The Vishnu Purana

Book II

Chapter I

Descendants of Priyavrata, the eldest son of Swáyambhuva Manu: his ten sons: three adopt a religious life; the others become kings of the seven Dwípas, or isles, of the earth. Agnídhra, king of Jambu-dwípa, divides it into nine portions, which he distributes amongst his sons. Nábhi, king of the south, succeeded by Rishabha; and he by Bharata: India named after him Bhárata: his descendants reign during the Swáyambhuva Manwantara.

MAITREYA.--You have related to me, venerable preceptor, most fully, all that I was curious to hear respecting the creation of the world; but there is a part of the subject which I am desirous again to have described. You stated that Priyavrata and Uttánapáda were the sons of Swáyambhuva Manu, and you repeated the story of Dhruva, the son of Uttánapáda: you made no mention of the descendants of Priyavrata, and it is an account of his family that I beg you will kindly communicate to me.

PARÁŚARA.--Priyavrata married Kámyá, the daughter of the patriarch Kardama¹, and had by her two daughters, Samrát and Kukshi, and ten sons, wise, valiant, modest, and dutiful, named Agnídhra, Agnibáhu, Vapushmat, Dyutimat, Medha, Medhatithi, Bhavya, Savala, Putra, and the tenth was Jyotishmat², illustrious by nature as by name. These were the sons of Priyavrata, famous for strength and prowess. Of these, three, or Medha, Putra, and Agnibáhu, adopted a religious life: remembering the occurrences of a prior existence, they did not covet dominion, but diligently practised the rites of devotion in due season, wholly disinterested, and looking for no reward.

Priyavrata having divided the earth into seven continents, gave them respectively to his other seven sons³. To Agnídhra he gave Jambu-dwípa; to Medhatithi he gave Plaksha-dwípa: he installed Vapushmat in the sovereignty over the Dwípa of Sálmali; and made Jyotishmat king of Kuśa-dwípa: he appointed Dyutimat to rule over Krauncha-dwípa; Bhavya to reign over Sáka-dwípa; and Savala he nominated the monarch of the Dwípa of Pushkara.

Agnídhra, the king of Jambu-dwípa, had nine sons, equal in splendour to the patriarchs: they were named Nábhi, Kimpurusha, Harivarsha, Ilávrita, Ramya, Hirańvat, Kuru, Bhadráśwa, and Ketumála⁴, who was a prince ever active in the practice of piety.

Hear next, Maitreya, in what manner Agnídhra apportioned Jambu-dwípa amongst his nine sons. He gave to Nábhi the country called Hima, south of the Himavat, or snowy mountains. The country of Hemakút́a he gave to Kimpurusha; and to Harivarsha, the country of Nishadha. The region in the centre of which mount Meru is situated he conferred on Ilávrita; and to Ramya, the countries lying between it and the Níla mountain. To Hirańvat his father gave the country lying to the north of it, called Śweta; and, on the north of the Śweta mountains, the country bounded by the Śringaván range he gave to Kuru. The countries on the east of Meru he assigned to Bhadráśwa; and Gandhamádana, which lay west of it, he gave to Ketumála⁵.' Having installed his sons sovereigns in these several regions, the pious king Agnídhra retired to a life of penance at the holy place of pilgrimage, Śálagráma⁶.

The eight Varshas, or countries, Kimpurusha and the rest, are places of perfect enjoyment, where happiness is spontaneous and uninterrupted. In them there is no vicissitude, nor the dread of decrepitude or death: there is no distinction of virtue or vice, nor difference of degree as better or worse, nor any of the effects produced in this region by the revolutions of ages.

Nábhi, who had for his portion the country of Himáhwa, had by his queen Meru the magnanimous Rishabha; and he had a hundred sons, the eldest of whom was Bharata. Rishabha having ruled with equity and wisdom, and celebrated many sacrificial rites, resigned the sovereignty of the earth to the heroic Bharata, and, retiring to the hermitage of Pulastya, adopted the life of an anchoret, practising religious penance, and performing all prescribed ceremonies, until, emaciated by his austerities, so as to be but a collection of skin and fibres, he put a pebble in his mouth, and naked went the way of all flesh⁷. The country was termed Bhárata from the time that it was relinquished to Bharata by his father, on his retiring to the woods⁸.

Bharata, having religiously discharged the duties of his station, consigned the kingdom to his son Sumati, a most virtuous prince; and, engaging in devout practices, abandoned his life at the holy place, Śálagráma: he was afterwards born again as a Brahman, in a distinguished family of ascetics. I shall hereafter relate to you his history.

From the illustrious Sumati was born Indradyumna: his son was Paramesht́hin: his son was Pratihára, who had a celebrated son, named Pratiharttá: his son was Bhava, who begot Udgítha, who begot Prastára; whose son was Prithu. The son of Prithu was Nakta: his son was Gaya: his son was Nara; whose son was Virát. The valiant son of Virát was Dhímat, who begot Mahánta; whose son was Manasyu; whose son was Twasht́ri: his son was Víraja: his son was Rája: his son was Śatajit, who had a hundred sons, of whom Viswagjyotish was the eldest⁹. Under these princes, Bhárata-varsha (India) was divided into nine portions (to be hereafter particularized); and their descendants successively held possession of the country for seventy-one periods of the aggregate of the four ages (or for the reign of a Manu).

This was the creation of Swáyambhuva Manu, by which the earth was peopled, when he presided over the first Manwantara, in the Kalpa of Varáha¹⁰.

Chapter II

Description of the earth. The seven Dwípas and seven seas. Jambu-dwípa. Mount Meru: its extent and boundaries. Extent of Ilávrita. Groves, lakes, and branches of Meru. Cities of the gods. Rivers. The forms of Vishńu worshipped in different Varshas.

MAITREYA.--You have related to me, Brahman, the creation of Swáyambhuva; I am now desirous to hear from you a description of the earth: how many are its oceans and islands, its kingdoms and its mountains, its forests and rivers and the cities of the gods, its dimensions, its contents, its nature, and its form.

PARÁŚARA.--You shall hear, Maitreya, a brief account of the earth from me: a full detail I could not give you in a century.

The seven great insular continents are Jambu, Plaksha, Sálmali, Kuśa, Krauncha, Śáka, and Pushkara: and they are surrounded severally by seven great seas; the sea of salt water (Lavańa), of sugar-cane juice (Ikshu), of wine (Surá), of clarified butter (Sarpi), of curds (Dadhi), of milk (Dugdha), and of fresh water (Jala)¹¹.

Jambu-dwípa is in the centre of all these: and in the centre of this continent is the golden mountain Meru. The height of Meru is eighty-four thousand Yojanas; and its depth below the surface of the earth is sixteen thousand. Its diameter at the summit is thirty-two thousand Yojanas; and at its base, sixteen thousand: so that this mountain is like the seed-cup of the lotus of the earth¹².

The boundary mountains (of the earth) are Himaván, Hemakút́a, and Nishadha, which lie south of Meru; and Níla, Śweta, and Śringí, which are situated to the north of it. The two central ranges (those next to Meru, or Nishadha and Níla) extend for a hundred thousand (Yojanas, running east and west). Each of the others diminishes ten thousand Yojanas, as it lies more remote from the centre. They are two thousand Yojanas in height, and as many in breadth¹³. The Varshas or countries between these ranges are Bhárata (India), south of the Himaván mountains; next Kimpurusha, between Himaván and Hemakút́a; north of the latter, and south of Nishadha, is Hariversha; north of Meru is Ramyaka, extending from the Níla or blue mountains to the Śweta (or white) mountains; Hirańmaya lies between the Śweta and Śringí ranges; and Uttarakuru is beyond the latter, following the same direction as Bhárata¹⁴. Each of these is nine thousand Yojanas in extent. Ilávrita is of similar dimensions, but in the centre of it is the golden mountain Meru, and the country extends nine thousand Yojanas in each direction from the four sides of the mountain¹⁵. There are four mountains in this Varsha, formed as buttresses to Meru, each ten thousand Yojanas in elevation: that on the east is called Mandara; that on the south, Gandhamádana; that on the west, Vipula; and that on the north, Supárśwa¹⁶: on each of these stands severally a Kadamba-tree, a Jambu-tree, a Pípal, and a Vat́a¹⁷; each spreading over eleven hundred Yojanas, and towering aloft like banners on the mountains. From the Jambu-tree the insular continent Jambu-dwípa derives its appellations. The apples of that tree are as large as elephants: when they are rotten, they fall upon the crest of the mountain, and from their expressed juice is formed the Jambu river, the waters of which are drunk by the inhabitants; and in consequence of drinking of that stream, they pass their days in content and health, being subject neither to perspiration, to foul odours, to decrepitude, nor organic decay. The soil on the banks of the river, absorbing the Jambu juice, and being dried by gentle breezes, becomes the gold termed Jámbunada, of which the ornaments of the Siddhas are fabricated.

The country of Bhadráśwa lies on the east of Meru, and Ketumála on the west; and between these two is the region of Ilávrita. On the east of the same is the forest Chaitraratha; the Gandhamádana wood is on the south; the forest of Vaibhrája is on the west; and the grove of Indra, or Nandana, is on the north. There are also four great lakes, the waters of which are partaken of by the gods, called Aruńoda, Mahábhadra, Śítoda, and Mańasa¹⁸.

The principal mountain ridges which project from the base of Meru, like filaments from the root of the lotus, are, on the east, Śítánta, Mukunda, Kurarí, Mályaván, and Vaikanka; on the south, Trikút́a, Śiśira, Patanga, Ruchaka, and Nishadha; on the west, Śikhivásas, Vaidúrya, Kapila, Gandhamádana, and Járudhi; and on the north, Śankhakút́a, Rishabha, Nága, Hansa, and Kálanjara. These and others extend from between the intervals in the body, or from the heart, of Meru¹⁹.

On the summit of Meru is the vast city of Brahmá, extending fourteen thousand leagues, and renowned in heaven; and around it, in the cardinal points and the intermediate quarters, are situated the stately cities of Indra and the other regents of the spheres²⁰. The capital of Brahmá is enclosed by the river Ganges, which, issuing from the foot of Vishńu, and washing the lunar orb, falls here from the skies²¹, and, after encircling the city, divides into four mighty rivers, flowing in opposite directions. These rivers are the Śítá, the Alakanandá, the Chakshu, and the Bhadrá. The first, falling upon the tops of the inferior mountains, on the east side of Meru, flows over their crests, and passes through the country of Bhadráśwa to the ocean: the Alakanandá flows south, to the country of Bhárata, and, dividing into seven rivers on the way, falls into the sea: the Chakshu falls into the sea, after traversing all the western mountains, and passing through the country of Ketumála: and the Bhadrá washes the country of the Uttara kurus, and empties itself into the northern ocean²².

