotees.
Alberuni speaks of an idol of Aditya or the Sun in
Multan, of one of Chakrasvamin or Vishnu in Thanes-
vara, of a wooden idol called Sarada in Kashmir, and of
the famous idol of Somnath——a Sivalinga—which was
destroyed by Mahmud of Ghazni (Chap. XI). About
the linga of Somnath, our author tells us that Mahmud,
after destroying the upper part, transported the remainder
to Ghazni, with all its coverings and trappings of gold,
jewels, and embroidered garment. Part of it was thrown
into the hippodrome of the town, and part of it was kept
and the door of the Ghazni mosque, so that people might
rub and clean their feet on it. Such was the fate assigned
to the idol which was daily washed by water brought
from the Ganges and worshipped by flowers from Kash-
mir The great importance of the Somnath linga was
due to the fact that the town itself was a centre of mari-
326 PURANIC PERIOD. [BOOK v.
time trade and a harbour for seafaring people (Chap.
LVIII.)
Benares had already become the most sacred place
in India, and men repaired there in their old age to end
their lives in the holy city. The holy lakes of Pushkara,
Thanesvara, Mathura, Kashmir, and Multan are also
alluded to, and no doubt attracted vast crowds of pilgrims
(Chap. LXVI). The Hindu custom of excavating great
tanks with spacious flights of stairs in holy places is much
praised by our author. “In every place to which some.
particular holiness is ascribed the Hindus construct ponds
intended for ablutions. In this they have attained to a
very high degree of art, so that our people (the Muslims),
when they see them, wonder at them, and are unable to ©
describe them, much less to construct anything like them.
They build them of great stones of an enormous bulk,
joined to each other by sharp and strong cramp irons, in
the form of steps (or terraces) like so many ledges ; and
these terraces run all round the pond, reaching to a
height of more than a man's stature " (Chap. LXVI).
. Among the multitude of gods and goddesses whom
the Hindus worshipped, Alberuni had no difficulty in
marking out the three principal gods—the deities of
the Hindu Trinity—Brahma the Creator, Vishnu the
Preserver, and Mahadeva the Destroyer. Alberuni
further tells us that these three deities form a Unity,
and herein “there is an analogy between Hindus and
Christians, as the latter distinguish between the three
persons, and give them separate names, Father, Son,
and Holy Ghost, but unite them into one substance"
(Chap. VIII). . . . .
That Alberuni carefully studied Hindu religion and
institutions, will appear from the fact that beyond the
multitude of Hindu gods worshipped by the common
people —beyond even the Trinity spoken of above—
our author grasped the true nature of pure and philoso-
phical Hinduism—the Monotheism of the Upanishads.
CHAP, XVI.] MODERN AG JE. g 327
He repeatedly tells us that the multitude of gods is for
vulgar belief; the educated Hindus believe God to be
“one, eternal, without beginning and end, acting by
free will, almighty, all-wise, living, giving life, ruling,
preserving.”
“The existence of God they consider as real exist-
ence, because everything that exists, exists through him "
(Chap. II).
This is pure, refreshing, life-giving religion ; it has
the true ring of the ancient Upanishads, which are
among the noblest works that have been composed by
man. The historian only regrets that this noble faith
became the exclusive property of the educated few, that
the common people were referred to idols and temples,
to unmeaning rites and unhealthy restrictions. Why
should the people be fed on poison in a land where
the nectar stream of an ancient and life-giving religion
flowed perennial P
Elsewhere Alberuni speaks of the Hindu idea of
transmigration of souls, of every act in life bringing its
reward or punishment in the life to come, and of final
emancipation derived by true knowledge. Then “the
Soul turns away from matter, the connecting links are
broken, the union is dissolved. Separation and dissolu-
tion take place, and the soul returns to its home,
carrying with itself as much of the bliss of knowledge
as sesame develops grains and blosson)s, afterwards
never separating from its oil. The intelligent being,
intelligence, and its object are united and become one *
(Chap. V). . . w
Of the administration of law some interesting account
is given. Written plaints were generally filed, in which
the case against the defender was stated. Where no
such written plaint was filed, oral complaints were
received. There were different kinds of oaths, having
different degrees of solemnity, and cases were decided
on the testimony of witnesses (Chap. LXX).
328 PU RAN IC PHRIOT). [BOOK v.
All foreign visitors have commented on the extreme
mildness of the criminal law in India, and Alberuni
compares it with the leniency professed by Christians,
and adds some shrewd remarks which deserve to be
quoted. “In this regard the manners and customs of
the Hindus resemble those of the Christians, for they
are, like those of the latter, based on the principles of
virtue and abstinence from wickedness, such as never
to kill under any circumstances whatsoever ; to give to
him who has stripped you of your coat also your shirt;
to offer to him who has beaten your cheek the other
cheek also ; to bless your enemy and to pray for him.
Upon my life, this is a noble philosophy; but the
people of this world are not all philosophers. Most of
them are ignorant and erring, who cannot be kept on
the straight road save by the sword and whip. And
indeed, ever since Constantine the victorious became
a Christian, both sword and whip have ever been em-
ployed, for without them it would be impossible to rule”
(Chap. LXXI).
The punishment for a Brahman murderer who killed
a man of another caste was expiation, consisting of
fasting, prayers, and almsgiving. But if a Brahman
killed another Brahman, the punishment was banishment
and confiscation of property. In no case was a Brahman
offender punished with death. For theft the punishment
was in accordance with the value of the stolen property.
In serious cases a Brahman or Kshatriya thief might be
punished with loss of hand or foot, and a thief of a lower
caste might be punished with death. A woman who
comanitted adultery was driven out of the house of her
husband and banished (Chap. LXXI).
Children inherited the property left by the father, a
daughter getting a fourth part of the share of a son.
A widow did not inherit, but was entitled to support
and maintenance as long as she lived. Heirs in the
direct line, i.e., sons, grandsons, &c., inherited in pre-
CIMAP. xvi.] MODERN AGE, 329
ference to collateral heirs as brothers; and the debt of
the deceased devolved on the heir (Chap. LXXII).
In matters of taxation Brahamans enjoyed the same
indulgence as in punishment for offences. One-sixth of
the produce of the soil was the tax due to the ruler; and
labourers, artisans, and trading classes also paid taxes,
calculated on their incomes. Only Brahmans were exempt
from all taxes (Chap. LXVII).
With regard to Hindu literature, Alberuni begins his
account with the Veda, which he says was transmitted
by memory, because it was recited according to certain
thodulations, and the use of the pen might cause some
error. He repeats the story that Vyasa divided the Veda.
into four parts, the Rik, Yajus, Saman, and Atharvan,
and taught one part to each of his ſour pupils—Paila,
Vaisampayana, Jaimini, and Sumantu. He gives us the
names of the eighteen books into which the Mahabharata
in its present shape is divided, and also makes mention
of its continuation the Harivalasa ; and he also tells some
legends from the Ramayana. He names eight gram-
marians—Panini and others—and gives us some account
of Sanscrit metre ; and he also tells us something of the
Sankhya and other schools of philosophy, although his
information is not always derived from the original works
of these schools. Of Buddha and Buddhism his account
is meagre; vague, and erroneous. He tells us of the
twenty works on Smriti, Manu, Yajnavalkya, and others.
He gives us two different lists of the eighteen Puranas,
and the second ist corresponds exactly with the eighteen
Puranas, as we have them now. This is an important
fact for the student of Hindu literature, as it shows
that all the eighteen Puranas were composed before the
eleventh century of the Christian Era, although they have
been altered and added to in subsequent ages. On the
other hand, we have no mention in Alberuni's work of
the Tantra literaturé. And lastly, Alberuni, being himself
a clever mathematician, gives us a long account of Hindu
VOL. II. 42
33C PURA NIC PEI IOD, [BOOK v.
astronomers, Aryabhatta, Varahamihira, and Brahma-
gupta, and of the five astronomical Siddhantas (Surya,
Vasishtha, Pulisa, Romaka, and Brahma), which were
condensed by Varahamihira. Alberuni specially praises
Varahamihira as an honest man of Science, and states
that the astronomer lived 526 years before his own time,
i. e., about 505 A.D. - - - - -
It is not necessary for us to go into the long and
learned account which Alberuni gives of Hindu astro-
nomy. His criticisms are sometimes erroneous ; but on
the whole he tries honestly to comprehend and explain
the system of which he speaks. He gives us the names
of the twelve Adityas, i. e., the names of the sun in the
twelve months of the year, viz., Vishnu of Chaitra,
Aryaman of Vaisakha, Vivasvat of Jyaistha, Ansa of
Asadha, Parjanya of Sravana, Varuna of Bhadra, Indra
of ASvayuja (Asvina), Dhatri of Kartika, Mitra of Marga-
Sirsha (Agrahayana), Pushan of Pausha, Bhaga of Magha,
and Tvashtri of Falguna. He states correctly that the
names of the Hindu months are derived from the Hindu
names of lunar constellations : Asvina from Asvini, Kar-
tika from Krittika, Margasirsa from Mrigasira, Pausha
from Pushya, Magha from Magha, Falguna from Purva
Falguni, Chaitra from Chitra, Vaisakha from Visakha,
Jyaishtha from Jyeshtha, Ashadha from Purvashadha,
Sravana from Sravana, and Bhadra from Purva Bhadra-
pada. He gives us the names of the twelve signs of the
zodiac, adopted by the Hindus from the Greeks, who had
adopted them from the Assyrians. And he also gives us
the Hindu names of the planets, Mangala for Mars, Budha
for Mercury, Vrihaspati for Jupiter, Sukra for Venus, and
Sanichara for Saturn (Chap. XIX).
Alberuni further tells us, and it is a remarkable fact
for Hindu students to know, that some idea of the law of
gravitation was known to Hindu astronomers. Brahma-
gupta, as quoted by Alberuni, says, “All heavy things
fall down to the earth by a law of nature, for it is ſhe
chap. XVI.] MODERN AGE. 33 I
nature of the earth to attract and to keep things, as it is
the nature of water to flow, that of the fire to burn, and
that of the wind to set in motion.” Varahamihira also
says: “ The Earth attracts that which is upon her.”
(Chap. XXVI). Alberuni also alludes to Aryabhatta's
theory, of which we have spoken before, that the earth
revolves on its axis, the heaven does not turn round as
appears to our eyes (Chap. XXVI). That the earth is
round was also known to Hindu astronomers, and the
circumference of the earth was stated to be 48oo yojanas
(Chap. XXXI).
Alberuni also tells us of the precession of the equinoxes,
and quotes Varahamihira, that whereas the summer sol-
stice took place in the midst of Aslesha and the winter
solstice in Dhanishta in olden times (in the Epic Age,
when the Vedas were finally compiled, as we have seen
before), the former now (in Varahamihira's time) takes
place in the Cancer, and the latter in Capricornus (Chap.
LVI). Alberuni further goes into the subject of the
heliacal rising of the stars, and tells us how the mythical
story of Agastya (Canopus) ordering the Vindhya moun-
tains to wait until his return, arose Out of astronomical
observations on the heliacal rising of the Canopus. Into
these and various other interesting matters of which our.
author speaks we cannot enter. - -
The geography of India was pretty well known to the
Hindus both before and after the Christian Era : witness
the Buddhist Scriptures and the accounts in Kalidasa's
poetry and Varahamihira's astronomy. But nevertheless
in orthodox Hindu works, we often find the mythical
account of the configuration of the earth, with its seven
concentric seas and seven concentric islands ! The central
island is Jambu Dvipa, surrounded by the salt sea; round
it is Saka Dvipa, surrounded by the milk sea ; round it.
is Kusa Dvipa surrounded by the butter sea ; round it is
Krauncha Dvipa, surrounded by the curd sea ; round it
is Salmali Dvipa, surrounded by the wine sea ; round it is
332 PU IN AN IC I? ICRIO D. [BOOK. V.
Gomeda Dvipa, Surrounded by the sugar sea; and last of
all is Pushkara Dvipa, surrounded by the sweet sea (Chap.