Meru, then, is confined between the mountains Níla and Nishadha (on the north and south), and between Mályaván and Gandhamádana (on the west and east²³): it lies between them like the pericarp of a lotus. The countries of Bhárata, Ketumála, Bhadráśwa, and Uttarakuru lie, like leaves of the lotus of the world, exterior to the boundary mountains. Jat́hara and Devakút́a are two mountain ranges, running north and south, and connecting the two chains of Nishadha and Níla. Gandhamádana and Kailása extend, east and west, eighty Yojanas in breadth, from sea to sea. Nishadha and Páriyátra are the limitative mountains on the west, stretching, like those on the east, between the Níla and Nishadha ranges: and the mountains Triśringa and Járudhi are the northern limits of Meru, extending, east and west, between the two seas²⁴. Thus I have repeated to you the mountains described by great sages as the boundary mountains, situated in pairs, on each of the four sides of Meru. Those also, which have been mentioned as the filament mountains (or spurs), Śítánta and the rest, are exceedingly delightful. The vallies embosomed amongst them are the favourite resorts of the Siddhas and Chárańas: and there are situated upon them agreeable forests, and pleasant cities, embellished with the palaces of Vishńu, Lakshmí, Agni, Súrya, and other deities, and peopled by celestial spirits; whilst the Yakshas, Rákshasas, Daityas, and Dánavas pursue their pastimes in the vales. These, in short, are the regions of Paradise, or Swarga, the seats of the righteous, and where the wicked do not arrive even after a hundred births.

In the country of Bhadráśwa, Vishńu resides as Hayasírá (the horse-headed); in Ketumála, as Varáha (the boar); in Bhárata, as the tortoise (Kúrma); in Kuru, as the fish (Matsya); in his universal form, every where; for Hari pervades all places: he, Maitreya, is the supporter of all things; he is all things. In the eight realms of Kimpurusha and the rest (or all exclusive of Bhárata) there is no sorrow, nor weariness, nor anxiety, nor hunger, nor apprehension; their inhabitants are exempt from all infirmity and pain, and live in uninterrupted enjoyment for ten or twelve thousand years. Indra never sends rain upon them, for the earth abounds with water. In those places there is no distinction of Krita, Treta, or any succession of ages. In each of these Varshas there are respectively seven principal ranges of mountains, from which, oh best of Brahmans, hundreds of rivers take their rise²⁵.

Chapter III

Description of Bhárata-varsha: extent: chief mountains: nine divisions: principal rivers and mountains of Bhárata proper: principal nations: superiority over other Varshas, especially as the seat of religious acts. (Topographical lists.)

THE country that lies north of the ocean, and south of the snowy mountains, is called Bhárata, for there dwelt the descendants of Bharata. It is nine thousand leagues in extent²⁶, and is the land of works, in consequence of which men go to heaven, or obtain emancipation.

The seven main chains of mountains in Bhárata are Mahendra, Malaya, Sahya, Śuktimat, Riksha, Vindhya, and Páripátra²⁷.

From this region heaven is obtained, or even, in some cases, liberation from existence; or men pass from hence into the condition of brutes, or fall into hell. Heaven, emancipation, a state in mid-air, or in the subterraneous realms, succeeds to existence here, and the world of acts is not the title of any other portion of the universe.

The Varsha of Bhárata is divided into nine portions, which I will name to you; they are Indra-dwípa, Kaserumat, Támravarńa, Gabhastimat, Nága-dwípa, Saumya, Gandharba, and Váruńa; the last or ninth Dwípa is surrounded by the ocean, and is a thousand Yojanas from north to south²⁸.

On the east of Bhárata dwell the Kirátas (the barbarians); on the west, the Yavanas; in the centre reside Brahmans, Kshetriyas, Vaiśyas, and Śúdras, occupied in their respective duties of sacrifice, arms, trade, and service²⁹.

The Śatadru, Chandrabhágá, and other rivers, flow from the foot of Himálaya: the Vedasmriti and others from the Parípátra mountains: the Narmadá and Surasá from the Vindhya hills: the Tápí, Payoshńí, and Nirvindhyá from the Riksha mountains; the Godáverí, Bhimarathí, Krishńavení, and others, from the Sahya mountains: the Kritamálá, Támraparńí, and others, from the Malaya hills: the Trisámá, Rishikulyá, &c. from the Mahendra: and the Rishikulyá, Kumárí, and others, from the Śuktimat mountains. Of such as these, and of minor rivers, there is an infinite number; and many nations inhabit the countries on their borders³⁰.

The principal nations of Bhárata are the Kurus and Pánchálas, in the middle districts: the people of Kámarupa, in the east: the Puńd́ras, Kalingas, Magadhas, and southern nations, are in the south: in the extreme west are the Saurásht́ras, Śúras, Bhíras, Arbudas: the Kárushas and Málavas, dwelling along the Páripátra mountains: the Sauvíras, the Saindhavas, the Húnas, the Sálwas, the people of Śákala, the Madras, the Rámas, the Ambasht́has, and the Párasíkas, and others. These nations drink of the water of the rivers above enumerated, and inhabit their borders, happy and prosperous³¹.

In the Bhárata-varsha it is that the succession of four Yugas, or ages, the Krita, the Treta, the Dwápara, and Kali, takes place; that pious ascetics engage in rigorous penance; that devout men offer sacrifices; and that gifts are distributed; all for the sake of another world. In Jambu-dwípa, Vishńu, consisting of sacrifice, is worshipped, as the male of sacrificial rites, with sacrificial ceremonies: he is adored under other forms elsewhere. Bhárata is therefore the best of the divisions of Jambu-dwípa, because it is the land of works: the others are places of enjoyment alone. It is only after many thousand births, and the aggregation of much merit, that living beings are sometimes born in Bhárata as men. The gods themselves exclaim, "Happy are those who are born, even from the condition of gods, as men in Bhárata-varsha, as that is the way to the pleasures of Paradise, or the greater blessing of final liberation. Happy are they who, consigning all the unheeded rewards of their acts to the supreme and eternal Vishńu, obtain existence in that land of works, as their path to him. We know not, when the acts that have obtained us heaven shall have been fully recompensed³², where we shall renew corporeal confinement; but we know that those men are fortunate who are born with perfect faculties³³ in Bhárata-varsha."

I have thus briefly described to you, Maitreya, the nine divisions of Jambu-dwípa, which is a hundred thousand Yojanas in extent, and which is encircled, as if by a bracelet, by the ocean of salt water, of similar dimensions.

Topographical Lists

From the Mahábhárata, Bhíshma Parva, II. 342.

Mountains and rivers³⁴.

SANJAYA speaks to Dhritarásht́ra.--Hear me, monarch, in reply to your inquiries, detail to you the particulars of the country of Bhárata. Mahendra, Malaya, Sahya, Śuktimat³⁵, Gandhamádana, Vindhya, and Páripátra are the seven mountain ranges: as subordinate portions of them are thousands of mountains; some unheard of, though lofty, extensive, and abrupt; and others better known, though of lesser elevation, and inhabited by people of low stature³⁶: there pure and degraded tribes, mixed together, drink³⁷ of the following streams: the stately Gangá, the Sindhu, and the Saraswatí³⁸; the Godavari, Narmadá, and the great river Báhudá³⁹; the Śatadru, Chandrabhágá, and great river Yamuná; the Drishadwatí⁴⁰, Vipáśá⁴¹, and Vipápá, with coarse sands; the Vetravatí, the deep Krishńaveńí, the Irávatí⁴², Vitastá⁴³, Pavoshńí⁴⁴, and Devíká⁴⁵; the Vedasmritá, Vedavatí⁴⁶, Tridivá⁴⁷, Ikshumálaví⁴⁸, Karíshińí, Chitrabahá, the deep Chitrasená, the Gomatí, the Dhútapápá, and the great river Gandakí⁴⁹; the Kauśikí, Niśchitá⁵⁰, Krityá, Nichitá, Lohatariní⁵¹, Rahasyá, Śatakumbhá, and also the Śarayú⁵², the Charmanvatí, Chandrabhágá⁵³, Hastisomá, Dis, Śarávatí⁵⁴, Payoshńí, Pará⁵⁵, and Bhímarathí⁵⁶, Káverí⁵⁷, Chulaká⁵⁸, Víná⁵⁹, Satabalá, Nivárá, Mahitá⁶⁰, Suprayogá⁶¹ Pavitrá⁶², Kuńd́alá, Sindhu⁶³, Rajání⁶⁴, Puramáliní, Purvábhirámá, Víra, Bhímá⁶⁵, Oghavatí, Paláśiní⁶⁶, Pápáhará, Mahendrá, Pát́alavatí⁶⁷, Karíshińí, Asikní, the great river Kuśachírá⁶⁸, the Makarí⁶⁹, Pravará, Mená⁷⁰, Hemá, and Dhritavatí⁷¹, Purávatí⁷², Anushńá⁷³, Saivyá, Kápí⁷⁴, Sadánírá⁷⁵, Adhrishyá, the great river Kuśadhárá⁷⁶, Sadákántá⁷⁷, Śivá, Viravatí, Vástu, Suvástu⁷⁸, Gaurí, Kampaná⁷⁹, Hirańvatí, Vará, Vírankará, Panchamí, Rathachitrá, Jyotirathá, Viswámitrá⁸⁰, Kapinjalá, Upendrá, Bahulá, Kuchírá⁸¹, Madhuváhiní⁸², Vinadí⁸³, Pinjalá, Veńá, Tungaveńá⁸⁴, Vidiśá⁸⁵, Krishńaveńá, Támrá, Kapilá, Selu, Suvámá⁸⁶, Vedáśwá, Hariśravá, Mahopamá⁸⁷, Śíghrá, Pichchhalá⁸⁸, the deep Bháradwájí, the Kauśikí, the Sona⁸⁹, Bahudá, and Chandramá, Durgá, Amtraśilá⁹⁰, Brahmabodhyá, Vrihadvatí, Yavakshá⁹¹, Rohí, Jámbunadí, Sunasá⁹², Tamasá⁹³, Dásí, Vasá, Varańá, Así⁹⁴, Nálá, Dhritamatí, Púrnáśá⁹⁵, Támasí⁹⁶, Vrishabhá, Brahmamedhyá, Vrihadvatí. These and many other large streams, as the Krishńá⁹⁷, whose waters are always salubrious, and the slow-flowing Mandaváhiní⁹⁸, the Brahmáńí⁹⁹, Mahágaurí, Durgá¹⁰⁰, Chitropalá¹⁰¹, Chitrarathá, Manjulá¹⁰², Mandákiní¹⁰³, Vaitarańí¹⁰⁴, the great river Kośá¹⁰⁵, the Muktimatí¹⁰⁶, Maningá¹⁰⁷, Pushpaveńí, Utpalavatí, Lohityá¹⁰⁸, Karatoyá¹⁰⁹, Vrishakáhwá¹¹⁰, Kumárí, Rishikulyá¹¹¹, Márishá, Saraswatí, Mandákiní, Punyá¹¹², Sarvasangá; all these, the universal mothers, productive of abundance, besides hundreds of inferior note, are the rivers of Bhárata, according to remembrance¹¹³.

People and countries.

Next hear from me, descendant of Bharata, the names of the inhabitants of the different countries, They are the Kurus, Pánchalás¹¹⁴, Śálwas, Mádreyas, and dwellers in thickets (Jángalas), Śúrasenas¹¹⁵, Kálingas¹¹⁶, Bodhas¹¹⁷, Málás¹¹⁸, Matsyas¹¹⁹, Sukut́yas¹²⁰, Sauvalyas¹²¹, Kuntalas¹²², Káśíkosálas¹²³, Chedyas¹²⁴, Matsyas¹²⁵, Kárúshas¹²⁶, Bhojas¹²⁷, Sindhupulindas¹²⁸, Uttamas¹²⁹, Daśárńas¹³⁰, Mekalas¹³¹, Utkalas¹³², Pánchálas¹³³, Kauśijas¹³⁴, Naikaprisht́has¹³⁵, Dhurandharas¹³⁶, Sodhas¹³⁷, Madrabhujingas¹³⁸, Káśis¹³⁹, Aparakáśis, Játharas, Kukuras, Dasárńas, Kuntis, Avantis¹⁴⁰, Aparakuntis¹⁴¹, Goghnatas¹⁴², Mańd́akas, Shańd́as¹⁴³, Vidarbhas¹⁴⁴, Rúpaváhikas¹⁴⁵, Aśwakas¹⁴⁶, Pánsurásht́ras, Goparásht́ras¹⁴⁷, Karítis¹⁴⁸, the people of Adhivájya¹⁴⁹, Kuládya¹⁵⁰, Mallarásht́ra¹⁵¹, and Kerala¹⁵²; the Varápásis¹⁵³, Apavárhas¹⁵⁴, Chakras¹⁵⁵, Vakrátapas and Śakas¹⁵⁶, Videhas¹⁵⁷, Mágadhas¹⁵⁸, Swakshas¹⁵⁹, Malayas¹⁶⁰, and Vijayas¹⁶¹; the Angas¹⁶², Vangas¹⁶³, Kalingas¹⁶⁴ and Yakrillomas, Mallas¹⁶⁵, Sudellas¹⁶⁶, Prahládas, Máhikas¹⁶⁷ and Śaśikas¹⁶⁸, Báhlíkas¹⁶⁹, Vát́adhánas¹⁷⁰, Ábhíras¹⁷¹ and Kálajoshakas¹⁷², Aparántas¹⁷³, Parántas, Pahnavas¹⁷⁴, Charmamańd́alas¹⁷⁵, Atáviśikharas and Merubhútas¹⁷⁶, Upávrittas, Anupávrittas, Swarásht́ras¹⁷⁷, Kekayas¹⁷⁸, Kut́t́aparántas¹⁷⁹, Máheyas¹⁸⁰, Kakshas¹⁸¹, dwellers on the sea-shore, and the Andhas and many tribes residing within and without the hills; the Malajas¹⁸², Mágadhas¹⁸³, Mánavarjjakas¹⁸⁴; those north of the Mahi (Mahyuttaras), the Právrisheyas, Bhárgavas¹⁸⁵, Puńd́ras¹⁸⁶, Bhárgas¹⁸⁷, Kirátas, Sudesht́as; and the people on the Yamuná (Yámunas), Śakas, Nishádas¹⁸⁸, Nishádhas¹⁸⁹, Ánarttas¹⁹⁰; and those in the south-west (Nairritas), the Durgalas, Pratimásyas¹⁹¹, Kuntalas, Kuśalas¹⁹², Tíragrahas, Súrasenas, Íjikas¹⁹³, Kanyakáguńas, Tilabáras, Samíras, Madhumattas, Sukandakas, Káśmíras¹⁹⁴, Sindhusauvíras¹⁹⁵, Gandháras¹⁹⁶, Darśakas¹⁹⁷, Abhisáras¹⁹⁸, Utúlas¹⁹⁹, Śaiválas²⁰⁰, and Báhlíkas²⁰¹; the people of Darví²⁰², the Váńavas, Darvas, Vátajamarathorajas, Báhubádhas²⁰³, Kauravyas, Sudámas²⁰⁴, Sumallis, Badhnas, Karíshakas, Kulindápatyakas, Vátáyanas²⁰⁵, Daśárńas²⁰⁶, Romáńas²⁰⁷, Kuśavindus, Kakshas²⁰⁸, Gopála-kakshas²⁰⁹, Jángalas²¹⁰, Kuruvarńakas²¹¹, Kirátas, Barbaras²¹², Siddhas, Vaidehas²¹³ Támraliptas²¹⁴, Audras²¹⁵, Pauńd́ras²¹⁶, dwellers in sandy tracts (Śaiśikatas), and in mountains (Párvatíyas). Moreover, chief of the sons of Bharata, there are the nations of the south, the Drávíras²¹⁷, Keralas²¹⁸, Práchyas²¹⁹, Múshikas²²⁰, and Vánavásakas²²¹; the Karnátakas²²², Máhishakas²²³, Vikalyas²²⁴ and Múshakas²²⁵, Jillikas²²⁶, Kuntalas²²⁷, Sauhridas, Nalakánanas²²⁸, Kaukut́t́akas²²⁹, Cholas²³⁰, Kaunkanas²³¹, Málavánas²³², Samangas, Karakas, Kukkuras, Angáras²³³, Dhwajinyutsavasanketas²³⁴, Trigarttas²³⁵, Śálwasenis, Śakas²³⁶, Kokarakas²³⁷, Prosht́as, Samavegavasas²³⁸. There are also the Vindhyachulukas²³⁹, Pulindas and Kalkalas²⁴⁰, Málavas²⁴¹, Mallavas²⁴², Aparavallabhas, Kulindas²⁴³, Kálavas²⁴⁴, Kunt́hakas²⁴⁵, Karat́as²⁴⁶, Múshakas, Tanabálas²⁴⁷, Saníyas²⁴⁸, Ghatasrinjayas²⁴⁹, Alindayas²⁵⁰, Paśivát́as²⁵¹, Tanayas²⁵², Sunayas²⁵³, Daśívidarbhas²⁵⁴, Kántikas²⁵⁵, Tangańas²⁵⁶, Paratangańas, northern and other fierce barbarians (Mlechchhas), Yavanas²⁵⁷, Chínas²⁵⁸, Kámbojas²⁵⁹; ferocious and uncivilized races, Śakridgrahas²⁶⁰, Kulatthas²⁶¹, Húńas, and Párasíkas²⁶²; also Ramańas²⁶³, Chínas, Daśamálikas²⁶⁴, those living near the Kshatriyas, and Vaiśyas and Śúdras²⁶⁵; also Śúdras²⁶⁶, Ábhíras²⁶⁷, Daradas²⁶⁸, Káśmíras, with Pat́t́is²⁶⁹, Khásíras²⁷⁰, Antacháras or borderers, Pahnavas²⁷¹, and dwellers in mountain caves (Girigahvaras²⁷²), Átreyas, Bháradwájas²⁷³, Stanayoshikas²⁷⁴, Proshakas²⁷⁵, Kálinga²⁷⁶, and tribes of Kirátas, Tomaras, Hansamárgas, and Karabhanjikas²⁷⁷. These and many other nations, dwelling in the east and in the north, can be only thus briefly noticed²⁷⁸.

Chapter IV

Account of kings, divisions, mountains, rivers, and inhabitants of the other Dwípas, viz. Plaksha, Śálmala, Kuśa, Krauncha, Śáka, and Pushkara: of the oceans separating them: of the tides: of the confines of the earth: the Lokáloka mountain. Extent of the whole.

IN the same manner as Jambu-dwípa is girt round about by the ocean of salt water, so that ocean is surrounded by the insular continent of Plaksha; the extent of which is twice that of Jambu-dwípa.

Medhatithi, who was made sovereign of Plaksha, had seven sons, Śántabhaya, Śiśira, Sukhodaya, Ánanda, Śiva, Kshemaka, and Dhruva; and the Dwípa was divided amongst them, and each division was named after the prince to whom it was subject. The several kingdoms were bounded by as many ranges of mountains, named severally Gomeda, Chandra, Nárada, Dundubhi, Somaka, Sumanas, and Vaibhrája. In these mountains the sinless inhabitants ever dwell along with celestial spirits and gods: in them are many holy places; and the people there live for a long period, exempt from care and pain, and enjoying uninterrupted felicity. There are also, in the seven divisions of Plaksha, seven rivers, flowing to the sea, whose names alone are sufficient to take away sin: they are the Anutaptá, Śikhí, Vipásá, Tridivá, Kramu, Amritá, and Sukritá. These are the chief rivers and mountains of Plaksha-dwípa, which I have enumerated to you; but there are thousands of others of inferior magnitude. The people who drink of the waters of those rivers are always contented and happy, and there is neither decrease nor increase amongst them²⁷⁹, neither are the revolutions of the four ages known in these Varshas: the character of the time is there uniformly that of the Treta (or silver) age. In the five Dwípas, worthy Brahman, from Plaksha to Śáka, the length of life is five thousand years, and religious merit is divided amongst the several castes and orders of the people. The castes are called Áryaka, Kuru, Vivása, and Bháví, corresponding severally with Brahman, Kshetriya, Vaiśya, and Śúdra. In this Dwípa is a large fig-tree (F. religiosa), of similar size as the Jambu-tree of Jambu-dwípa; and this Dwípa is called Plaksha, after the name of the tree. Hari, who is all, and the creator of all, is worshipped in this continent in the form of Soma (the moon). Plaksha-dwípa is surrounded, as by a disc, by the sea of molasses, of the same extent as the land. Such, Maitreya, is a brief description of Plaksha-dwípa.

The hero Vapushmat was king of the next or Śálmala-dwípa, whose seven sons also gave designations to seven Varshas, or divisions. Their names were Śweta, Háríta, Jímúta, Rohita, Vaidyuta, Mánasa, and Suprabha. The Ikshu sea is encompassed by the continent of Sálmala, which is twice its extent. There are seven principal mountain ranges, abounding in precious gems, and dividing the Varshas from each other; and there are also seven chief rivers. The mountains are called Kumuda, Unnata, Valáhaka, Drona, fertile in medicinal herbs, Kanka, Mahisha, and Kakkudwat. The rivers are Yauní, Toyá, Vitrishńá, Chandrá, Śuklá, Vimochaní, and Nivritti; all whose waters cleanse away sins. The Brahmans, Kshetriyas, Vaiśyas, and Śúdras of this Dwípa, called severally Kapilas, Arunas, Pítas, and Rohitas (or tawny, purple, yellow, and red), worship the imperishable soul of all things, Vishńu, in the form of Váyu (wind), with pious rites, and enjoy frequent association with the gods. A large Śálmalí (silk-cotton) tree grows in this Dwípa, and gives it its name. The Dwípa is surrounded by the Surá sea (sea of wine), of the same extent as itself.