XXI, quoting from the Matsya Purana). A more rational
account of the provinces of India is quoted by Alberuni.
from the Vayu Purana. The Kurus, Panchalas, Kasis,
Kosalas, &c., were the central people. The Andhras (in
Magadha), Vangiyas, Tamraliptikas, &c., were in the east.
The Pandyas, Keralas, Cholas, Maharashtras, Kalingas,
Vaidharvas, Andhras (in the Deccan), Nasikyas, Saurash-
tras, &c., were to the South. The Bhojas, Malavas,
Hunas (Huns then possessing a part of the Punjab),
&c., were to the west. And the Pahlavas (Persians),
Gandharas, Yavanas, Sindhus, Sakas, &c., were to the
north (Chap. XXIX). w
Alberuni gives us some account of Hindu arithmetic
and numbers—a science in which the Hindus beat all
nations on the face of the earth. “I have studied the
names of the orders of the numbers in various languages, ’’
says Albéruni, “and have found that no nation goes
beyond the thousand,” i. e., the fourth order of numbers,
commencing from the unit. ISut the Hindus “extend
the names of the Orders of numbers until the eighteenth
order, and this is called the Parardha (Chap. XIV).
Our author also speaks of the various kinds of alphabet
in use in India, the Siddha'ſ/eatri/d used in Kashmir and
in Benares, the AWagara used in Malwa, the Arg/hanagari,
the Mazzwari, the Sind/ava, the Aarnata, the Andhri, the
JDraziri, the Gauri, &c. The last named is no doubt the
Bengali alphabet. Various materials, too, were used in
various parts of India for writing—the Zºol leaf in some
places, the B/iurja in Northern and Central India, &c.
(Chap. XVI).
A chapter is also devoted to Hindu medical science.
The science seems to have always been the monopoly
of a few, and much superstition was mixed up with it.
Ignorant pretenders professed through A'asayana to turn
old age into youth, and to work many other wonders,
CFIAP, XVI.] MODERN AGE. 333
and thus preyed on the more ignorant public. As in
the Middle Ages in Europe, so in India, the greediness
of kings to convert metals into gold knew no bounds, and
pretenders prescribed many dark and even inhuman rites
to work this wonder. - . . .
Indeed, in many respects the tenth and eleventh cen-
turies in India resembled the Middle Ages in Europe. A
noble religion had become the monopoly of priests, and
had been all but smothered with childish legends and
image worship. War and sovereignty were the mono-
poly of another caste, the Rajput Kshatriyas of India, and
the feudal barons of Europe, who had both come to the
forefront from the struggles of the preceding Dark Ages.
The people were ignorant, dispirited, enslaved, in one
country as in the other. The last of the poets of the
Augustan and Vikramadityan ages had disappeared, and
had left no successors. The great names in science and
learning were also a memory of the past ; none had
appeared again to take their place. And, as if to make
the parallel complete, the last remains of the Latin and
Prakrit-Sanscrit spoken tongues were replaced by modern
languages, the Italian, French, and Spanish in Europe,
and the Hindi, &c., in India. The people were kept in
ignorance, fed with unwholesome superstition, beguiled
with gorgeous and never-ending festivals. Everything
bore the appearance of disintegration and decay; and
national life seemed extinct, +
But here the parallel ends. The sturdy feudal barons
of Europe soon mixed with the people, fought the people's
battle in the field, the council board or the counting-house,
and thus infused a new and vigorous life in modern
nations. In India the caste-system prevented such a
fusion, and the Rajput Kshatriyas, isolated from the
people, soon fell a prey to foreign invaders, and were
involved in a common ruin.
Great is the penalty which the Hindus have paid for
their caste disunion and their political weakness. For
334 PURANIC PERIOD. [Book v.
six centuries after 12oo A.D., the history of the Hindus is
a blank. They were the only Aryan nation in the earth
who were civilised four thousand years ago; they are the
only Aryan nation in the earth who are socially lifeless
and politically prostrate in the present day.
After six centuries of national lifelessness, there are
indications of reviving life. There is a struggle in the
land to go beyond the dead forms of religion, and to
recover what is pure, nourishing, life-giving. There is
an effort to create a social union which is the basis of
national union. There are beginnings of a national con-
sciousness among the people.
It may be England's high privilege to restore to an
ancient nation a new and healthy life. Under the
vivifying influences of modern civilisation, ancient races
in Greece and in Italy have begun a new intellectual
and national career. Under the fostering protection of
the British crown, new nations are progressive in self.
government and civilisation in America and in Australia.
The influence of civilisation and the light of progress
will yet spread to the shores of the Ganges. And if
the science and learning, the sympathy and example of
modern Europe help us to regain in some measure a
national consciousness and life, Europe will have ren-
dered back to modern India that kindly help and sisterly
service which India rendered to Europe in ancient days
—in religion, science, and civilisation.
IN DE X.
| N D E X.
A BIIIDIIMMA Pitaka, i. 315-319
Ablaimanyu (king of Kashmir), i.
IO ; ii. 43
Abhira (tribe), ii. 40, 50, 85
Abhisheka (baptism), i. 376
Abinas Chandra Kaviratna, ii. 248
Aborigines, i. 5, 8, 34, 48-59, 141,
I44-148, I56, 157, 218, 245–247;
ii. 86, 89, 9o, 215
Abu, i. 218 ; ii. 226, 22
Acharanga Sutra, i. 385-38S
Acharya (caste), ii. 85
Adisura (king of Iłengal), ii. 169
Aditi, i. 83 ; ii. 262
Aditya, i. 83, S4 ; ii. 330
Administration, i. 29, 22 I-229; ii.
5, 56, IOO-IQ4, I58, I 59
Adoption, i. 72 ; see Datta
Adultery, i. 68, 172, 231 ; ii. II2
AElian, i. 219
Agni, i. 32, 85, 86, I31
Agni Purana, see Puranas
Agnihotra (sacrifice), i. 182, 259 ;
ii. 95
Agnimitra (king of Kashmir), i. 373
Agnimitra (king of Magadha), ii.
37, 38, 264 -
Agnishtoma (sacrifice), i. 182, 259
Agnosticism, i. 28 I, 284, 347, 357
Agnyadhana (sacrifice), i. 183,259
Agrahayani (sacrifice), i. 267
Agrayana (sacrifice), i. 259 ; ii. 95
Agreement, breach of, ii. Io9
Agriculture, i. 28 ; 34-40,
224, 227, 228, 233, 234, 252,
266; ii. IO2, J 10 -
222
- - )
Ahana (Dawn), i. 32, 9 |
Ahi, i. 79, 81
Ahindika (caste), ii. 80
Ahura Mazd, i 76
Ainslie, ii. 248
Aitareya, see Brahmanas, Aranya-
kas, Upanishads
Aitareya Mahidasa, see Mahidasa
Ajanta, ii. 75, 77-79, I57
Ajatasatru of Kasi, i. 133, 136
Ajatasatru of Magadha, i. 332,336,
337 ; ii. 33, 35
Ajivaka sect, i. 325, 384 -
Alara (Buddha’s teacher), i. 324, 325
Alberuni, ii. 49, 123, 126, 2 II,
244, 318-332
Alexander the Great, i. II, 37 I ;
11. I
Alexander of Epiros, i. 15 ; ii.
I2, I4
Algebra (Hindu), ii. 241, 246
Allahabad, i. 141 ; ii. I43
Allahabad Pillar, ii. I 5, 49, 64, 65
Alphabet, i. 227 ; ii. 24-28, 332
Altar, i. 183, 27O, 27 I -
Amagandha Sutta, i. 366
Amara Sinha, i. 18; ii. 128
Amaravati, i. 202, 215 ; ii. 67, 71,
72, 154, 183
Ambapali (a courtesan), i. 338, 339
Ambashtha (caste), i. 246, 247 ; ii.
85, 215, 218
Ambassador, ii. IoI
Ambika, i. 86, 188 ; ii. 1 Qo
Amrita, i. 44
Ananda (Buddha's friend), i. 331,
332, 333, 337, 339-341, 308
338
HNLEX.
Ananda (Jaina disciple), i. 388-390
Anandaram Borooah, i. Pref.
Anavalobhana, see Pregnancy
Andhra, i. 12, I5, I48, 202, 215,
218 ; ii. 28–30, 86, I54
Anga (East Behar), i. 213, 320
Angas, see Jaina Scripture
Angels, i. 339
-Angiras, i. 32, 86, 94, IO3, II6
Angiras (astronomer), ii. I 19
Angiras, see Dharma Sastras
Anguttara Nikaya (Buddhist scrip-
tures), i. 317
Anhalwara Puttun, see Puttun
Animals, domestic, i. 28, 37, 46,
47, 58
Animal food, i. 4I, 42, 166, 227,
262
Annaprasana, see Feeding of child
Ansa (god), i. 84
Antamahamatra (frontier officer),
ii. 5
Antigonus, i. I5 ; ii. 12, 14
Antiochus, i. 15; ii. I2, 14
Antyavasayin (caste), i. 246, 247;
ii. 86
Anukramani, i. 208
Aºmpute (town in Ceylon),
II. &Q)
Anuruddha (Buddhist disciple), i.
330–332 *
Anusamyana (Buddhistceremony)
11. 5
Apachya (tribe), i. 146, 147
Apastamba, see Sutras, Dharma-
SastraS
Apaviddha (son), i. 238–242; ii.
II 5
Apsara, see Nymphs
Aptoryama (sacrifice), i. 259
Aranyakas, i. 9, 118
Taittiriya, i. I 18, 184
Aitareya, i. 33, I 18
Kaushitaki, i. I 18
Arattas (tribe), i. 214
Architecture, i. I6, 17, 46; ii. 58,
62–82, I23, I45, I47, I49, 153,
174-176, 220-240
Ariano-Palicharacter, see Alphabet
Aristotle, i. 292, 3o I
Arithmetic (Hindu), i. 178, 274 ;
ii. 246, 247, 332
Arjikiya, see Beas
Arjuna, i. 124-129, 187; ii. 288-292
Armour, i. 45, 56, 124, 128, 226,
253 ; ii. 219
Army, i. 217-219, 223-225, 252,;
ii. IO4, 141, 158; see Infantry,
Cavalry, Elephants, Chariots
Arnold, Sir Edwin, ii. 295
Arrian, i. 225, 227
Arrow, see Weapons of war
Arsha Marriage, i. 254 ; ii. 96
Arts, i. 44-46, 165, 223, 229, 230
Artisans, i. 222, 233,253 ; ii. IO2
Arundhati, see Polar star
Aruni, see Uddalaka Aruni
Arya, i. 34, 49, 50 .
Aryabhatta, i. 19 ; ii. I29, 243
Aryaman (god), i. 84
Aryans, Asiatic, i. 3O
Aryans, European, i. 3O
Aryans, Hindu, i. 3O
Aryans, primitive, i. 26-30
Aryavarta, i. 213 ; ii. 50
Ascetics, i. 251, 257, 308
Ashtaka (ceremony), i. 267
Ashtanga Sila, see Commandments,
eight
Asikni, see Chinab
Asita (Buddhist Saint), i. 321
Asoka the Great, i. I4, 3II, 314,
371 ; ii. 2-21, 36, 38, 46
Asoka Avadana, ii. 2
Asoka's edicts, see Edicts
Assam, see Kamarupa
Assault, i. 232 ; ii. IIo, III
Assalayana and ASSalayana Sutta,
i. 350
Astronomy, Hindu, i. Io, I9, 173-
177, 178, 207; ii. I 19-I23, 242-
246, 330, 331
Astronomer, i I56, I74
Asura, i. 30, 187, 188 ; ii. 192
Asura marriages, i. 254 ; ii. 96
Asvalayana, see Sutras
Asvaghosa (Buddhist writer), i. 374;
ii. I46
INDEX.
339.
Asvamedha, i, 42, I29, 143, 170,
183, 299
Asvayuji (ceremony), i. 265, 266
Asvins, i. 40, 89
Atatayin (assassin), i. 233
Atharva, see Vedas -
Atharvan (Rishi , i, 86, II6.
Atheism, i. 281.
Athena, i. 32
Aliratra (sacrifice), i. 259
Atman, see Soul
Atomictheory, i.293.; see Philosophy
Vaisesika.