The Surá sea is entirely encircled by Kuśa-dwípa, which is every way twice the size of the preceding continent. The king, Jyotishmat, had seven sons, Udbhida, Venumán, Swairatha, Lavana, Dhriti, Prabhákara, and Kapila, after whom the seven portions or Varshas of the island were called Udbhida, &c. There reside mankind along with Daityas and Dánavas, as well as with spirits of heaven and gods. The four castes, assiduously devoted to their respective duties, are termed Dámís, Śushmis, Snehas, and Mandehas, who, in order to be relieved of the obligations imposed upon them in the discharge of their several functions, worship Janárddana, in the form of Brahmá, and thus get rid of the unpleasant duties which lead to temporal rewards. The seven principal mountains in this Dwípa are named Vidruma, Hemaśaila, Dyutimán, Pushpaván, Kuśeśaya, Hari, and Mandara; and the seven rivers are Dhútapápá, Śiva, Pavitrá, Sammati, Vidyudambhá, Mahhvanyá, Sarvapápahará: besides these, there are numerous rivers and mountains of less importance. Kuśa-dwípa is so named from a clump of Kuśa grass (Poa) growing there. It is surrounded by the Ghrita sea (the sea of butter), of the same size as the continent.

The sea of Ghrita is encompassed by Krauncha-dwípa, which is twice as large as Kuśa-dwípa. The king of this Dwípa was Dyutimán, whose sons, and the seven Varshas named after them, were Kuśala, Mallaga, Ushńa, Pívara, Andhakáraka, Muni, and Dundubhi. The seven boundary mountains, pleasing to gods and celestial spirits, are Krauncha, Vámana, Andhakáraka, Devavrit, Puńd́aríkaván, Dundubhi, and Mahaśaila; each of which is in succession twice as lofty as the series that precedes it, in the same manner as each Dwípa is twice as extensive as the one before it. The inhabitants reside there without apprehension, associating with the bands of divinities. The Brahmans are called Pushkaras; the Kshetriyas, Pushkalas: the Vaiśyas are termed Dhanyas; and the Śúdras, Tishyas. They drink of countless streams, of which the principal are denominated Gaurí, Kumudwatí, Sandhyá, Rátri, Manojavá, Kshánti, and Puńd́aríká. The divine Vishńu, the protector of mankind, is worshipped there by the people, with holy rites, in the form of Rudra. Krauncha is surrounded by the sea of curds, of a similar extent; and that again is encompassed by Śáka-dwípa.

The sons of Bhavya, the king of Śáka-dwípa, after whom its Varshas were denominated, were Jalada, Kumára, Sukumára, Maníchaka, Kusumoda, Maudákí, and Mahádruma. The seven mountains separating the countries were Udayagiri, Jaládhára, Raivataka, Śyáma, Ámbikeya, Ramya, and Keśarí. There grows a large Sáka (Teak) tree, frequented by the Siddhas and Gandharbas, the wind from which, as produced by its fluttering leaves, diffuses delight. The sacred lands of this continent are peopled by the four castes. Its seven holy rivers, that wash away all sin, are the Sukumárí, Kumárí, Naliní, Dhenuká, Ikshu, Venuká, and Gabhastí. There are also hundreds and thousands of minor streams and mountains in this Dwípa: and the inhabitants of Jalada and the other divisions drink of those waters with pleasure, after they have returned to earth from Indra's heaven. In those seven districts there is no dereliction of virtue; there is no contention; there is no deviation from rectitude. The caste of Mriga is that of the Brahman; the Mágadha, of the Kshetriya; the Mánasa, of the Vaiśya; and the Mandaga of the Śúdra: and by these Vishńu is devoutly worshipped as the sun, with appropriate ceremonies. Śáka-dwípa is encircled by the sea of milk, as by an armlet, and the sea is of the same breadth as the continent which it embraces²⁸⁰.

The Kshíroda ocean (or sea of milk) is encompassed by the seventh Dwípa, or Pushkara, which is twice the size of Sáka-dwípa. Savana, who was made its sovereign, had but two sons, Mahávíra and Dhátakí, after whom the two Varshas of Pushkara were so named. These are divided by one mighty range of mountains, called Mánasottara, which runs in a circular direction (forming an outer and an inner circle). This mountain is fifty thousand Yojanas in height, and as many in its breadth; dividing the Dwípa in the middle, as if with a bracelet, into two divisions, which are also of a circular form, like the mountain that separates them. Of these two, the Mahávíra-varsha is exterior to the circumference of Mánasottara, and Dhátakí lies within the circle; and both are frequented by heavenly spirits and gods. There are no other mountains in Pushkara, neither are there any rivers²⁸¹. Men in this Dwípa live a thousand years, free from sickness and sorrow, and unruffled by anger or affection. There is neither virtue nor vice, killer nor slain: there is no jealousy, envy, fear, hatred, covetousness, nor any moral defect: neither is there truth or falsehood. Food is spontaneously produced there, and all the inhabitants feed upon viands of every flavour. Men there are indeed of the same nature with gods, and of the same form and habits. There is no distinction of caste or order; there are no fixed institutes; nor are rites performed for the sake of advantage. The three Vedas, the Puráńas, ethics, and polity, and the laws of service, are unknown. Pushkara is in fact, in both its divisions, a terrestrial paradise, where time yields happiness to all its inhabitants, who are exempt from sickness and decay. A Nyagrodha-tree (Ficus indica) grows on this Dwípa, which is the especial abode of Brahmá, and he resides in it, adored by the gods and demons. Pushkara is surrounded by the sea of fresh water, which is of equal extent with the continent it invests²⁸².

In this manner the seven island continents are encompassed successively by the seven oceans, and each ocean and continent is respectively of twice the extent of that which precedes it. In all the oceans the water remains at all times the same in quantity, and never, increases or diminishes; but like the water in a caldron, which, in consequence of its combination with heat, expands, so the waters of the ocean swell with the increase of the moon. The waters, although really neither more nor less, dilate or contract as the moon increases or wanes in the light and dark fortnights. The rise and fall of the waters of the different seas is five hundred and ten inches²⁸³.

Beyond the sea of fresh water is a region of twice its extent, where the land is of gold, and where no living beings reside. Thence extends the Lokáloka mountain, which is ten thousand Yojanas in breadth, and as many in height; and beyond it perpetual darkness invests the mountain all around; which darkness is again encompassed by the shell of the egg²⁸⁴.

Such, Maitreya, is the earth, which with its continents, mountains, oceans, and exterior shell, is fifty crores (five hundred millions) of Yojanas in extent²⁸⁵. It is the mother and nurse of all creatures, the foundation of all worlds, and the chief of the elements.

Chapter V

Of the seven regions of Pátála, below the earth. Nárada's praises of Pátála. Account of the serpent Śesha. First teacher of astronomy and astrology.

PARÁŚARA.--The extent of the surface of the earth has been thus described to you, Maitreya. Its depth below the surface is said to be seventy thousand Yojanas, each of the seven regions of Pátála extending downwards ten thousand. These seven, worthy Muni, are called Atala, Vitala, Nitala, Gabhastimat, Mahátala, Sutala, and Pátála²⁸⁶. Their soil is severally white, black, purple, yellow, sandy, stony, and of gold. They are embellished with magnificent palaces, in which dwell numerous Dánavas, Daityas, Yakshas, and great snake-gods. The Muni Nárada, after his return from those regions to the skies²⁸⁷, declared amongst the celestials that Pátála was much more delightful than Indra's heaven. "What," exclaimed the sage, "can be compared to Pátála, where the Nágas are decorated with brilliant and beautiful and pleasure-shedding jewels? who will not delight in Pátála, where the lovely daughters of the Daityas and Dánavas wander about, fascinating even the most austere; where the rays of the sun diffuse light, and not heat, by day; and where the moon shines by night for illumination, not for cold; where the sons of Danu, happy in the enjoyment of delicious viands and strong wines, know not how time passes? There are beautiful groves and streams and lakes where the lotus blows; and the skies are resonant with the Koïl's song. Splendid ornaments, fragrant perfumes, rich unguents, the blended music of the lute and pipe and tabor; these and many other enjoyments are the common portion of the Dánavas, Daityas, and snake-gods, who inhabit the regions of Pátála²⁸⁸."

Below the seven Pátálas is the form of Vishńu, proceeding from the quality of darkness, which is called Śesha²⁸⁹, the excellencies of which neither Daityas nor Dánavas can fully enumerate. This being is called Ananta by the spirits of heaven, and is worshipped by sages and by gods. He has a thousand heads, which are embellished with the pure and visible mystic sign²⁹⁰: and the thousand jewels in his crests give light to all the regions. For the benefit of the world he: deprives the Asuras of their strength. He rolls his eyes fiercely, as if intoxicated. He wears a single ear-ring, a diadem, and wreath upon each brow; and shines like the white mountains topped with flame. He is clothed in purple raiment, and ornamented with a white necklace, and looks like another Kailása, with the heavenly Gangá flowing down its precipices. In one hand he holds a plough, and in the other a pestle; and he is attended by Váruńí (the goddess of wine), who is his own embodied radiance. From his mouths, at the end of the Kalpa, proceeds the venomed fire that, impersonated as Rudra, who is one with Balaráma, devours the three worlds.

Śesha bears the entire world, like a diadem, upon his head, and he is the foundation on which the seven Pátálas rest. His power, his glory, his form, his nature, cannot be described, cannot he comprehended by the gods themselves. Who shall recount his might, who wears this whole earth, like a garland of flowers, tinged of a purple dye by the radiance of the jewels of his crests. When Ananta, his eyes rolling with intoxication, yawns, then earth, with all her woods, and mountains, and seas, and rivers, trembles. Gandharbas, Apsarasas, Siddhas, Kinnaras, Uragas, and Chárańas are unequal to hymn his praises, and therefore he is called the infinite (Ananta), the imperishable. The sandal paste, that is ground by the wives of the snake-gods, is scattered abroad by his breath, and sheds perfume around the skies.

The ancient sage Garga²⁹¹, having propitiated Śesha, acquired from him a knowledge of the principles of astronomical science, of the planets, and of the good and evil denoted by the aspects of the heavens.

The earth, sustained upon the head of this sovereign serpent, supports in its turn the garland of the spheres, along with their inhabitants, men, demons, and gods.

Chapter VI

Of the different hells or divisions of Naraka, below Pátála: the crimes punished in them respectively: efficacy of expiation: meditation on Vishńu the most effective expiation.

PARÁŚARA.--I will now, great Muni, give you an account of the hells which are situated beneath the earth and beneath the waters²⁹², and into which sinners are finally sent.

The names of the different Narakas are as follows: Raurava, Śúkara, Rodha, Tála, Viśasana, Mahájwála, Taptakumbha, Lavańa, Vimohana, Rudhirándha, Vaitaraní, Krimíśa, Krimibhojana, Asipatravana, Krishńa, Lálábhaksha, Dáruńa, Púyaváha, Pápa, Vahnijwála, Adhośiras, Sandansa, Kálasútra, Tamas, Avíchi, Śwabhojana, Apratisht́ha, and another Avíchi²⁹³. These and many other fearful hells are the awful provinces of the kingdom of Yama, terrible with instruments of torture and with fire; into which are hurled all those who are addicted when alive to sinful practices²⁹⁴.

The man who bears false witness through partiality, or who utters any falsehood, is condemned to the Raurava (dreadful) hell. He who causes abortion, plunders a town, kills a cow, or strangles a man, goes to the Rodha hell (or that of obstruction). The murderer of a Brahman, stealer of gold, or drinker of wine, goes to the Súkara (swine) hell; as does any one who associates with them. The murderer of a man of the second or third castes, and one who is guilty of adultery with the wife of his spiritual teacher, is sentenced to the Tála (padlock) hell: and one who holds incestuous intercourse with a sister, or murders an ambassador, to Taptakumbha (or the hell of heated caldrons). The seller of his wife, a gaoler, a horsedealer, and one who deserts his adherents, falls into the Taptaloha (red-hot iron) hell. He who commits incest with a daughter-in-law or a daughter is cast into the Mahájwála hell (or that of great flame): and he who is disrespectful to his spiritual guide, who is abusive to his betters, who reviles the Vedas, or who sells them²⁹⁵, who associates with women in a prohibited degree, into the Lavańa (salt) hell. A thief and a contemner of prescribed observances falls into Vimohana (the place of bewildering). He who hates his father, the Brahmans, and the gods, or who spoils precious gems, is punished in the Krimibhaksha hell (where worms are his food): and he who practises magic rites for the harm of others, in the hell called Krimíśa (that of insects). The vile wretch who eats his meal before offering food to the gods, to the manes, or to guests, falls into the hell called Lálábhaksha (where saliva is given for food). The maker of arrows is sentenced to the Vedhaka (piercing) hell: and the maker of lances, swords, and other weapons, to the dreadful hell called Viśasana (murderous). He who takes unlawful gifts goes to the Adhomukha (or head-inverted) hell; as does one who offers sacrifices to improper objects, and an observer of the stars (for the prediction of events). He who eats by himself sweetmeats mixed with his rice²⁹⁶, and a Brahman who vends Lac, flesh, liquors, sesamum, or salt, or one who commits violence, fall into the hell (where matter flows, or) Púyaváha; as do they who rear cats, cocks, goats, dogs, hogs, or birds. Public performers²⁹⁷, fishermen, the follower of one born in adultery, a poisoner, an informer, one who lives by his wife's prostitution²⁹⁸, one who attends to secular affairs on the days of the Parvas (or full and new moon, &c.)²⁹⁹, an incendiary, a treacherous friend, a soothsayer, one who performs religious ceremonies for rustics, and those who sell the acid Asclepias, used in sacrifices, go to the Rudhirándha hell (whose wells are of blood). He who destroys a bee-hive, or pillages a hamlet, is condemned to the Vaitarańí hell. He who causes impotence, trespasses on others' lands, is impure, or who lives by fraud, is punished in the hell called (black, or) Krishńa. He who wantonly cuts down trees goes to the Asipatravana hell (the leaves of whose trees are swords): and a tender on sheep, and hunter of deer, to the hell termed Vahnijwála (or fiery flame); as do those who apply fire to unbaked vessels (potters). The violator of a vow, and one who breaks the rules of his order, falls into the Sandansa (or hell of pincers): and the religious student who sleeps in the day, and is, though unconsciously, defiled; and they who, though mature, are instructed in sacred literature by their children, receive punishment in the hell called Śwabhojana (where they feed upon dogs). These hells, and hundreds and thousands of others, are the places in which sinners pay the penalty of their crimes. As numerous as are the offences that men commit, so many are the hells in which they are punished: and all who deviate from the duties imposed upon them by their caste and condition, whether in thought, word, or deed, are sentenced to punishment in the regions of the damned³⁰⁰.

The gods in heaven are beheld by the inhabitants of hell, as they move with their heads inverted; whilst the god, as they cast their eyes downwards, behold the sufferings of those in hell³⁰¹. The various stages of existence, Maitreya, are inanimate things, fish, birds, animals, men, holy men, gods, and liberated spirits; each in succession a thousand degrees superior to that which precedes it: and through these stages the beings that are either in heaven or in hell are destined to proceed, until final emancipation be obtained³⁰². That sinner goes to Naraka who neglects the due expiation of his guilt.

For, Maitreya, suitable acts of expiation have been enjoined by the great sages for every kind of crime³⁰³. Arduous penances for great sins, trifling ones for minor offences, have been propounded by Swáyambhuva and others: but reliance upon Krishńa is far better than any such expiatory acts, as religious austerity, or the like. Let any one who repents of the sin of which he may have been culpable have recourse to this best of all expiations, remembrance of Hari³⁰⁴: by addressing his thoughts to Náráyańa at dawn, at night, at sunset, and midday, a man shall be quickly cleansed from all guilt: the whole heap of worldly sorrows is dispersed by meditating on Hari; and his worshipper, looking upon heavenly fruition as an impediment to felicity, obtains final emancipation. He whose mind is devoted to Hari in silent prayer, burnt-offering, or adoration, is impatient even of the glory of the king of the gods. Of what avail is ascent to the summit of heaven, if it is necessary to return from thence to earth. How different is the meditation on Vásudeva, which is the seed of eternal freedom. Hence, Muni, the man who thinks of Vishńu, day and night, goes not to Naraka after death, for all his sins are atoned for.

Heaven (or Swarga) is that which delights the mind; hell (or Naraka) is that which gives it pain: hence vice is called hell; virtue is called heaven³⁰⁵. The selfsame thing is applicable to the production of pleasure or pain, of malice or of anger. Whence then can it be considered as essentially the same with either? That which at one time is a source of enjoyment, becomes at another the cause of suffering; and the same thing may at different seasons excite wrath, or conciliate favour. It follows, then, that nothing is in itself either pleasurable or painful; and pleasure and pain, and the like, are merely definitions of various states of mind. That which alone is truth is wisdom; but wisdom may be the cause of confinement to existence; for all this universe is wisdom, there is nothing different from it; and consequently, Maitreya, you are to conclude that both knowledge and ignorance are comprised in wisdom³⁰⁶.

I have thus described to you the orb of the earth; the regions below its surface, or Pátálas; and the Narakas, or hells; and have briefly enumerated its oceans, mountains, continents, regions, and rivers: what else do you wish to hear?

Chapter VII

Extent and situation of the seven spheres, viz. earth, sky, planets, Mahar-loka, Janaloka, Tapo-loka, and Satya-loka. Of the egg of Brahmá, and its elementary envelopes. Of the influence of the energy of Vishńu.

MAITREYA.--The sphere of the whole earth has been described to me by you, excellent Brahman, and I am now desirous to hear an account of the other spheres above the world, the Bhuvar-loka and the rest, and the situation and the dimensions of the celestial luminaries.

PARÁŚARA. The sphere of the earth (or Bhúr-loka), comprehending its oceans, mountains, and rivers, extends as far as it is illuminated by the rays of the sun and moon; and to the same extent, both in diameter and circumference, the sphere of the sky (Bhuvar-loka) spreads above it (as far upwards as to the planetary sphere, or Swar-loka)³⁰⁷. The solar orb is situated a hundred thousand leagues from the earth; and that of the moon an equal distance from the sun. At the same interval above the moon occurs the orbit of all the lunar constellations. The planet Budha (Mercury) is two hundred thousand leagues above the lunar mansions. Śukra (Venus) is at the same distance from Mercury. Angáraka (Mars) is as far above Venus; and the priest of the gods (Vrihaspati, or Jupiter) as far from Mars: whilst Saturn (Sani) is two hundred and fifty thousand leagues beyond Jupiter. The sphere of the seven Rishis (Ursa Major) is a hundred thousand leagues above Saturn; and at a similar height above the seven Rishis is Dhruva (the pole-star), the pivot or axis of the whole planetary circle. Such, Maitreya, is the elevation of the three spheres (Bhúr, Bhuvar, Swar) which form the region of the consequences of works. The region of works is here (or in the land of Bhárata)³⁰⁸.

Above Dhruva, at the distance of ton million leagues, lies the sphere of saints, or Mahar-loka, the inhabitants of which dwell in it throughout a Kalpa, or day of Brahmá. At twice that distance is situated Janaloka, where Sanandana and other pure-minded sons of Brahmá, reside. At four times the distance, between the two last, lies the Tapo-loka (the sphere of penance), inhabited by the deities called Vaibhrájas, who are unconsumable by fire. At six times the distance (or twelve Crores, a hundred and twenty millions of leagues) is situated Satya-loka, the sphere of truth, the inhabitants of which never again know death³⁰⁹

Wherever earthy substance exists, which may be traversed by the feet, that constitutes the sphere of the earth, the dimensions of which I have already recounted to you. The region that extends from the earth to the sun, in which the Siddhas and other celestial beings move, is the atmospheric sphere, which also I have described. The interval between the sun and Dhruva, extending fourteen hundred thousand leagues, is called by those who are acquainted with the system of the universe the heavenly sphere. These three spheres are termed transitory: the three highest, Jana, Tapa, and Satya, are styled durable³¹⁰: Maharloka, as situated between the two, has also a mixed character; for although it is deserted at the end of the Kalpa, it is not destroyed. These seven spheres, together with the Pátálas, forming the extent of the whole world, I have thus, Maitreya, explained to you.