Atri (astronomer), ii. II9
Atri (Rishi), i. 32, 94, IO4, 165
Atri, see Dharma Sastras
Atyagnishtoma (sacrifice), i. 259
Aurasa (son), i. 238-242; ii, II5
Avalokitesvara (Buddhist deity), ii.
15
Aſiaman (of Kashmir), ii. 18O
Avanti, i. 213, 368; see Malwa
Avantya (caste), ii. 85
Avrita (caste), ii. 85
Ayodhya, see Oudh
Ayogava (caste), i. 246, 247; ii. 85,
89, 215
Ayurveda, ii. 250,
Ayusha, sea Birth ceremonies.
B
BACTRIAN Greeks, i. TS, 247, 350,
371, 373; ii. I, 4, 8, 37, 40, 41,
: 42, 86, 120, 12I
Badarayana Vyasa, see Vyasa Bada-
rayana
Bagdi (caste), ii. 90
Baillur temple, ii. 233
Bairat (inscription), ii. 15
Baladeva (god), ii. 245
Balaki (a Brahman in §he Upani-
shads), i. 136
Bali (deity), ii. 245
Bali, i. I4I
Ballala kings of the Karnatic, ii.
184, 185
‘Ballala Sena (king of Bengal), ii.
I69, 170
Ballantyne, i. 277.
Banabhatta, i. 18; ii. 131, 265, 298
Banerjea Dr., see Krishna Mohan
Banerjea
Baniya (caste); ii. 91 ; see Vanik,
Suvarna vanik
Bankim Chandra Chatterji on,
Krishna, ii. I94
Baptism, see Abhisheka
Bapudeva Sastri, ii. I22, 246
Barabar (cave), ii. 15
Barber, i. 44; 156 ; see Napit
Barley, i. 4I, I66, 228
Barth, i. 92, 381 ; ii. Preſ.
Baudhayana, see Sutras
Bauri (caste), ii. 90
Beal, i. 31 I, 336, 369
Beard, cutting of, ii. 93.
Beas (Arjikiya), i. 61
Bedsor cave, ii. 73.
Beef, see Animal food
Behar, i. 7, 131, 147, 213 ; ii. 57-60
I45-I49; see Videha, Magadha,
and Anga
Benares, i. 7, 131, 326; ii. 59, 66,
I44, I45, 225; 326
Benfey, i, Pref.
Bengal, i. I2, I47, 2I4, 217, 218 ;.
ii. 60, I49-15I, 166-172; see
Pundra, Samatata, Tamralipti.
Vanga, Sumbha; Karnasuvarna
Kamarupa, and Kalinga.
Bentley, i. Io, 177
Berar, ii. I53, 270.
Beryl, i. 230.
Bhabra (inscription of). ii. 5
Bhaddiya (Buddhist convent), i. 331
Bhadrabahu (Jaina leader) i. 382
Bhaga (god), i. 84. -
Bhagavata Purana, 'see Puranas
Bhagavat Gita, ii. Igrº. "
Bhagavati (goddess), see Durga, &c.
Bhagwan lal Indraji, ii. 44, 5I
2-
Bhaja cave, ii. 73
Bhandarkar, i. Pref.; ii. 191
Bhanu Gupta (of the Gupta line),
11. 53 . . . .
Bhao Daji, i, Pref; ii. 65, 128, 129,
244 t - *
34C
IN ( ) l X.
Bharadwaja, Rishi, i. 32, 94, IO3
Bharadwaja, Sutra writer, see Sutras
Bharadvaja (of Buddhist story), i.
333, 334, 349
Bharata (tribe), i. 99, I2O, I23
IBharata (Rama’s brother), i. 140
Bharata (Dushyanta’s son), i. 149
Bharavi, i. 18; ii. 128, 287-292
Bharhut (sculptures at), ii. 67, 68
Bhartrihari, i. 18; ii. 132, 292-294
Bharukachchha Broach), ii. 157
Bhaskaracharya, ii. 245, 246
Bhatarka (founder of Valabhi dyn-
asty), ii. I6O
Bhatta Narayana (author of Veni
Sanhara drama), ii. 281
13hatti, ii. 294
Bhavabhuti, i. 18; ii. 133, 179,
270–280
Dhavishya Purana, see Puranas
Bhikshu, Hindu, see Ascetics
Bhikshu (Buddhist monk), i. 316,
327 - -
Bhikshuni (Buddhist nun), i. 3 Id,
33O
Bhil, i. 147 ; ii. 305
Bhilsa (topes), ii. 66
Bhimala (caste), i. 157
Bhima (one of the Pandavas), i.
I 24-I29.
Bhishma, i. 123, 129
Bhoja, i. I45, I46; ii. 4, 320 ; see
Malwa
Bhopal, ii. 66, 224
Bhrigu, i. 86, 94, IO3
Bhrigu (astronomer), ii. 119
Bhrijya Kantha (caste), i. 247; ii. 85
T}hujyu, shipwrecked, i. 40
Bhuvaneswara in Orissa), ii. 174,221
Bibhishana, i. I42
Bidpai, ii. 297, see Panchatantra
Bigandet, i. 312, 339, 376
Bimbisara (king of Magadha), i.
320, 328,332 ; ii. 33, 35 e
Bindusara (king of Magadha), i.
37I ; ii. 2, 36, 38
Biot, i. 176
3irth cereumonies, i. 262 ; ii. 93
13irth stories, sec Jataka’
Black Pagoda, see Kanarak
Blackmith, i. 156, 224 ; ii. 219
Boats and ships, i. 28, 40, 222
Bodhisatva (potential Buddha), ii.
2
Boehtling, i. Pref.
Bogh, Vihara.. ii. 79
13opp, i. Pref., 275
Bo tree or Bodhi tree of
324 ; ii. I47.
Boundary disputes, ii. I Io.
Bow, see Weapons of war
Boyd ii. 268, 269 -
Brahma (astronomer), ii. I 19 122
Brahmadatta (king of Benares) i.
364 -
Brahmagupta i. 19, 22 note ; ii.
122, 123, I29, 245.
Brahma marriage, i. 254 ; ii. 96
Brahman or Prahma (deity), i. 32,
283, 3OI-3O4, 339, 348; ii. 188,
189, 245
Brahman (a class of priests) i. 65,
II 3 w
Brahman (caste), i. 8, 65, IOO-IO6,
I32, 134-136, 139, 151-158, 231
232, 245,-252; ii. 85, 89,90, 169,
I7O, 215, 32 I, 322,
Brahmana, (works), i. Q, I, I, IO3,
I Io, I 17, 1 18, 180-189, 298
Aitareya BF., i. I 17, 145, I46,
I48, E49, 158, 165, 166, 172,
186, 188 -
Kaushitaki Br., i. 117, 188
Tandya or Panchavinsa Br., i.
I 17, 189 •
Sadvinsa Br., II?
Mantra Br., i. II 7
Chhandogya Br. i. 117
Taittiriya Br., i. 118,166, #74, 186
Satapatha Br., i. 118, 131, 133,
34, 135, 156, 160, 166, 172,
174, 178, 180-188, 189
Gopatha Br., i. 116, 118
Brahmanda Purana, see Puranas
Brahmanaspati, see Brihaspati
Brahma Purana, see Puranas
Brahmasphuta Siddhanta, see Brah-
magupta
Gaya, i.
1 N JOJ.X.
34 f
Brahma Sutra, i. 3OI
Brahma Vidya, see Pronunciation
, Brahma Vaivarta Purana, see Pur-
all) als
Bribery, ii. 116
Brihadaranyaka, see Upanishads
Brihadratha dynasty of Magadha,
11. 32, 35 - g &
Brihaspati (or Brahmanaspati), i. 89
Brihaspati, see Dharma Sastras
Brihat Ratha, ii. 299
Brihat Sanhita (astronomy), ii.
244, 245
Broach, see Bharukachcha
Buddha, i. 13, 209, 276, 277, 307-
3O9, 320-34I
Buddha, image of, ii. 232, 245
Buddha Gaya, i. 324; ii. 67, 68,
I29, I47
Buddha Ghosha, i. 373
Buddha Gupta (of the Gupta line),
11. 53
Buddha Vansa, i. 317
Buddhism, i. I3, I4, I5, 16, 189,
203, 299, 251, 301, 305-380 ;
ii. 54-61, I:27, 134-158.
Buddhist architecture see Stupa,
Rails, Chaitya, Monasteries
Buddhist baptism, see Abhisheka
Buddhist celebrations, see Reli-
gious celebrations
Buddhist councils, i. I4, 16, 314,
368-371, 373; ii. 42, 57, 59, 137,
I46, I48
Buddhist churches, see Chaityas
(Buddhist doctrines, i. 342-357
Buddhist miracles, see Miracles
Buddhist missionaries (Vivutha),
i. I5, 327, 376 ; ii. 5, I5
Buddhist monasteries, see Viharas
Buddhist monastic order, see
monastic order
Buddhist monks, see Bhikshu
Buddhist nuns, see Bhikshuni
Buddhist parables, see Parables
Buddhist period, i. 14-17 ; ii.
I–I23
Ruddhist precepts, i. 358-367
Buddhist priest, ii. 55-61, 271
Iłuddhist scriptures, i. 14, 17,
3.16-318, 372 ; ii. 137 I48
Buddhist, Trinity, sce Trinity
Buddhist, Northern, i. 17, 313,
369, 370
Buddhists Southern, i. 17, 313, 370.
Buhler, i. A reſ. ; I4, IoS, 202, 204,
215, 240, 381, 383; ii. A re/.; I4,
28, 49, 84, 197, 198, 20I, 295
Bukkaraya, founder of Vijaya-
nagara kingdom, ii. 186 -
Bundelkund, ii. 223, 224
Burgess, i. Pref ; ii. I54
Burial, i. 73, 184
Burma, i. 37 I, 373
Burnell, i. Preſ. ; ii. I 55
Burnouf, i. A reſ. ; 79, 3.IO, 339 ;
ii. 6, 23. f
C
CABUL, see Kabul
Cake, i. 4I
Cambojians, see Kambojians
Canals for irrigation, i. 37, 224 :
ii. 139
Canouj, see Kanouj
Caresbora (town), i. 217
Carbuncle, i. 230
Carnatic, ii. 185, 186.
Carpentry and carpenters, i. 28,
45, I56, 224
Carriage, chariot, or cart, i. 45,
57, I56, 224 ; ii. IO3, 314
Caste, i. 5, 8, 64-66, IOO-IO6,
I51-16I, 245-253, 349-352 ; ii.
84-92, 214-219, 32I
Cattle see Animals -
Cattle, law of, i. 234 ; ii. Io9
Cattle-trespass, i. 234 ; ii. I Io
Cavalry, i. 156, 217-219, 224, 225,
11. I4. I
Caves (inscriptions in), ii. 15.
Caves, see Chaityas and Monasteries
Ceylon, i. 13, 137-142, 216, 219,
3I4, 371, 372 ; ii. 7, 50, 60, 61,
80, 155
Ceremonies, see Sacraments Dom-
estic ceremonies, Religious
celebrations, Sacrifice, &c.
34 2
IN 1) EX,
Chaitri (cereumony), i. 267
Chaityas (Buddhist churches), ii.
72-76
Chalukyas, ii. 164, 165, 182-184
Champa (capital of Anga), i. 320 ;
ii. 60, 149
Chanakya, ii. 36, 281
Chandala (caste), i. 246, 247 ; ii.
56, 85, 89, 9o, 215.
Chandi, see Durga
Chandragiri temples, ii. 232
Chandra Gupta (I, and II), of the
Gupta line of kings, ii. 49, 51
Chandragupta of Magadha, i. 12, 14,
216, 217, 371 ; ii. I, 2, 36-38, 46
Character of the Hindus, i. 92,
226, 363; ii. 159.
Charaka, ii. 123, 251, 252
Charana (school) i. 200
Charanvayutha (work), i. 200
Chariots, see Carriage
Charitra (Orissa seaport), ii 152
Charu Datta (hero of a play), ii.