The world is encompassed on every side and above and below by the shell of the egg of Brahmá, in the same manner as the seed of the wood-apple³¹¹ is invested by its rind. Around the outer surface of the shell flows water, for a space equal to ten times the diameter of the world. The waters, again, are encompassed exteriorly by fire; fire by air; and air by Mind; Mind by the origin of the elements (Ahankára); and that by Intellect: each of these extends ten times the breadth of that which it encloses; and the last is encircled by the chief Principle, Pradhána³¹², which is infinite, and its extent cannot be enumerated: it is therefore called the boundless and illimitable cause of all existing things, supreme nature, or Prakriti; the cause of all mundane eggs, of which there are thousands and tens of thousands, and millions and thousands of millions, such as has been described³¹³. Within Pradhána resides Soul, diffusive, conscious, and self-irradiating, as fire is inherent in flint³¹⁴, or sesamum oil in its seed. Nature (Pradhána) and soul (Pumán) are both of the character of dependants, and are encompassed by the energy of Vishńu, which is one with the soul of the world, and which is the cause of the separation of those two (soul and nature) at the period of dissolution; of their aggregation in the continuance of things; and of their combination at the season of creation³¹⁵. In the same manner as the wind ruffles the surface of the water in a hundred bubbles, which of themselves are inert, so the energy of Vishńu influences the world, consisting of inert nature and soul. Again, as a tree, consisting of root, stem, and branches, springs from a primitive seed, and produces other seeds, whence grow other trees analogous to the first in species, product, and origin, so from the first unexpanded germ (of nature, or Pradhána) spring Mahat (Intellect) and the other rudiments of things; from them proceed the grosser elements; and from them men and gods, who are succeeded by sons and the sons of sons. In the growth of a tree from the seed, no detriment occurs to the parent plant, neither is there any waste of beings by the generation of others. In like manner as space and time and the rest are the cause of the tree (through the materiality of the seed), so the divine Hari is the cause of all things by successive developements (through the materiality of nature)³¹⁶. As all the parts of the future plant, existing in the seed of rice, or the root, the culm, the leaf, the shoot, the stem, the bud, the fruit, the milk, the grain, the chaff, the ear, spontaneously evolve when they are in approximation with the subsidiary means of growth (or earth and water), so gods, men, and other beings, involved in many actions (or necessarily existing in those states which are the consequences of good or evil acts), become manifested only in their full growth, through the influence of the energy of Vishńu.

This Vishńu is the supreme spirit (Brahma), from whence all this world proceeds, who is the world, by whom the world subsists, and in whom it will be resolved. That spirit (or Brahma) is the supreme state of Vishńu, which is the essence of all that is visible or invisible; with which all that is, is identical; and whence all animate and inanimate existence is derived. He is primary nature: he, in a perceptible form, is the world: and in him all finally melts; through him all things endure. He is the performer of the rites of devotion: he is the rite: he is the fruit which it bestows: he is the implements by which it is performed. There is nothing besides the illimitable Hari.

Chapter VIII

Description of the sun: his chariot; its two axles: his horses. The cities of the regents of the cardinal points. The sun's course: nature of his rays: his path along the ecliptic. Length of day and night. Divisions of time: equinoxes and solstices, months, years, the cyclical Yuga, or age of five years. Northern and southern declinations. Saints on the Lokáloka mountain. Celestial paths of the Pitris, gods, Vishńu. Origin of Gangá, and separation, on the top of Meru, into four great rivers.

PARÁŚARA.--Having thus described to you the system of the world in general, I will now explain to you the dimensions and situations of the sun and other luminaries.

The chariot of the sun is nine thousand leagues in length, and the pole is of twice that longitude³¹⁷; the axle is fifteen millions and seven hundred thousand leagues long³¹⁸; on which is fixed a wheel with three naves, five spokes, and six peripheries, consisting of the ever-during year; the whole constituting the circle or wheel of time³¹⁹. The chariot has another axle, which is forty-five thousand five hundred leagues long³²⁰. The two halves of the yoke are of the same length respectively as the two axles (the longer and the shorter). The short axle, with the short yoke, are supported by the pole-star: the end of the longer axle, to which the wheel of the car is attached, moves on the Mánasa mountain³²¹. The seven horses of the sun's car are the metres of the Vedas, Gáyatrí, Vrihatí, Ushńih, Jayatí, Trisht́ubh, Anusht́ubh, and Pankti.

The city of Indra is situated on the eastern side of the Mánasottara mountain; that of Yama on the southern face; that of Varuńa on the west; and that of Soma on the north: named severally Vaswokasárá, Samyamaní, Mukhyá, and Vibhávarí³²².

The glorious sun, Maitreya, darts like an arrow on his southern course, attended by the constellations of the Zodiac. He causes the difference between day and night, and is the divine vehicle and path of the sages who have overcome the inflictions of the world. Whilst the sun, who is the discriminator of all hours, shines in one continent in midday, in the opposite Dwípas, Maitreya, it will be midnight: rising and setting are at all seasons, and are always (relatively) opposed in the different cardinal and intermediate points of the horizon. When the sun becomes visible to any people, to them he is said to rise; when he disappears from their view, that is called his setting. There is in truth neither rising nor setting of the sun, for he is always; and these terms merely imply his presence and his disappearance.

When the sun (at midday) passes over either of the cities of the gods, on the Mánasottara mountain (at the cardinal points), his light extends to three cities and two intermediate points: when situated in an intermediate point, he illuminates two of the cities and three intermediate. points (in either case one hemisphere). From the period of his rise the sun moves with increasing rays until noon, when he proceeds towards his setting with rays diminishing (that is, his heat increases or diminishes in proportion as he advances to, or recedes from, the meridian of any place). The east and west quarters are so called from the sun's rising and setting there³²³. As far as the sun shines in front, so far he shines behind and on either hand, illuminating all places except the summit of Meru, the mountain of the immortals; for when his rays reach the court of Brahmá, which is there situated, they are repelled and driven back by the overpowering radiance which there prevails: consequently there is always the alternation of day and night, according as the divisions of the continent lie in the northern (or southern) quarter, or inasmuch as they are situated north (or south) of Meru³²⁴.

The radiance of the solar orb, when the sun has set, is accumulated in fire, and hence fire is visible at a greater distance by night than by day: during the latter a fourth of the rays of fire blend with those of the sun, and from their union the sun shines with greater intensity by day. Elemental light, and heat derived from the sun or from fire, blending with each other, mutually prevail in various proportions, both by day and night. When the sun is present either in the southern or the northern hemisphere, day or night retires into the waters, according as they are invaded by darkness or light: it is from this cause that the waters look dark by day, because night is within them; and they look white by night, because at the setting of the sun the light of day takes refuge in their bosom³²⁵.

When the sun has travelled in the centre of Pushkara a thirtieth part of the circumference of the globe, his course is equal in time to one Muhúrtta³²⁶; and whirling round like the circumference of the wheel of a potter, he distributes day and night upon the earth. In the commencement of his northern course, the sun passes to Capricornus, thence to Aquarius, thence to Pisces, going successively from one sign of the Zodiac to another. After he has passed through these, the sun attains his equinoctial movement (the vernal equinox), when he makes the day and night of equal duration. Thenceforward the length of the night decreases, and the day becomes longer, until the sun reaches the end of Gemini, when he pursues a different direction, and, entering Cancer, begins his declension to the south. As the circumference of a potter's wheel revolves most rapidly, so the sun travels rapidly on his southern journey: he flies along his path with the velocity of wind, and traverses a great distance in a short time. In twelve Muhúrttas he passes through thirteen lunar asterisms and a half during the day; and during the night he passes through the same distance, only in eighteen Muhúrttas. As the centre of the potter's wheel revolves more slowly than the circumference, so the sun in his northern path again revolves with less rapidity, and moves over a less space of the earth in a longer time, until, at the end of his northern route, the day is again eighteen Muhúrttas, and the night twelve; the sun passing through half the lunar mansions by day and by night in those periods respectively. As the lump of clay on the centre of the potter's wheel moves most slowly, so the polar-star, which is in the centre of the zodiacal wheel, revolves very tardily, and ever remains in the centre, as the clay continues in the centre of the wheel of the potter.

The relative length of the day or night depends upon the greater or less velocity with which the sun revolves through the degrees between the two points of the horizon. In the solstitial period, in which his diurnal path is quickest, his nocturnal is slowest; and in that in which he moves quick by night, he travels slowly by day. The extent of his journey is in either case the same; for in the course of the day and night he passes through all the signs of the Zodiac, or six by night, and the same number by day: the length and shortness of the day are measured by the extent of the signs; and the duration of day and night by the period which the sun takes to pass through them³²⁷. In his northern declination the sun moves quickest by night, and slowest by day; in his southern declination the reverse is the case.

The night is called Ushá, and the day is denominated Vyusht́a, and the interval between them is called Sandhya. On the occurrence of the awful Sandhya, the terrific fiends termed Mandehas attempt to devour the sun; for Brahmá denounced this curse upon them, that, without the power to perish, they should die every day (and revive by night), and therefore a fierce contest occurs daily between them and the sun³²⁸. At this season pious Brahmans scatter water, purified by the mystical Omkára, and consecrated by the Gáyatri³²⁹; and by this water, as by a thunderbolt, the foul fiends are consumed. When the first oblation is offered with solemn invocations in the morning rite³³⁰, the thousand-rayed deity shines forth with unclouded splendour. Omkára is Vishńu the mighty, the substance of the three Vedas, the lord of speech; and by its enunciation those Rákshasas are destroyed. The sun is a principal part of Vishńu, and light is his immutable essence, the active manifestation of which is excited by the mystic syllable Om. Light effused by the utterance of Omkára becomes radiant, and burns up entirely the Rákshasas called Mandehas. The performance of the Sandhya (the morning) sacrifice must never therefore be delayed, for he who neglects it is guilty of the murder of the sun. Protected thus by the Brahmans and the pigmy sages called Bálakhilyas, the sun goes on his course to give light to the world.

Fifteen twinklings of the eye (Nimeshas) make a Kásht́há; thirty Kásht́hás, a Kalá; thirty Kalás, a Muhúrtta (forty-eight minutes); and thirty Muhúrttas, a day and night: the portions of the day are longer or shorter, as has been explained; but the Sandhyá is always the same in increase or decrease, being only one Muhúrtta³³¹. From the period that a line may be drawn across the sun (or that half his orb is visible) to the expiration of three Muhúrttas (two hours and twenty-four minutes), that interval is called Prátar (morning), forming a fifth portion of the day. The next portion, or three Muhúrttas from morning, is termed Sangava (forenoon): the three next Muhúrttas constitute mid-day: the afternoon comprises the next three Muhúrttas: the three Muhúrttas following are considered as the evening: and the fifteen Muhúrttas of the day are thus classed in five portions of three each. But the day consists of fifteen Muhúrttas only at the equinoxes, increasing or diminishing in number in the northern and southern declinations of the sun, when the day encroaches on the night, or the night upon the day. The equinoxes occur in the seasons of spring and autumn, when the sun enters the signs of Aries and Libra. When the sun enters Capricorn (the winter solstice), his northern progress commences; and his southern when he enters Cancer (the summer solstice).

Fifteen days of thirty Muhúrttas each are called a Paksha (a lunar fortnight); two of these make a month; and two months, a solar season; three seasons a northern or southern declination (Ayana); and those two compose a year. Years, made up of four kinds of months³³², are distinguished into five kinds; and an aggregate of all the varieties of time is termed a Yoga, or cycle. The years are severally called Samvatsara, Parivatsara, Idvatsara, Anuvatsara, and Vatsara. This is the time called a Yuga³³³.

The mountain range that lies most to the north (in Bhárata-varsha) is called Śringaván (the horned), from its having three principal elevations (horns or peaks), one to the north, one to the south, and one in the centre; the last is called the equinoctial, for the sun arrives there in the middle of the two seasons of spring and autumn, entering the equinoctial points in the first degree of Aries and of Libra, and making day and night of equal duration, or fifteen Muhúrttas each. When the sun, most excellent sage, is in the first degree of the lunar mansion, Krittiká, and the moon is in the. fourth of Viśákhá, or when the sun is in the third degree of Viśákhá, and the moon is in the head of Krittiká (these positions being cotemporary with the equinoxes), that equinoctial season is holy (and is styled the Mahávishubha, or the great equinox)³³⁴. At this time offerings are to be presented to the gods and to the manes, and gifts are to be made to the Brahmans by serious persons; for such donations are productive of happiness. Liberality at the equinoxes is always advantageous to the donor: and day and night; seconds, minutes, and hours; intercalary months; the day of full moon (Paurnamásí); the day of conjunction (Amávásya), when the moon rises invisible; the day when it is first seen (Śiniválí); the day when it first disappears (Kuhú); the day when the moon is quite round (Ráká); and the day when one digit is deficient (Anumati), are all seasons when gifts are meritorious.

The sun is in his northern declination in the months Tapas, Tapasya, Madhu, Mádhava, Śukra, and Śuchi; and in his southern in those of Nabhas, Nabhasya, Isha, Úrja, Sahas, Sahasya³³⁵.

On the Lokáloka mountain, which I have formerly described to you, reside the four holy protectors of the world; or Sudháman and Sankhapád, the two sons of Kardama, and Hirańyaroman, and Ketumat³³⁶. Unaffected by the contrasts of existence, void of selfishness, active, and unencumbered by dependants, they take charge of the spheres, themselves abiding on the four cardinal points of the Lokáloka mountain.

On the north of Agastya, and south of the line of the Goat, exterior to the Vaiswánara path, lies the road of the Pitris³³⁷. There dwell the great Rishis, the offerers of oblations with fire, reverencing the Vedas, after whose injunctions creation commenced, and who were discharging the duties of ministrant priests: for as the worlds are destroyed and renewed, they institute new rules of conduct, and reestablish the interrupted ritual of the Vedas. Mutually descending from each other, progenitor springing from descendant, and descendant from progenitor, in the alternating succession of births, they repeatedly appear in different housed and races along with their posterity, devout practices and instituted observances, residing to the south of the solar orb, as long as the moon and stars endure³³⁸.

The path of the gods lies to the north of the solar sphere, north of the Nágavithi³³⁹, and south of the seven Rishis. There dwell the Siddhas, of subdued senses, continent and pure, undesirous of progeny, and therefore victorious over death: eighty-eight thousand of these chaste beings tenant the regions of the sky, north of the sun, until the destruction of the universe: they enjoy immortality, for that they are holy; exempt from covetousness and concupiscence, love and hatred; taking no part in the procreation of living beings, and detecting the unreality of the properties of elementary matter. By immortality is meant existence to the end of the Kalpa: life as long as the three regions (earth, sky, and heaven) last is called exemption from (reiterated) death³⁴⁰. The consequences of acts of iniquity or piety, such as Brahmanicide or an Aśwamedha, endure for a similar period, or until the end of a Kalpa³⁴¹, when all within the interval between Dhruva and the earth is destroyed.

The space between the seven Rishis and Dhruva³⁴², the third region of the sky, is the splendid celestial path of Vishńu (Vishńupada), and the abode of those sanctified ascetics who are cleansed from every soil, and in whom virtue and vice are annihilated. This is that excellent place of Vishńu to which those repair in whom all sources of pain are extinct, in consequence of the cessation of the consequences of piety or iniquity, and where they never sorrow more. There abide Dharma, Dhruva, and other spectators of the world, radiant with the superhuman faculties of Vishńu, acquired through religious meditation; and there are fastened and inwoven to all that is, and all that shall ever be, animate or inanimate. The seat of Vishńu is contemplated by the wisdom of the Yogis, identified with supreme light, as the radiant eye of heaven. In this portion of the heavens the splendid Dhruva is stationed, and serves for the pivot of the atmosphere. On Dhruva rest the seven great planets, and on them depend the clouds. The rains are suspended in the clouds, and from the rains come the water which is the nutriment and delight of all, the gods and the rest; and they, the gods, who are the receivers of oblations, being nourished by burnt-offerings, cause the rain to fall for the support of created beings. This sacred station of Vishńu, therefore, is the support of the three worlds, as it is the source of rain.

From that third region of the atmosphere, or seat of Vishńu, proceeds the stream that washes away all sin, the river Gangá, embrowned with the unguents of the nymphs of heaven, who have sported in her waters. Having her source in the nail of the great toe of Vishńu's left foot, Dhruva³⁴³ receives her, and sustains her day and night devoutly on his head; and thence the seven Rishis practise the exercises of austerity in her waters, wreathing their braided locks with her waves. The orb of the moon, encompassed by her accumulated current, derives augmented lustre from her contact. Falling from on high, as she issues from the moon; she alights on the summit of Meru, and thence flows to the four quarters of the earth, for its purification. The Śítá, Alakanandá, Chakshu, and Bhadrá are four branches of but one river, divided according to the regions towards which it proceeds. The branch that is known as the Alakanandá was borne affectionately by Mahádeva, upon his head, for more than a hundred years, and was the river which raised to heaven the sinful sons of Sagara, by washing their ashes³⁴⁴. The offences of any man who bathes in this river are immediately expiated, and unprecedented virtue is engendered. Its waters, offered by sons to their ancestors in faith for three years, yield to the latter rarely attainable gratification. Men of the twice-born orders, who offer sacrifice in this river to the lord of sacrifice, Purushottama, obtain whatever they desire, either here or in heaven. Saints who are purified from all soil by bathing in its waters, and whose minds are intent on Keśava, acquire thereby final liberation. This sacred stream, heard of, desired, seen, touched, bathed in, or hymned, day by day, sanctifies all beings; and those who, even at a distance of a hundred leagues, exclaim "Gangá, Gangá," atone for the sins committed during three previous lives. The place whence this river proceeds, for the purification of the three worlds, is the third division of the celestial regions, the seat of Vishńu³⁴⁵.

Chapter IX

Planetary system, under the type of a Śiśumára or porpoise. The earth nourished by the sun. Of rain whilst the sun shines. Of rain from clouds. Rain the support, of vegetation, and thence of animal life. Náráyańa the support of all beings.

THE form of the mighty Hari which is present in heaven, consisting of the constellations, is that of a porpoise, with Dhruva situated in the tail. As Dhruva revolves, it causes the moon, sun, and stars to turn round also; and the lunar asterisms follow in its circular path; for all the celestial luminaries are in fact bound to the polar-star by aerial cords. The porpoise-like figure of the celestial sphere is upheld by Náráyańa, who himself, in planetary radiance, is seated in its heart; whilst the son of Uttanápáda, Dhruva, in consequence of his adoration of the lord of the world, shines in the tail of the stellar porpoise³⁴⁶. The upholder of the porpoise-shaped sphere is the sovereign of all, Janárddana. This sphere is the supporter of Dhruva; and by Dhruva the sun is upstayed. Upon the sun depends this world, with its gods, demons, and men. In what manner the world depends upon the sun, be attentive, and you shall hear.

During eight months of the year the sun attracts the waters, which are the essence of all fluids, and then pours them upon earths (during the other four months) as rain³⁴⁷: from rain grows corn; and by corn the whole world subsists. The sun with his scorching rays absorbs the moisture of the earth, and with them nourishes the moon. The moon communicates, through tubes of air, its dews to the clouds, which, being composed of smoke, fire, and wind (or vapour), can retain the waters with which they are charged: they are therefore called Abhras, because their contents are not dispersed³⁴⁸. When however they are broken to pieces by the wind, then watery stores descend, bland, and freed front every impurity by the sweetening process of time. The sun, Maitreya, exhales watery fluids from four sources, seas, rivers, the earth, and living creatures. The water that the sun has drawn up from the Gangá of the skies he quickly pours down with his rays, and without a cloud; and men who are touched by this pure rain are cleansed from the soil of sin, and never see hell: this is termed celestial ablution. That rain which falls whilst the sun is shining, and without a cloud in the sky, is the water of the heavenly Ganges, shed by the solar rays. If, however, rain falls from a bright and cloudless sky whilst the sun is in the mansion of Krittiká and the other asterisms counted by odd numbers, as the third, fifth, &c., the water, although that of the Gangá of the sky, is scattered, by the elephants of the quarters, not by the rays of the sun: it is only when such rain falls, and the sun is in the even asterisms, that it is distributed by his beams³⁴⁹.

The water which the clouds shed upon earth is in truth the ambrosia of living beings, for it gives fertility to the plants which are the support of their existence. By this all vegetables grow and are matured, and become the means of maintaining life. With them, again, those men who take the law for their light perform daily sacrifices, and through them give nourishment to the gods. And thus sacrifices, the Vedas, the font' castes, with the Brahmans at their head, all the residences of the gods, all the tribes of animals, the whole world, all are supported by the rains by which food is produced. But the rain is evolved by the sun; the sun is sustained by Dhruva; and Dhruva is supported by the celestial porpoise-shaped sphere, which is one with Náráyańa. Náráyańa, the primeval existent, and eternally enduring, seated in the heart of the stellar sphere, is the supporter of all beings.

Chapter X

Names of the twelve Ádityas. Names of the Rishis, Gandharbhas, Apsarasas, Yakshas, Uragas, and Rákshasas, who attend the chariot of the sun in each month of the year. Their respective functions.