315-3,17
Chaturmasya (ceremony), i. 182,
259 ; 11.95
Chedi (country), i. 127
Chemistry (Hindu), ii. 254, 255
Chera (tribe or country) i. 13,
216 ; ii. 185
Chhandas (metre), i. 207
Chhandogya, see Brahmans, Upani-
shads
Childers, i. 312
Chillambaram temple, ii. 229, 230
China, i. 374 ; ii. 86, 137
Chinab (Asikni), i. 61
Chit or Chiti, see altar
Chitra Gangayani (a king in the
Upanishads), i. 135
Chitrakuta, i. I41
Chittore ii. 224
Chohan (race), ii. 164, 165
Chola (tribe and country), i. 13,
216, 371 ; ii. 5, 7, 155, 184, 185
Christianity, its relation to Bud-
dhism i. 15, 321, 324, 339, 340,
352, 355, 367, 374-380
Chudakarana, see Tonsure
Chula Malukya Ovada (Buddhist
scriptures), i. 346.
Chullavagga (Buddhist scriptures),
i. 319, 331-333 -
Chumbal, i, I46
Chunda (a goldsmith who fed
Buddha), i. 340 º
Church (Buddhist) see Chaitya
Chyavana (astronomer), ii. I 19,
Cities, see Towns e
Clergy (Buddhist), see. Bhikshu,
Bhikshuni, and Buddhist priest
Clothing, i. 44, 227
Coin, i. 39
Colebrooke, i. Pref., 22 note, 64
220/6, I75, tºo 278, 299-304,
; 11. 24. I-24
cºś (Pancha
Sila), i. 359
Commandments, eight (Ashtanga
Sila), i. 359
Commandments, ten (Dasa Sila),
1. 359
Commerce, see Trade Merchants,
&c. ,
Comorin, Cape, i. 216
Compilation of the Vedasi. II 3-II6
Conjeweram, see Kanchi
Consciousness, see Ego.
Constellations (lunar), see Nak-
shatras
Contracts which were void, ii.
Io8 ; see Agreement
Copper, i. 229, 230
Coral, ii. 312
Coronation, i. 57,127, 148-150, 183
Cosma, ii. 53
Cosyri (tribe), i. 218,
Cotton, i. 2 II, 227
Court, M. (Ranjit Sing’s officer),
ii. 67 -
Courts of justice, ii. IoS, 315; see
Judges and judicial procedure
Courtesan, i. 338, 339 ; ii. 3 IO
Cow, see Animals, domestic
Cow-heard, see Gowala
Cox, i. 85 note
Creation, i. 95, 96, 186, 187, 194,
I95 t
five
IND EX,
3
4
$
Cremation, i. 73, 184
Crime and criminal law, i. 173,
231-233; ii. I IO-I 12, 328; see
Heinous crime
Csoma de Koros, i. 310, 3II; ii. 248
Cultivation, see Agriculture
Cunningham, i. Pref. ; ii. 22, 25-
28, 48, 66, 67, 168-17O, 224
Culch, ii. 157
Cuttack, ii. 175
Cyrene, Buddhism in, i. 15, 372 ;
13. I4
D
DADHI KRA (deified war-horse), i.5I
Dahana (Dawn), i. 32, 91
Daiva marriage, i. 254 ; ii. 96
Daksha (god), i. 84
Daksha, see Dharma Sastras
Daksha's sacrifice, i. 188; ii. 191,
2 I 2
Damayanti, ii. 294
Dancing, i. I56; ii. 307
Dandaka forest, i. I4I
Dandin, i. 18; ii. I 32, 298
Daphne, i. 32, 91
Darada (caste), ii. 86
Darius, i. 2 II
Dark ages of India, i. I9 ; ii. 162-
I64
Darsapurnamasa (ceremony), i. 182,
259 ; ii. 95
P. or Dasyu, i. 34, 49-54 ; ii.
Dasakumara Charita, ii. 298
Dasaratha (Rama’s father), i. I40,
I4 I
Dasa Sila, see Commandments, ten
Dates of Indian History, i. 2 I-25 ;
ii. 30, et. Seg.
Datta or Datrima (adopted son), i.
238-242 ; ii. I 15
Daughter, appointment of, i. 238-
242 ; ii. I 14
Daushyanta (caste), i. 247
Davids, Rhys, i. Pref. ; 312, 317,
319, 325, 346, 348, 357, 372,
375, 376 ; ii. 297
Davies, i. 277-284, 291, 294
Dayananda Sarasvati, i. Preſ,
Debts, sce Usury
Deccan, i. 12, 213, 369 ;
I84
Decimal Notation, i. 274
Deer Park of Benares, see Migadaya
Defamation, i. 232, ii. I IO
Delhi, i. 6, I2O, I27
Delhi Pillar, ii. 15, 64, 65
Deluge, i. 185
Deposits, i. 227, 235 ; ii. IOS
Deva, i. 30, 75-97 ; ii. 94
Devadatta (a Buddhist rival of
Buddha , i. 331, 332
Devanagari character, ii. 24
Devapala (king of Bengal), ii. 168
Deva Vidya (etymology), see Gram-
IT) ºliſ
Devi, see Durga, Uma &c.
Dhamma Chakka Ppavattana Sutta
i. 326
Dhammapada (BuddhistScriptures),
i. 317, 345, 352, 363, 366, 367
Dhammika Sutta, i. 359
Dhaniya (herdsman, became Bud-
dhist), i. 353-355
Dhanvantari (physician), ii. 129
Dhara (capital of Malwa), ii. 32O
Dharma Mahamatra (religious
officers), ii. 5
Dharmapala (king of Bengal). ii.
I68
Dharma Sutra, see Sutras
Dharma Sastra, ii. 84, 196-203
I. Manu, see Manu
2. Atri, ii. I97
3. Vishnu, ii. 197, 198, 215, 217
4. Harita, ii. I98, 199
5, Yajnavalkya, ii. 199, 215, 217
6.
7
8
9
ii. 4. I82
Usanas, ii. I99, 200
Angiras, ii. 200
Yama, ii. 200
Apastamba see Sutras
IO. Samvarta, ii. 200
II. Katyayana, ii. 200
12. Brihaspati, ii. 201
I 3. Parasara, i. I63, 201
Vyasa, ii. 20I
344
IN 1) F.X.,
15. Sankha, ii. 201, 202
I6. I_ikhita, ii. 202
17. Daksha, ii. 202
18, Gotama or Gautama, see
Sutras -
19. Satatapa, ii. 202, 203
2O. Vasishtha, see Sutras
T) hauli (inscription), ii. 6, 14
Dhigvana (caste), ii. 85
IDhivara (caste), i. 247
Dhobi (caste), ii. 91
Dhritrashtra, i. 123-128
Dice, see Gambling
Dictionary, i. 207 *
Didda (queen of Kashmir), ii. 180
Digamvara (Jaina sect), i. 382,
383 ; ii. I 36
Digha Nikaya (Buddhist scrip-
tures), i. 316
Dighavu (character in Buddhist
parable), i. 364, 365
Dipavansa (historical epic of
Ceylon), i. 314, 318,371, 372 ;
11. 4.
Diseases known to the Hindus, ii.
25O-254 f
Dispensaries, ii. 7, 59, 141
199cuments, i. 235; ii. 217
Domestic ceremonies, i. 258-264
Domestic life, see Social manners
Drahyayana, see Sutras
T}rama, ii. 258-282
Draupadi, i. 122, 126, 127, 128;
ii. 282, 288
Dravida (caste), ii. 85
Dravida, ii. 155, 148
Dravidian races, i. 13; ii. 86
Drinking, i. 43, 166,226, 231 ; ii.
56, IOO, I 16, 312
Drona (in Mahabharata), i. 123,
I 25, I29
Drugs, medicinal, ii. 255, 256
Drupada, i. 125-129
Duhsasana, i. 128, 129
Duhshanta or Dushyanta, i. 149 ;
ii. 258-262
Durga, i. 92, 266; ii. 135, 190
Durmada (caste), i, 157
Duryodhana, i, 124-129
Duties of a Hindu, see Moral rules
of the lIindus
T) varika, i. 219
Dying and dyers, i. 28, 156; ii,
219
Dyu (sky), i. 32, 76
E
EARTH, revolution on its axis, ii.
243
Earth, circumference of, ii. 243
East Bengal, see Samatata
Eclipse, ii. 243
Edicts of Asoka, i. 14 ; ii. 3-2O
Edicts, royal, ii. I 16
Education, i. 163, 164, 256, 263 ;
ii. 93, 943 I48 - *
Education, female, ii. 307
Ego or consciousness (Ahankara),
i. 279, 28O
Egypt, i. I5, 372; ii. 14
Eightfold Path (Buddhist), i. 343
Elements (subtle and gross), i.
278, 279, 28o
Elephants, i. 47, 58, 165, 217-219,
224, 229 ; ii. IO3, 141
Elephant Cave, ii. 76
Elliot, Sir Walter, ii. 182
Ellora, ii. 76, 79, 80, 227, 228
Emancipation of soul, see Final
Beatitude
Emerald, i. 230 ; ii. 312
Engines of war, i. 224 ; ii. 103
Engraving, i. I56
Epic, see Mahabharatat and Rama-
yana
Epic Period, i. 6-12, 107-198; ii.30
Epiros, Buddhism in, i. 15, 372 ;
11. I4. tº
Epochs of Indian history, i. 5-25
Equinoxes, precession of, ii. 331
Eran inscription, &c., ii. 53, 65
Essences, see Perfumes
Essenes, i. 379, 380
Ethics, i. 178, see Moral rules
Ethnology of Bengal, ii. 88-90, 172
Evidence (legal), i. 235 ; ii. 106
Evidence (philosophical), i. 281,290
INDEX.
345
F
FABLE, see Fiction
Factories, ii. I I7
Fa Hian, i. 217 ; ii. 55-61
False evidence, i. 233; ii. IO5, IO6,
I 16
Famine, i. 228
Fausboll, i. A ref., 312
Feeding (first) of a child, i. 262;
ii. 93
Female education, see Education,
female
Fergusson, i. Pref. ; ii. 53, 62-82,
I48, 154, 220-240
Ferry, ii. I 13
Festivals, see Religious celebrations
Fick, i. 27 -
- Fiction; ii. 297-302
Final Beatitude, doctrine of, i. 196-
I98, 302, 303, 327
Fire, see Agni
Fisherman, i. 156
Five tribes, see Pancha Jana
Fleet, i. 223
Fleet, Mr., i. 23; ii. 48, 49, 51, 52,
53, I25
Food, see Grains, Animal Food, &c.
Foreign policy, ii. IO4
Forests, royal, i. 224, 234
Forgery, ii. II6
Fortification, i. 46; ii. IO3, IO4
Four truths (Buddhist), i. 326,342,
343 .
Fowler, i. I56
Fresco-painting, ii. 78
Funeral ceremonies, i. 72-74
Furs, i. 28
G
GAMBLING, i. 68, 78, 128; ii. I 15,
I 2
Gaºn, i. 371 ; ii. 4, 8, 55, 67,
So, I34, 135.
Gandhari, i. 124
Gandharva, i. 70, 254, 283; ii. 192
Gandharva marriage, i. 254; ii. 96
Ganesa, ii. 193, 245 -
WOI, . II.
Ganesa Cave, ii. 77
Ganga, see Ganges
Gangadvara, see Haridwara
Ganga kings of Orissa, ii. 175
Gangerides, i. 217 -
Ganges, i. 6, 61, 62, I2O, 217, 218
Gangesvara (king of Olissa), ii. 175
Gangetic valley, i. 6, I I2, I2O, I31
Garbhadhana or Garbhalambhana,
See Pregnancy rites
Garbhasamrakshana, see Pregnancy
Yl teS
Gardhabhila kings, ii. 40
Garga (astronomer), ii. 1 19-12 I
Gargya Balaki, see Balaki
Gargi Vachaknavi (a lady in Janakas
court), i. 170
Garuda (bird), ii. 269
Garuda Purana, see Puranas
Gateways, see Rails
Gaur (capital of West Bengal), ii.
I70
Gauri, see Uma, Durga, &c.
Gautama (of Upanishads), i. 135
Gautama, Sutrakara, see Sutras
Gautama (logician), i. 289
Gautama Buddha, see Buddha
Gautami Prajapati (Buddha’s step-
mother, i. 332, 333
Gautamiputra (Andhra king), ii. 40,
47
Gautamiputra Vihara, ii. 77
Gaya, i. 328; ii. 59, 73, 146; see
Buddha Gaya º
Gayatri or Savitri hymn, i. 84, 256
Gems and precious stones, i. 229,
230 ; ii. 31 I, 312
Geography, ii. 244, 331, 332
Geometry, i. 13, 14, 206, 269-274;
ii. 246
Ghatakarpara (writer), ii. 129
Ghora Angirasa (Krishna’s teacher),
i. 189
Ghosts or spirits, ii. 94
Girnar (inscription, &c., ii. 6), 53,
226
Gita Govinda (poem), ii. 295
Gobhila, see Sutras
God, i. 31, 94-97, I 34, 135, 190
43
340
INDEX.
198, 28t, 285-288, 293, 300-304;
ii. 94, 188, 189, 193, 327
Gods, see Deva -
Godānakarman, see Beard, cutting of
Godavari, i. 141, 215, 218 ; ii. 275
Goethe on Sakuntala, i. Pref.
Gold, i. 29, 39, 40, 45; 165, 219,
222, 229, 23O, 237 ; 11. IO2, 312
Goldsmith, i. 45, 156; ii. 219
Goldstucker, i. 207, 274, 285 ; ii.
28, 121
Gopa, see Gowala
Gopala (king of Bengal), ii. I68
Gopatha, see Brahmanas
Gopis, their sports with Krishna,
ii. I90, 194
Gosala (founder of Ajivaka sect), i.
384
Gotama Rahugana (priest of the
first Videha king), i. I31
Gotra (clan), i. 255
Gough, i. 292
Government, see Administration
Governors, ii. I 58
Gowala (caste), ii. 91
Grains, i. 28, 41, 166,227, 228, 389
Grammar, i. 13, 178,207, 274, 275
Gravitation, law of, ii. 330, 33 I
Great Bear constellation, i. 77, 261;
11; 33 & tº tº
Greeks and Greece, i. 2 IO, 2II ; ii.
62, 63, I2O, 24I, 242, 249, 250
see Bactrian Greeks
Griffith, ii. 284-286
Grihya Sutra, see Sutras
Grihya sacrifices, see Paka sacrifices
Grimm, i. Pref., 275
Gritsamada (Rishi), i. 32, IO3, 201
Gudhaja or Gudhot panna (son), i.
238-242 ; ii. II 5
Gujrat, i. I 3, 127, 213, 219, 373 ;
ii. 45-47, I 57, I58, 160-162, 165
32O; see Saurashtra and Valabhi
Gunas (three), i. 281
Gunadhya (author of Brihat Katha),
ii. 299
Gunduck, i. 7, 132
Gungu (new moon), i. 174
Gupta (caste and name), i. 248, 262
Gupta Era, ii. 48, 49
Gupta kings, i. 15; ii. 48-54
H
HANUMAN, i. 142
Hardy, Spence, i. 312
Hariballabha, ii. 161
Haridwara, ii. 139
Harihara (founder of Vijayanagara
kingdom), ii. 186
Harischandra (king), i. 101
Harita, see Dharma Sastras
Harshavardhana (king of Kanouj),
see Siladitya II.
Harsha (king of Kashmir), ii. 181
Hartmann, i. 284
Hastinapura, i. 123, 129
Haug, i. Pref., 175
Havih sacrifice, i. 259
Heaven, i. 72, 87, 88, 346; ii. 193
Hehn, i. 27
Heinous crime, i. 231 ; ii. 116
Heirs, see Inheritance .
Hell, ii. 193
Helmet, see Weapons of war
Hemanta Sena (king of Bengal) ii.
169
Hercules, i. 8o, 219
Hermit (Vaikhanasa), i. 258
Herodotus, i. 2 Io, 21 I
Heyne, ii. 248.
IHimalaya, i. I46, 147, 371 ; ii.
136, I40, 284
Hindi language, ii. 24
IHinduism, Puranic, i. 16, 17 ; ii.
I63, 164, 188-195
Hinduism, Vedic, i. 5, 17, 75-97 ;
ii. I88
IHindu celebrations, see Religious
celebrations, I’ilgrimages, &c.
Hiranyakesin, see Sutras
Hiranya Parvata, see Monghyr
Hitopadesa, ii. 3OO .
Hodgson, i. 3 IO
Hoernle, i. 383, 385
Holy order, see Monastic order
Horse, see Animals, domestic; Dad.
hikra, Asvamedha and Cavalry
INDEX. 347
IIospital, see Dispensary
Hospitality, i. 257 ; ii. 94
Houen Tsang, i. 217 ; ii. I25, 134-
I59 e
House, i. 28 ; ii. 313, 3I4
Householder, i. 257; ii. 94
Huc (Abbe), i. 377
Hullabid temples, ii. 234-237
Human sacrifice, i. 181, 182
Humboldt, i. Pref.
Huns, i. 16; ii. 47, 53, 126
Hunter, Dr., ii. 244
Hunter, Sir W., ii. I73-175
Hunters, i. 156, 224, 253
Husbandmen, see Agriculture
I
IDDHI (supernatural powers), i.
- 345; see Siddhi
Idolatry, see Image-worship
Image-worship, i. 16, 17, 66; ii.
58, 142, 189, 194, 195, 245,325
Incest, ii. I 16
Indo-Aryans, i. 26-33
Indo-Pali character, see Alphabet
Indra, i. 49-58, 76, 79-83, 138,
283 ; ii. 192, 245, 289-291
Indrajit, i. 142
Indraprastha, i. i27
Indus, i. 5, 30, 60, 61
Indus valley, see Punjab
Infantry, i. 156, 217-219,224, 225;
ii. I4I
Inheritance, i. 71,237-242 ; ii. II.4,
I 15, 328
Initiation, i. 263 ; ii. 93
Inscriptions, i. I5; ii. 3-2O, 45-47,
48-53 . . .
Instruments, surgical, ii. 256
Intellect (Buddhi), i. 278, 279
Inter-caste marriage, i. I55 ; ii. 97,
323
Interest, see Usury
Iranians, i. 30
Irrigation, i. 37,224,228 ; ii. I 16
Iron, i. 29, 45,46, 165, 229 ; ii. 65
Isa, see Upanishads
Isana, i. 188
Isari (tribe), i. 218
lsvara Chandra Vidyasagara, ii. I26
zzote
Isvara Krishna (author of Sankhya
Karika), i.,278
J
JABALA, see Satyakama Jabala
Jacobi, i. 38 I, 385
Jagannatha temple, ii. 176, 223
Jaimini, i. 296-3OO
Jainas, i. 3OI, 302, 382, 383 ; ii.
I36; see Digamvaras, Svetan-
varas, and Nirgranthas
Jaina architecture, ii. 226,227,232
Jaina councils, i. 383
Jaina monastic order, i. 385
Jaina religion, i. 38.1-390 ; ii. 136
Jaina scriptures, i. 382-385
Jaipal of Lahore, ii. 237
Jaivali (Pravahana, king in the
Upanishads), i. I 34
Jajpur (in Orissa), ii. 174
Jamadagni, i. IOO
Janaka, i. I2, I 33-139, 158, 17o
Janamejaya Parikshita, i. 149, 20I
Japan, i. 374
Jarasandha of Magadha, ii. 32, 35
Jarasandha ka Baithak (tope), ii.67
Jataka (Buddhist birth stories), i.
317 ; ii. 297
Jatakarman, see Birth ceremonies
Jaugada (inscription), ii. 6, 14
Java, i. 373; ii. 61
Jayadeva, ii. 295
Jº (king of Kashmir), ii. 179,
I SO
Jeleya (caste), ii. 91
Jewellers, i 156
Jewellery, ii. 3 II, 312 ; see Gems
and precious stones
Jhalla (caste), ii. 85
Jhilam (Vitasta), i. 61
Jimutavahana (hero of a play), ii.
266-269
Jnatriputra, see Mahavira
Jogesh Chandra Dutt, ii. 42 note,
177 proſe
3.48
INDEX.
Joint family, i. 243; ii. I 14
Jolly, ii. 197
Jones, Sir William, i. Pref. ; ii. 15,
29, I 17, 260, 261 .
Judges andjudicial procedure, i.173,
227; ii. IO5, IO6, 315, 316, 327
Jumna, i. 61, 62, I2O
Jupiter (god), i. 32, 76
Jupiter (planet), ii. 242
Jury, i. 369
Jyotisha, i. Io, 207
TQ
w
KABUL, i. 16, 61, 350, 373; ii. 4,
55, I 35
Radamvari, ii. 298
Ract Isvara temple, ii. 234, 235
Kaikeya (king in the Upanishads),
1. I 35 r
Kaikeyi, i. 14o
Kailasa, temple of, in Ellora, ii.
227, 228
Raivarta (caste), ii. 86, 88, 89
Kalhana, ii. 42, I25, 177
IKali, i. 86, 92, 188; ii. 190
I(alidasa, i. 18 ; ii. 37, I26, 128,
258-265, 283-287 -
1&alinga, i. 214, 217, 218 ; ii. 4, I I,
12, I 52, I 53
.IValpa Sutra, i. 205; see Sutra
Kalyan (Chalukya capital), ii. 182
Kalyana Devi (of Kashmir), ii. 18O
ISama (love), ii. 265, 268, 271, 284,
285 ;
I(amar (caste), ii. 9 I
IKamarupa (Assam), ii. 50, 131, 141,
I 50, I5 I
Rambojians, i. 16; ii. 4, 8, 86
ICampilya, see Kanouj
Kanada, i. 293, 294
IKanarak, ii. 222
Ranchi (Conjiveram), i. 13; ii. 50,
I55, 183, 185, 231
Ramina (son), i. 238-242; ii. I I5
Kanishka, i. Io, I6, 22, 336, 373,
374 ; ii. 42, I36, I37
Kanouj, i. 6, 121 ; ii. 57, I31,
I 40- I 43, 32O, 32 I
|
Kanva, i. 32, 94, IO4
IKanva dynasty of Magadha, i. I5 ;
ii. 37, 38.
Kanyakubja, see Kanouj
Kapila, i. I 3, 276-284
Kapilavastu (Buddha's birthplace),
i. 276,320,321,332; ii. 57, I44
Kapur da Giri (inscription), ii. 6
Karali (a tongue of fire), i. 86, 188
Karana (caste), i. 247; ii. 85, 215
Karaskara (tribe), i. 214 .
Karavara (caste), ii. 86
Karli (pillar and caves), ii. 65,74,75
| Karma, doctrine of, i. 286, 347,
348, 385
Karna, i. 125-I 29
Karna Suvarna (West Bengal), ii.
I5I
Karnata, see Carnatic
Karsha or Karshapana (money or.
weight), i. 232, 235; ii. IO7
IKartikeya, ii. 193
Karusha (caste), ii. 85
Kashmir, i. Io, 16, 218, 336,371,
373; ii. 42-44, 136-138, 177-181
Kashmir, kings of, ii. 43
Kasi (tribe and country), i. 7,
I 3 I-I43, 32O
Kasi Bharadvaja, i. 333, 334
IKasi Bharadvaja Sutta, i. 333, 334
Rasim, Muhammad, ii. I'79
I&asyapa (father of gods), ii 262
Kasyapa (Buddhist converts), i. 328
Kasyapa (astronomer), ii. I IQ
Katha, see Upanishads
Katha Sarit Sagara, ii. 299, 3OO
Katyayana, i. 202, 206, 208, 285;
ii. 299 ; see Sutraš and Dharma
Sastras
Kausalya, i. I4O
Kaushitaka, i. I 17
Kaushitaki, see Brahmanas, Aran-
yakas, and Upanishads
Kausikas or Kusikas, see Visvami-
traS
Kayasthå, i. 248; ii. 91, 169, 179,
18O, 2.16-218
Kena, see Upanishads
Išenheri Cave, ii. 76
INDEX, 349
Kerala or Keralaputta (Travancore)
i. 372; ii. 5, 7, 50, 185
Kern, ii. A ref. ; 6, I2O, 123, 243,
244.
Kesanta, see Beard, cutting of
Kesari kings of Orissa, ii. 173, 174
ICesava Sena (king of Bengal), ii.
17o
Khadi (bracelets), see Ornaments
I&hadira, see Sutras
Khajuraho temples, ii. 223
IChalsi (inscription), ii. 6
Khandagiri, ii. 15, 76
1<hasa (caste), ii. 85, 86 -
Rhuddaka Nikaya (Buddhist scrip-
tures), i. 317
Ring's duties, i. 150, 221, 222, 224;
ii. IOO
Ring’s powers and functions, i.
222, 299 ; ii. 3O4
Kirata (caste or tribe), ii. 86
IKiratarjuniyam, ii. 287-292
IS och (caste), ii. 90
Roli and Koliyans, i. 320
Konkan, ii. I55, 182
Korur, battle of, i. 18; ii. 127
Kosala, i. 6, 12, 13 I-I43, 32O ; ii. 57
Kosambi or Kausambi (town), i.
.333; 11. , 144.
ICrishna (deity), i. 127, 189, 219;
ii. I90, 191, 194, 2II, 245, 265
krishna (Non-Aryan warrior), i. 52,
53
ICrishna (river), i. 202, 215, 216,
218; ii. 5
ICrishna Dvaipayana, see Vyasa
ICrishna Mohan Banerjea, i. A reſ.,
3oo
Krita (son), i. 238-242; ii. I 15
ISritrima (son), i. 238-242; ii. II 5
Kshaharata kings, see Shah kings
Kshapanaka (writer), ii. 129
Kshatra marriage, see Rakshasa
marriage
Kshatrapakings.(Satraps), see Shah
kings - *
Rshatri caste, i. 246, 247; ii. 85,
2 I 5
Kshatriya caste, i. 8, 65, IGO-IO6,
134-136, 139, 151-158, 232, 245-
252 ; ii. 85, 215, 322
Eshena or Khena (queen of Ma-
gadha and Buddhist nun), i. 333,
347
Kshemagupta (king of Kashmir), ii.
I8O -
Rshemapati (king of Kashmir), ii.
18 I -
Kshemendra (poet), ii. 128
Kshetraja (son), i. 238-242; ii. I 15
Kukkutaka (caste), i. 247; ii. 85
Kumar (caste), ii. 91
Rumara Gupta (of the Gupta line),
ii. 51, 52 -
Kumara Sambhava (poem), ii.284-
286
Kumarila, i. 186, 296
Kunti, i. 124
Kurma Purana, see Puranas
Ruru tribe, i. 6, 12, 120-130, I46,
I47, I49
Kuru Kshetra, i. 129; ii. 139
Kuru Panchala war, i. Io, I22-I 3O;
ii. 34, 43, 139
Rusa (Rama’s son), i. I43
Kusinagara (town where Buddha
died), i. 340; ii. 57, 144
Kusumapura, see Pataliputra
Kutsa, ii. 52
Kuvera, ii. 245
L
LABOUR (compulsory), i.222; ii.
IO2, 158
Lakshmana, i. 140-142
Lakshmana Sena (king of Bengal),
ii. 170 !
Lakshmaneya (king of Bengal),
11. I7O h
Lakshmi, i. 87, 92, 266; ii. 190
Lalita, Vistara, i. 313, 375
Lalitaditya (king of Kashmir), ii.
I33, I79
Land revenue, i. 222, 252; ii. IO2,
I58
Language spoken in India, ii. 22-
24, 30O-3O2
35O
IN DEX.
Lanka, see Ceylon
Lapis-lazuli, ii. 312
Lassen, i. Pref.; I21, 176,278, 381;
ii. 6, 23, 28, 199, 294
Lat, see Pillars
Latyayana, see Sutras
Lauria Piilar, ii. 15
Lava (Rama’s son), i. 143
Laws, i. 7 I, 72, 173,227, 231-244 ;
ii. IOS-1 17,328; see Judges and
judicial procedure, Legal practi.
tioners, Magistrates, Evidence,
Legal Crime, Inheritance,
Partition, &c.
Laws of war, i. I 30, 225, 226; ii.
IO3, 279
Laws of conquest, ii. IO4
Lead, i. 165
Legal practitioners, ii. 315, 316
Lexicon, see Dictionary
Libel, see Defamation
Lichchavis, i. 32O, 338; ii. 85, 146
Light and heat, i. 293
Likhita, see Dharma Sastras
Lilavati (arithmetic), ii. 246
Lillie, i. 377
Linga, ii. 212, 245, 325
Linga Purana, see Puranas
Linga Sarira, i. 283
Lion, i. 230
Litter, see Carriage or cart
Logic, see Vakovakya and Philo-
sophy
Lomasa Rishi’s cave, ii. 73
Lorinser, i. 278 ; ii. 19.1
Love (connubial), ji. 307, 308
Love, god of, see Kama
Lumbini (river), i. 321
Lunar mansions or constellations,
see Nakshatras
Ilunar months, see Months
Lunar race, ii. 3O
Lunar Zodiac, see Zodiac and Nak-
shatras
M
MACEDON, Buddhism in, i. 15,372;
ii. 14
M'Crindle, i. 2 I I, 217, 223-229
Madhava (hero of a play), ii. 270-
274
Madhava (the Videgha), i. 131
Madhava Sena (king of Bengal),
11. I 7O
Madhava Vidyaranya, ii. 186; see
Sayanacharya
Madhu Sudan Gupta, ii. 248
Mºden (middle India), ii. 56,
I O2
Madraka (tribe), ii. 50
Madura, i. 219; ii. 230
Magadha (South Behar), i. Io, 12,
I47, 213, 216, 217, 32O ; ii. I46
Magadha, kings of, ii. 35-40
Magadha (caste), i. 156, 246, 247;
ii. 85, 215
Magadhi (dialect), i. 319; ii. 22-24,
OO
Magas of Cyrene, made peace with
Asoka, i. 15; ii. I2, I4
Magha (poet), ii. 295
Magistrates, ii. 158
Mahabharata, i. 7, IO2, IO3, 122-
I3O, I55
Mahabhashya, i. 285; ii. 119
Mahadeva, i. 188; see Rudra, Siva,
Maheswara, &c.
Mahaffy, i. 15
Mahakavyas (epics), ii. 283
Maha matra (royal officer), ii. 5
Mahaparinibbana Sutta, i. 335-341,
344
Mahapataka, see Heinous crime
Maharashtra(Maharatta), i. 13,371;
ii. 4, 131, 156, 157, 182, 224
Maharashtri dialect, ii. 300
Mahavagga (Buddhist scriptures),
i. 326-339, 343, 365, 367, 376
Mahavansa (historical epic), i. 371
11. 4.
Mahavira (founder of Jainaism), i.
82
Mašin Charita (a drama), ii. 274
Mahayajna (daily sacrifices)i. 258;
ii. 94
Maheswara, ii. 135, #44 ; see Siva,
Mahadeva, &c.
Mahidasa Aitareya, i. I 17
INDF.X.
351
r)
Mahinda (Mahendra, Asoka's son),
1. 3 I 4, 372 tº -
Mahipala (king of Bengal), ii. 169
Mahishya (caste), i. 247; ii. 215
Mahisura or Mahisa, see Mysore
Mahmud of Ghazni, ii. 181, 318,
* 3 (9
Maitra (caste), ii. 85
Maitreyaka (caste), ii. 86
Maitreyi (Yajnavalkya's wife), i. 169
Majjhima Nikaya (Buddhist scrip-
tures), i. 316 -
Malakuta (near the Cavery), ii. I55
Malati (heroine of a play), ii. 27O-
274 tº e
Malati Madhava (a drama), ii. 270-
274 e tº
Malava (tribe); i. 23; ii. 50, 52,
130, 131, 157; see Malwa
Malavika (heroine of a play), ii.
264
Malavikagnimitra (a drama), ii.
264, 265
Malaya mountains, ii. I55
Malayavati (heroine of a play), ii.
267, 269
Malla (tribe), i. 341; ii. 85
Malli ( tribe), i. 217
Malukyaputta (Buddhist disciple), i.
346 tº º
Malwa, i. 146, 213, 369; ii.4, 320;
see Malava tribe
Manimals (creation of), i. 283
Mandala (of Rig Veda), i. 32,
33, 94 tº . e º o
Mandasor inscription, ii. 51, 52
Mandu (tribe), i. 217
Manikyala Lope, ii. 67
Manka (II indu physician in Bagdad)
ii. 257
Manohrita or Manoratha (Buddhist
writer), ii. 130, 135
Manojava (one of seven tongues of
fire), i. 188
Mansel, Dean, i. 379
Man Sing, ii. 352
Manu, i. 17, 51, 185, 203, 204, 236
247; ii. 83-117
Manu (astronomer), ii. 119
Manu's ark, i. 185
Manuſactures, i. 223, 229, 389; ii.
IOI, 245
Manusha marriage, see Asura mar-
riage
Mara (evil spirit of Buddhists), i.
324, 339
Marichi (astronomer), ii. I 19
Markandeya Purana, see Puranas
Marriage, i. 68-71, 171, 172, 254,
255, 260, 261 ; ii. 96, 97, 306,
323; see Polygamy and Polyandry
Marriage between different castes,
see inter-caste marriage
Marriage of widow, see Widow,
marriage of
Mars, see Planet
Maruts, i. 86
Marwar, ii. 165
Masaka, see Sutras
Masha (weight or money), i. 236 ;
ii. Ioy
Matarisvan, i. 86
Mathematics, see Astronomy, Alge-
bra, Arithmetic, Geometry, and
Trigonometry
Mathura, i. 217, 219; ii. 55, 56,
I2 I, I 38, 326
Matrigupta (of Kashmir), ii.44, 178
Matsya Purana, see Puranas
Matter, see Primal soul and Primal
nnatter
Mauna kings, ii. 40
Maurya dynasty of Magadha, i. 15;
ii. 36, 38
Max Muller, i. Preſ., 26, 30, 66,
74, 77, 108, 163, 177, 181, 202,
203, 207, 274, 312, 345, 352, ii.
Z’reſ. 28, 132
Measures, see Weights and measures
Mechanics, see Artisans
Mechanical works, sinſul, ii. 117
Meda (caste), ii. 86
Medhajananam, see Birth ceremonics
Medicine, i. 77, 251 ; ii. 123, 248
257, 332
Megasthenes, i. 21 I, 216-229, 233
250-253
Meghaduta, ii. 286, 287
35 assº
•y
EX,
IND
Meghavahana (king of Kashmir),
11. 44
Menander (Greek king), i. 373
Merchants, i. 39, 40, I56; ii. 31 I;
see Trade
Mercury, see Planet
Mercy, prerogative of, i. 233
Metals, see Gold, Silver, Copper,
Iron, Ayas, Tin, and Lead
Metals, medicinal and chemical
preparations of, ii. 255
Metempsychosis, seeTransmigration
of souls
Metre, see Chhandas
Mewar, ii. I65
Middle path (Buddhist), i. 326
Migadaya (deer park of Benares) i.
26
Miñº Kula (of Kashmir), ii. 44,
53, 137, I 38.
Milman, Dean, i. 379
Mimansa, see Philosophy
Mind (manas), i. 279
Mines and miners, i.224; ii. IOI, II 7
Ministers, ii. IoI, II6, 158
Minor, i. 235, 236
Miracles, Buddhist, i. 332, 333 337
Missionaries, see Buddhist mission-
aries
Mithila, see Videha.
Mitra (god), i. 76
Mlechchhas (foreigners)ii. 43, 44,
I2O, I79
Moggalana (Buddhist convert) i. 329
Monastery, Buddhist, see Vihara
Monastic order, Buddhist, i. 330,333
351, 352, 353, 376-378
Money, i. 39, 232; ii. IO7-II2, 312
Money-lender, see Usury
Monghyr, ii. I49
Monier Williams, i. 292
Monks Buddhist, see Bhikshu
Monopoly, royal, ii. I I5
Monotheism, i. 191 ; see God
Months, Hindu, i. 177 ; ii. 330
Moral rules of the Hindus, i. I63,
259, 360-363
Mounds, Buddhist, i. 341; see Stupa
Mrigayu (caste), i. 157
Mudra Rakshasa (drama), ii. 281
Muir, i. Preſ, 66, 85, 98; ii. 23
Mule, see Animals, domestic
Munda kings, ii. 40
Mundaka, see Upanishads
Municipal administration, i. 223;
11. IO I
Murder, see Crime and Henious crime
Murdhabhisikta(caste), i. 247;ii. 215
Music and musicians, i. 156; ii. 307
Mysore, i. 37 I ii. I5, 185
N
NABHAKA and Nabhapanti (tribes)
ll. 4
Nachiketas (of the Upanishads), i.
I97, 198
Naga (snake), ii. 269
Nagananda (drama), ii. 266-270
Nagarahara (near Peshawur), ii. 55,
I34
Nagarjuna (Buddhist teacher), ii.
I46, 153
Nagarjuni cave, ii, 5
Nagasena (Buddhist teacher)i.373
Nahapana (king of Gujrat), ii. 44-46
Nahapana Vihara, ii. 77
Naishada (poem) ii. 294, 295
Nakshatra (lunar mansions), i. 174-
I77; ii. 33O
Nakshatra Vidya, see Astronomy
Nakula (one of the Pandavas), i.
I24, 128
Nala (of Mahabharata), ii. 294
Nalaka Sutta, i. 32 I.
Nalanda (town and university), i.
337, 378 ; ii. 76, 141, 148
Naming a child, i. 262; ii. 93
Nandas (kings of Magadha), i. 370,
371 ; ii. 34.36, 38
Napit (caste), ii. 91
Naraditya Purana, see Puranas
Narada (Rishi), i. I78; ii. 29
Narada (astronomer), ii. I 19
Narayanapala (king of Bengal), ii. 168
Narendra Gupta (Sasanka) of Ben-
Mrichchhakati (drama), ii. 281
gal, ii. I31, 15I
INI) EX.
|
Narmada, i. 218
Nassik (town), ii. 45, 73, 74, 77
Nata (caste), ii. 85
Nataputra (founder of Jainaism), i.
382
Nature (Prakriti), i. 278
Navaratna, see Nine gens
Navigation, see Boat
Nearchos, i. 227
Nepal, i. 374; ii. 50, 146
Nichya (tribe), i. 146, 147
Nidana Sutra, i. 207
Nikayas, see Buddhist scriptures
Nine gems (of Vikramaditya’s
court), i. 18; ii. I26-129
Niranjara (river), i. 324, 328
Nirgranthas or Niganthas (Jaina
sect), i. 382, 384 ; ii. 20, 149, 150
Nirudhapasubandha(sacrifice), i.259
Nirukta (dictionary), i. I 3, 207
Nirvana, doctrine of, i. 284, 345,
346, 385 -
Nishada (caste), i. 156, 157 ; ii.
85, 89, 215 -
Nishada (son), i. 239-242, 246, 247
Nishka (ornament or money or
weight), i. 39, 45; ii. Ioy
Nishkramana (taking out a child),
11.
Niyoga, see Widow, appointment
of ; Daughter, appointment of
Nominalism and realism, i. 294
North Asoka character, see Alphabet
Notation, ii. I32 -
Novels, see Fiction
Nripa Kesari (king of Orissa), ii.
I74
Nun, Buddhist, see Bhikshuni
Nyaya, see Philosophy
Nyaya Sutra, i. 289-292
Nymphs(Apsara),ii. 192, 262-264,
289
O
OFFENCES, seeCrime, Heinouscrime
Qfficials, lands assigned to, ii. 158
Ojein, ii. 2, 4, 5, 3II-317
Oldenberg, i. Pref., 205,312,317,
319 ; 329 ; 11, 42
Qm, i. 286
WOL. II.
|
Ordeals, trial by, i. 173
Organs of action, i. 279
Orissa, i. 214, 217, 218 ; ii. I5 I-
I53, 173-176; see Udra and
Kalinga
Ornaments, i. 40, 45, 229, 389
Oudh, i. 7, 131, 140-142, 320 ; ii.
I43
P
PADMA Purana, see Puranas
Padmavati (or Ojein), ii. 271
Pahlava (Persian), ii. 86
Painting, i. I56; ii. 78, 79, 123,
264, 267, 307
Paisacha marriage, i. 255; ii. 96
Paisachi dialect, ii. 299, 3OO
Paitamaha Siddhanta (astronomy),
ii. I22
Paka sacrifice, i. 205, 258, 264-268
Pala kings of Bengal, ii. 167-169
Pali (language), i. 312, 319; ii. 23
Palitana, Jaina temples in, ii. 226
Panchala, i. 6, I2, 120-130, I46,
I47, I49
Pancha Jana Five lands or
Pancha Kshiti } tribes, i. 63
Pancha Krishti
Pancharatra (sect), i. 3O2
Panchatantra, ii. 297
Pancha Sila, see Commandments,
five
Pancha Siddhanta (astronomy), ii.
244. --
Pancha-vinsa, see Brahmans
Pandavas, i. I22-130
Pandu, i. 123
Pandusopaka (caste); ii. 85
Pandya (in Southern India), i. 13,
216, 219, 371 ; ii. 5, 7, 184
Panini, i. I3, 202, 203, 207,274,
285 ; ii. 135, 299
Panis (powers of darkness), i. 80-82
Pantier, i. 278 .
Parables, Buddhist, i. 333, 353-355
363-365, 376
Parada (caste), ii. 86
Parasara, see Dharma Sastras
Parasara (astronomer), ii. I 19, 120
45
354
INDEX.
Parasava (caste), i. 246, 247; ii.
2I 5
Parasava (son), i. 239; ii. I 15
Paraskara, see Sutras
Parasurama, i. IOO, I 39
Parihara (race), ii. I64
Parikshit, i. I49 ; ii. 34.
Paripatra, i. 21.3; see Vindhyas
Parishad (university), i. 163
Parjanya, i. 57
Tarthalis, i. 218
Partition, i. 243, 244; ii. I 14
Partnership, i. 235; ii. IO8, IO9
Parushni, see Ravi
I’arvana (at new and full moon), i.
265
Tarvati, see Uma, Durga, &c.
l'asture, i. 29, 37, 38, 234 ; ii. I IO
Pasupata (sect), i. 3OI, 3O2; ii.
I35
Tataliputra or Patna, i. 216, 217,
314,337; ii. 428, 57, 58, 121
Patanjali, i. 285-288; ii. I 18, II9,
I2 I, I46, I47, 18O
Tatimokkha (Buddhistscriptures), i.
317
Pattan, see Puttun
T'aulkasa (caste), i. 246, 247
Paunarbhava (son of a remarried
widow), i. 238-242 ; ii. II 5
Taundra (North Bengal), see Pundra
I’aurnamasa sacrifice, sce Darsapur-
namasa
Tausha Parvana, i. 267
I’earl, i. 219 ; ii. 31 I
['easants, see Agriculture
Perception, i. 278, 279
I’erfumes, i. 389 ; ii. 312
Perjury, see I’alse evidence
Tersia, ii. 47, 50, 86
Teshawar, ii. 55, I34
Petenikas (in the Deccan), ii. 4, 8
Philosophical Period, see Ration-
alistic Age .
Philosophy, i. 13, 14, 208, 209,
276-304
Sankhya, i. 13, I4, 276-284
Yoga, i. 284-288
Nyaya (Logic), i. 289-292
Vaiseshika, i. 293-295
Purva Mimansa, i. 296-3oo
Uttara Mimansa or Vedanta, i.
3OO-3O4.
Phonetics or pronunciation, i. 178,
2O6
Physician, i. I56; ii. I 16, 218, 257
Pictet, i. 27
Pictures, see Paintings
Pilgrimage, ii. 139, 151, 195, 326
Pillars or Lat, ii. I5, 64, 65
Pilpay, ii. 297 ; see Panchatantra
Pindapitriyajna (sacrifice,) ii. 182,
185, 264; ii. 94 ; see Sraddha
Pisacha, i. 50, 283
Pitakas, three, see Buddhist Scrip-
tures and Sutta Pitaka, Vinaya
Pitaka, Abhidhamma Pitaka
Pitris or departed ancestors, i. 72 ;
ii. 94
Piyadasi (Asoka the Great) ii. 6-20
Planets, ii. 242, 330
Pledge, 235
Pliny, i. 379
Pod (caste), ii. 90
Poetry (of the Puranic Age), ii.
283-296
Polar star, i. 261
Police, i. 223 ; ii. 315
Polyandry, 17 i. 1, 172
Polygamy, i. 71, 171,250 ; ii. 305
Potter, i. I 56 ; see Kumar
Prabhakara Vardhana (king of
IKanouj), ii. 130
Prachyas (Eastern nations), i. 216;
see Magadha
Pradyota dynasty of Magadha, ii.
32, 35 -
Prajapati, i. 70, 186, 187, 283
Prajapati (Buddha's step-mother),
see Gautami Prajapati
Prajapatya marriage, i. 255; ii. 96
I’rakrit dialects; ii. 24, 30o
Prakriti (nature), i. 278
Pramara (race), ii. 164
Pramunas (tribe), i. 214
I’rasenajit (king of Sravasti) i. 320
346, 347
Prasna, see Upanishads
INDIEX.
$55
Pratapa Rudra Deva (king of
Orissa), ii. 176
Pratisakhya (works), i. 206
Pratishthana (in Southern India),
ii. 4
Pratt, Archdeacon, i. Yo
Pravarasena (king of Kashmir),ii.
I79
Prayaga, see Allahabad
Trecious stones, see Gems
Pregnancy rites, i. 261, 262
Priests, i. 93, II3, 151-158
Primal soul and primal matter, i.
I95, 278, 295
Prinsep, i. Z’reſ. ; ii. 6, 15,23,48,65
Prisni (cloud ; mother of Maruts),
i. 86
Prithu Rai, i. 21
Tºrofession, i. 156, 248-250 ; ii. 86,
87, 91, 216-219
Prometheus, i. 32, 85
Proof, see Evidence
Property, i. 235, 236
Prosody, see Chhandas
Prostitutes, see Courtesans
Ptolemy (king), made peace with
Asoka, i. I5 ; ii. 12, 14
Ptolemy, i. 121 ; ii. 185
Pukkasa (caste), i. 340 ; ii. 85
Pulakesi II. (Mahratta king of
Chalukya line), ii. 131, 156, 183
Pulakesi I. (Mahratta (king of
s Chalukya line), ii. 183
Pulindas (of the Deccan), ii. 4
Pulisa Siddhanta (astronomy), ii.
I IQ, I2 I
Pumsavana, see Pregnancy rites
Pundra or Paundra(North Bengal),
i. 214 ; ii. 86, 149, 151
Punjab, i.5, 30, 112, 213,214,371,
, 373
Pupil, see Education
Puranas, i. 19, 178; ii. 29-31, 2O3-
2 £2
I. Vishnu P., i. 103,104; ii.32-
40, 205, 206
2. Narada P., ii. 207
3. Bhagavata P., ii. 206, 207
4. Garuda P., ii. 210, 211
5. Padma T., ii. 204, 205
6. Varaha P., ii. 209
7. Matsya P., i. Io9, 195; ii.210
8. Kurma P., ii. 210
9. Dinga P., ii. 208
Io. Vayu P., i. IO4, 154
II. Skanda P., ii. 209
12. Agni P., ii. 207, 208
13. Brahmanda P., ii. 2 II
14. Brahma Vaivarta P., ii. 208
15. Markandeya P., ii. 207
16. Bhavishya P., ii. 208 .
I7. Vamana P., ii. 209, 2IO
18. Brahma P., ii. 204
Upapuranas, ii. 212
Puranic Age, i. 18-21 ; ii. I24-334
Pururavas (king), ii. 262
Purusha (soul), i. 278
Purusha (a measure), i. 27 I
Purusha Sukta (a hymn), i. 64 ºzote
Purushottama Deva (king of Oris-
sa), ii. I76
Pushan (sun), i. 37, 38, 84, 85
Pushpadha (caste), ii. 85
Pushpamitra (king of Kashmir),
1. 373
Pushpamitra (king of Magadha),
ii. 37, 38
Putrikaputra (son), i. 238-242
I’uttun or Pattan (in Gujrat), ii.
I62, 165
Pythagoras, i. 2 Io, 272
Q
QUEENS, ii. 305, 306
Quinquennial celebration (Bud-
dhist), ii. 5, 131, 142
Quiver, see Weapons of war
T
RADHA or Radhika, ii. 295, 296
Radha Kanta Deva, i. Arcſ.
Raghu Vansa (poem), ii. 283
Rahula (Buddha's Son), i. 330,334
Rails, ii. 67-72
Rajagriha (capital of Magadha),
i:314, 320, 323, 328,332,368;
11, 59, 73, I 47
356
INDIEX. .
Rajamandri (Chalukya capital),
ii. 182, 183
Rajrani cave, ii. 77
Rajasuya, see Coronation
Rajatarangini, ii. 42, 177
Rajendra Lala Mitra, i. A ref.,73,
181, 184, 288; ii. 129, 167-170
Rajendrachola (king), ii. 184
Rajjuka (king’s officer), ii. 5
Rajput, i. 19, 20 ; ii. 162-165
Rajputana, i. I47, 218, 371, 373
Rajyapala of Bengal and Kanouj,
'ii. I68
Rajyavardhana (king of Kanouj),
ii. I 3O, I 3 I
Rajyasri (princess), ii. I 30, 13 I
Raka (full moon), i. 174
Raki Purnima, i. 265
Rakshasa, i. 50, 283
Rakshasa (marriage), i.254; ii. 96
Rama, i. 137-143 ; ii. 190,245, 274-
280, 283
Ramaka (caste), i. 246
Ramayana, i. 7, 137-I43, I54
Ramessaram temple, ii. 23.I
Ramgarh cave, ii. I5
Ram Mohan Roy, i. Pref.
Ranas (Ghelote) of Mewar,ii. 165
Tasi, see Arithmetic
Rashtika (race), ii. 4
Rathakara (caste), i. 246; ii. 215
Rathore (race), ii. 165
Rationalistic Age, i. 12-14, 199-390
Ratnavali (drama), ii. 265, 266
Ravana, i. 141, I42
Ravi (or Parushni), i. 61
Relics (preservation), i. 341
Teligion, i. 29.31, 75-97, 18O- 198
258,342-367 ; ii. 93-96, 188-
I95, 239, 24O
Religious celebrations, i. 229,230 ;
ii. 58, 138, 142, 147,151, 152,
195, 323-325 ; see Sacraments,
Sacrifice, Domestic ceremonies
Religious persecution, ii. 44, 138
Religious toleration, ii. 9, 13, 47,
I27, I43
Renan, i. 376, 378
Resumption of gifts, ii. Io9
Revealed literature, i. 9, 200, 298
Revenue, see Land revenue, Taxes
Tolls, &c.
Rhys Davids, see Davids, Rhys
Rice, i. 41, 166, 167, 228
Rig Veda, see Vedas
Riksha, See Great Bear constellation
Rishi, i. 32, 63, 93, 94, 98-106
Rishis, seven, see Great Bear con-
Stellation
Roads, i. 28, 224
Robbers and robbery, i. 38,49;ii. 111
Rocks (inscriptions on), ii. 3
Rohini (river), i. 320
Romaka Siddhanta (astronomy), ii.
I IQ, I2 I
Rosen, i. Areſ.
Roth, i. Pref., 66, 76, 83, 86, 184;
ii. Pref., 28
Royle, ii. 248-251, 255, 256
Ruby, ii. 312
Rudra, i. 32, 86, 187, 188; see Siva,
Mahadeva, &c.
Rudra Daman (Shah king)and his
bridge, ii. 46, 47
Rupnath (inscription), ii. 5, 14
S
SACHAU, ii. 318
Sacraments, i. 258-268
Sacrifice, i. 93, I to, 18O-185, 201,
2O5, 258, 259, 298, 299 ; ii. 95,
I89 ; see Soma sacrifice, Ilavih
Sacrifice, I’aka sacrifice, Maha-
yajna, and Domestic ceremonies
Sacrificial thread, i. Jóo, 263
Sadanira (Gunduck river), i. IG2
Sadri temple, ii. 224
Sadvinsa, see Brahmanas
Sahadeva (one of the Pandavas), i.
124, 128
Sahasaram (inscription), ii. 5, 14
Sahodha (son), i. 238-242; ii. I 15
Saikha (caste), ii. 85
St. [Iilaire, i. 278
St. Thomas, i. 374
Sairindhra (caste), ii. 86
Saiva (sect), ii. 194
INDſ. X,
357
Saka (Scythians), i. 18, 20, 226 :
ii. 40, 86, 12 I, I26, 164
Sakabda Era, i. 21, 22; ii. 42
Saketa (Oudh), i. 320, 347; ii. I2I
Sakta (sect) ii. I94
Sakti (Siva's consort), ii. 194
Sakuntala, i. Pref. ; ii. 258-26 I
Sakyas (clan), i. 32O
Sakya Sinha, i. 322; see Buddha
Salatura (birthplace of Panini), see
Panini
Saleh (Hindu physician in Bagdad),
ii. 257
Sale ii. IoS, Io9
Samanta Sena (king of Bengal), ii.
I69
Samapa (town), ii. 4
Samatata (East Bengal), ii. 50, I50,
I5 I
Sama Veda, see Veda
Samba (Krishna’s son), ii. 245
Samudra Gupta (king), ii. 49, 50
Samvarta, see Dharma Sastras
Samvat Era, i. 21, 22 ; ii. 52, I25
Samyukta Nikaya (Buddhist scrip-
tures), i. 316
Sanchi (Pillar and Stupa), ii. 15,
5I, 66, 68-71
Sangha-arama (abode of monks), ii.
55-61, 134-158; see Vihara
Sankaracharya, i. I 19, 297
Sankara Misra, i. 292
Sankaravarman (king of Kashmir),
ii. 18O
Sankasya (town), ii. 57, 64
Sankha, see Dharma Sastras
Sankhayana, see Sutras
Samkhya, see Philosophy
Sankhya Karika, i. 278-284
Sankhya Pravachana or Samkhya
Sutra, i. 277 -
Sankhya Sara, i. 277
Sanku (writer), ii. 129
Sanskara, see Domestic ceremonies
Santanu, i. 123, 130
Sapphire, ii. 312
Sarama (dawn), i. 80-82, 91
Saranyu (dawn), i. 87, 88, 91
Sarasvati, i. 62, 91, 92; ii. 190
Sariputra (Buddhist teacher), i. 329
36
Sariraka Mimansa Sutra, i. 3OI-3O4.
Sarman (title of Brahmans), i. 262
Sarnath (Stupa), ii. 66, 67
Sasanka, see Narendra Gupta
Satadru, see Sutlej
Satakarini (Andhra king), ii. 39, 41
Satakas (of Bhartrihari) ii. 292-
294
Satapatha, see Brahmanas
Satapanni cave, ii. 73
Satatapa, see Dharma Sastras
Sati (self-immolation of widow), i.
74 ; ii. 53, 309, 322
Satpura mountains, see Satyapura
Satraps of Gujrat, see Shah kings
Satrughna (Rama’s brother), i. 140
Saturn, see planet
Satvata (caste), ii. 85
Satyakama Jabala, i. 158-160
Satyapura or Satpura mountains, i.
372 ; ii. 7
Satyavrata Samasramin, i. Freſ.
Saunaka (Rishi), i. 201, 202, 206
Saunaka (astronomer), ii. 119
Sauraseni dialect, ii. 300
Saurashtra) i. 13, 146, 213, 218; ii.
4, 8, 45-47, I58
Sautramani (sacrifice), i. 183, 259
Sauvira (tribe), i. 213, 2I
Savitri (sun), i. 84 -
Savitri, see Gayatri hymn
Sayanacharya, ii. 186
Scents. see Perfumes
Schopenhauer, i. 198, 284
Schrader, i. 206
Schwanbeck, ii, 21 I
Science, see Algebra, Arithmetic,
Trigonometry, Astronomy, Geo-
metry, Grammar, Laws, Medicine
Chemistry, Philosophy, &c.
Sculpture, i.46; ii. 62-82,123, 135
I45, I.47, I49, 22O-24O
Scythian, see Saka
Seaport, i. 218; ii. 60, 150, 152
Sea-voyage, see Voyage
Self-defence, i. 233
Seleucus, ii. I
358
INDEX.
Sena kings of Bengal, ii. 167, 169-
I7 I -
Senart, ii. 3, 4, 6
Senses of perception, see perception
Seringham temple, ii. 230
Serpents, see Snake
Seven jewels of Buddhist law,i. 344
Shah kings of Gujrat, ii. 44-47
Shepherds, i. 37, 252
Shield, see Weapons of war
Ships, see Boat
Shodashin (sacrifice), i. 259
Siam, i. 373
Siddhantas (astronomy),ii. I 19-I23
Siddhanta Siromoni (astronomy),
ii. 246
Siddhartha, i. 321 ; see Buddha
Siddhartha (father of Mahavira),
i. 385, 386
Siddhi (occult powers), i. 287 ;
see Iddhi
Sigalovada Sutta, i. 360-363
Siksha (phonetics), i. 207
Siladitya I. or Pratapasila, ii. 130,
I7
Siladitya [I. or Harsha Vardhana
of Kanouj, i. 18; ii. 131, 141-
I43, 265, 266
Silver, i. 29, 165, 229
Simantonnayana, see Pregnancy rites
Sin, i. 77, 78
Sindh, i. 2 I 3, 373; ii. I79, 32O
Sindhu, see Indus
Singing, ii. 307; see Music
Sinhala, see Ceylon
Sinival}(day before fullmoon), i. 174
Sira (agricultural deity), i. 35
Sisunaga dynasty of Magadha, ii.
..., 33, 35 º
Sisupala (king), i. 127
Sisupalavadha (poem), ii. 295
Sita, i, 35, 138-I43, 266; ii. 190,
274-28O, 283
Siva, i. IS8; ii. I74, 175, 188, 189,
I91,21 1,245, 284-286,291,292 ;
see Mahadeva, Rudra, &c.
Siva temple of Bengal, ii. 225
Skanda Gupta (of the Gupta line),
ii. 52 . -
Skanda, see Kartikeya
Skanda Purana, see Puranas
Skins, i. 28
Slaves, i. 165, 224, 227, 236 ; ii.
IoS, I 13, 314
Sleeman on II indu truthfulness, ii.
I 59.
Smriti, i. 298 ; see Dharma Sutra
and Dharma Sastra
Snake, i. 265
Snataka, see Householder
Social manners i. 63-74; 162-172,
254-268; i. 92-99, 304-317
Solar race, ii. 30.
Solstitial points, i. Io
Soma, i. 43, 44, 70, 88, 283
Soma (astronomer), ii. I 19
Somadeva, ii. 299
Somnath temple, ii. 226, 325
Somnathpur temple, ii. 233, 325
Soma Sacrifice, i. 259 -
Sons, kinds of, i. 232-242; ii. 115
Sopaka (caste), ii. 86.
Soul, i. 191-194,278-282,295, 300-
3O4; see Primal soul
South Asoka character, see Alphabet
Southern India, i. 13, II 3, 137-142,
I48, 181-187,214,219; ii. 4,5,50
Spear, see Weapons of war . . .
Sphulingini(a tongue of fire), i. 188
Spinning, i. 28 *
Spy, i. 250 ; ii. 5
Sraddha, i.264; see Pindapitriyajna
Sraman (ascetics), i. 250,251, 308
Srauta Sutra, see Sutras -
Srautra sacrifice, see Havih sacrifice
and Soma sacrifice
Sravani (ceremony), i. 265
Sravasti (capital of Kosala), i. 320
332, 333, 347 ; ii. 57, I44
Sri Harsha (poet), ii. 294
Srotriya, i. 236
Sruti, i. 298 ; see Veda
Stars, i. 77; ii. 241-245, 331
Stenzler, ii. I99
Stevenson, i. Areſ.
Stirling, ii. I73
Stones, precious, see Gems and
precious Stones.
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