PARÁŚARA.--Between the extreme northern and southern points the sun has to traverse in a year one hundred and eighty degrees, ascending and descending³⁵⁰. His car is presided over by divine Ádityas, Rishis, heavenly singers and nymphs, Yakshas, serpents, and Rákshasas (one of each being placed in it in every month). The Áditya Dhátri, the sage Pulastya, the Gandharba Tumburu, the nymph Kratust́halá, the Yaksha Rathakrit, the serpent Vásuki, and the Rákshas Heti, always reside in the sun's car, in the month of Madhu or Chaitra, as its seven guardians. In Vaiśákh or Mádhava the seven are Áryamat, Pulaha, Náreda, Punjikásthalí, Rathaujas, Kachaníra, and Praheti. In Śuchi or Jyesht́ha they are Mitra, Atri, Háhá, Mená, Rathaswana, Takshaka, and Paurusheya. In the month Śukra or Áshádha they are Varuńa, Vaśisht́ha, Huhu, Sahajanyá, Rathachitra, Nága, and Budha. In the month Nabhas (or Srávańa) they are Indra, Angiras, Viswávasu, Pramlochá, Śrotas, and Elapatra (the name of both serpent and Rákshas). In the month Bhádrapada they are Vivaswat, Bhrigu, Ugrasena, Anumlocha, Ápúrańa, Śankhapála, and Vyághra. In the month of Áswin they are Púshan, Gautama, Suruchi, Ghritáchí, Sushena, Dhananjaya, and Váta. In the month of Kártik they are Parjanya, Bharadwája, (another) Viswávasu, Viswáchí, Senajit, Airávata, and Chápa. In Agraháyana or Márgaśírsha they are Ansu, Kaśyapa, Chitrasena, Urvasi, Tárkshya, Mahápadma, and Vidyut. In the month of Pausha, Bhaga, Kratu, Urńáyu, Purvachittí, Arisht́anemi, Karkot́aka, and Sphúrja are the seven who abide in the orb of the sun, the glorious spirits who scatter light throughout the universe. In the month of Mágha the seven who are in the sun are Twasht́ri, Jamadagni, Dhritarasht́ra, Tilottamá, Ritajit, Kambala, and Brahmápeta. Those who abide in the sun in the month Phálguna are Vishńu, Visvamitra, Súryaverchchas, Rambhá, Satyajit, Aswatara, and Yajnápeta.

In this manner, Maitreya, a troop of seven celestial beings, supported by the energy of Vishńu, occupies during the several months the orb of the sun. The sage celebrates his praise, and the Gandharba sings, and the nymph dances before him: the Rákshas attends upon his steps, the serpent harnesses his steeds, and the Yaksha trims the reins: the numerous pigmy sages, the Bálakhilyas, ever surround his chariot. The whole troop of seven, attached to the sun's car, are the agents in the distribution of cold, heat, and rain, at their respective seasons³⁵¹.

Chapter XI

The sun distinct from, and supreme over, the attendants on his car: identical with the three Vedas and with Vishńu: his functions.

MAITREYA.--You have related to me, holy preceptor, the seven classes of beings who are ever present in the solar orb, and are the causes of heat and cold: you have also described to me their individual functions, sustained by the energy of Vishńu: but you have not told me the duty of the sun himself; for if, as you say, the seven beings in his sphere are the causes of heat, cold, and rain, how can it be also true, as you have before mentioned, that rain proceeds from the sun? or how can it be asserted that the sun rises, reaches the meridian, or sets, if these situations be the act of the collective seven.

PARÁŚARA.--I will explain to you, Maitreya, the subject of your inquiry. The sun, though identified with the seven beings in his orb, is distinct from them as their chief. The entire and mighty energy of Vishńu, which is called the three Vedas, or Rich, Yajush, and Sáman, is that which enlightens the world, and destroys its iniquity. It is that also which, during the continuance of things, is present as Vishńu, actively engaged in the preservation of the universe, and abiding as the three Vedas within the sun. The solar luminary, that appears in every month, is nothing else than that very supreme energy of Vishńu which is composed of the three Vedas, influencing the motions of the planet; for the Richas (the hymns of the Rig-veda) shine in the morning, the prayers of the Yajush at noon, and the Vrihadrathantara and other portions of the Sáman in the afternoon. This triple impersonation of Vishńu, distinguished by the titles of the three Vedas, is the energy of Vishńu, which influences the positions of the sun³⁵².

But this triple energy of Vishńu is not limited to the sun alone, for Brahmá, Purusha (Vishńu), and Rudra are also made up of the same triform essence. In creation it is Brahmá, consisting of the Rig-veda in preservation it is Vishńu, composed of the Yajur-veda; and in destruction Rudra, formed of the Sáma-veda, the utterance of which is consequently inauspicious³⁵³.

Thus the energy of Vishńu, made up of the three Vedas, and derived from the property of goodness, presides in the sun, along with the seven beings belonging to it; and through the presence of this power the planet shines with intense radiance, dispersing with his beams the darkness that spreads over the whole world: and hence the Munis praise him, the quiristers and nymphs of heaven sing and dance before him, and fierce spirits and holy sages attend upon his path. Vishńu, in the form of his active energy, never either rises or sets, and is at once the. sevenfold sun and distinct from it. In the same manner as a man approaching a mirror, placed upon a stand, beholds in it his own image, so the energy (or reflection) of Vishńu is never disjoined (from the sun's car, which is the stand of the mirror), but remains month by month in the sun (as in the mirror), which is there stationed.

The sovereign sun, oh Brahman, the cause of day and night, perpetually revolves, affording delight to the gods, to the progenitors, and to mankind. Cherished by the Sushumna ray of the sun³⁵⁴, the moon is fed to the full in the fortnight of its growth; and in the fortnight of its wane the ambrosia of its substance is perpetually drunk by the immortals, until the last day of the half month, when the two remaining digits are drunk by the progenitors: hence these two orders of beings are nourished by the sun. The moisture of the earth, which the sun attracts by his rays, he again parts with for the fertilization of the grain, and the nutriment of all terrestrial creatures; and consequently the sun is the source of subsistence to every class of living things, to gods, progenitors, mankind, and the rest. The sun, Maitreya, satisfies the wants of the gods for a fortnight (at a time); those of the progenitors once a month; and those of men and other animals daily.

Chapter XII

Description of the moon: his chariot, horses, and course: fed by the sun: drained periodically of ambrosia by the progenitors and gods. The chariots and horses of the planets: kept in their orbits by aerial chains attached to Dhruva. Typical members of the planetary porpoise. Vásudeva alone real.

PARÁŚARA.--The chariot of the moon has three wheels, and is drawn by ten horses, of the whiteness of the Jasmine, five on the right half (of the yoke), five on the left. It moves along the asterisms, divided into ranges, as before described; and, in like manner as the sun, is upheld by Dhruva; the cords that fasten it being tightened or relaxed in the same way, as it proceeds on its course. The horses of the moon, sprung from the bosom of the waters³⁵⁵, drag the car for a whole Kalpa, as do the coursers of the sun. The radiant sun supplies the moon, when reduced by the draughts of the gods to a single Kalá, with a single ray; and in the same proportion as the ruler of the night was exhausted by the celestials, it is replenished by the sun, the plunderer of the waters: for the gods, Maitreya, drink the nectar and ambrosia accumulated in the moon during half the month, and from this being their food they are immortal. Thirty-six thousand three hundred and thirty-three divinities drink the lunar ambrosia. When two digits remain, the moon enters the orbit of the sun, and abides in the ray called Amá; whence the period is termed Amávásya. In that orbit the moon is immersed for a day and night in the water; thence it enters the branches and shoots of the trees; and thence goes to the sun. Consequently any one who cuts off a branch, or casts down a leaf, when the moon is in the trees (the day of its rising invisible), is guilty of Brahmanicide. When the remaining portion of the moon consists of but a fifteenth part, the progenitors approach it in the afternoon, and drink the last portion, that sacred Kali which is composed of ambrosia, and contained in the two digits of the form of the moon³⁵⁶. Having drank the nectar effused by the lunar rays on the day of conjunction, the progenitors are satisfied, and remain tranquil for the ensuing month. These progenitors (or Pitris) are of three classes, termed Saumyas, Varhishadas, and Agnishwáttas³⁵⁷. In this manner the moon, with its cooling rays, nourishes the gods in the light fortnight, the Pitris in the dark fortnight; vegetables, with the cool nectary aqueous atoms it sheds upon them; and through their developement it sustains men, animals, and insects; at the same time gratifying them by its radiance.

The chariot of the son of Chandra, Budha or Mercury, is composed of the elementary substances air and fire, and is drawn by eight bay horses of the speed of the wind. The vast car of Śukra (Venus) is drawn by earth-born horses³⁵⁸, is equipped with a protecting fender and a floor, armed with arrows, and decorated by a banner. The splendid car of Bhauma (Mars) is of gold, of an octagonal shape, drawn by eight horses, of a ruby red, sprung from fire. Vrihaspati (Jupiter), in a golden car drawn by eight pale-coloured horses, travels from sign to sign in the period of a year: and the tardy-paced Śani (Saturn) moves slowly along in a car drawn by piebald steeds. Eight black horses draw the dusky chariot of Ráhu, and once harnessed are attached to it for ever. On the Parvas (the nodes, or lunar and solar eclipses), Ráhu directs his course from the sun to the moon, and back again from the moon to the sun³⁵⁹. The eight horses of the chariot of Ketu are of the dusky red colour of Lac, or of the smoke of burning straw.

I have thus described to you, Maitreya, the chariots of the nine planets, all which are fastened to Dhruva by aerial cords. The orbs of all the planets, asterisms, and stars are attached to Dhruva, and travel accordingly in their proper orbits, being kept in their places by their respective bands of air. As many as are the stars, so many are the chains of air that secure them to Dhruva; and as they turn round, they cause the pole-star also to revolve. In the same manner as the oil-man himself, going round, causes the spindle to revolve, so the planets travel round, suspended by cords of air, which are circling round a (whirling) centre. The air, which is called Pravaha, is so termed because it bears along the planets, which turn round, like a disc of fire, driven by the aerial wheel³⁶⁰.

The celestial porpoise, in which Dhruva is fixed, has been mentioned, but you shall hear its constituent parts in more detail, as it is of great efficacy; for the view of it at night expiates whatever sin has been committed during the day; and those who behold it live as many years as there are stars in it, in the sky, or even more. Uttánapáda is to be considered as its upper jaw; Sacrifice as its lower. Dharma is situated on its brow; Náráyańa in its heart. The Áswins are its two fore feet; and Varuńa and Áryamat its two hinder legs. Samvatsara is its sexual organ; Mitra its organ of excretion. Agni, Mahendra, Kaśyapa, and Dhruva, in succession, are placed in its tail; which four stars in this constellation never set³⁶¹.

I have now described to you the disposition of the earth and of the stars; of the insular zones, with their oceans and mountains, their Varshas or regions, and their inhabitants: their nature has also been explained, but it may be briefly recapitulated.

From the waters, which are the body of Vishńu, was produced the lotus-shaped earth, with its seas and mountains. The stars are Vishńu; the worlds are Vishńu; forests, mountains, regions, rivers, oceans are Vishńu: he is all that is, all that is not. He, the lord, is identical with knowledge, through which he is all forms, but is not a substance. You must conceive therefore mountains, oceans, and all the diversities of earth and the rest, are the illusions of the apprehension. When knowledge is pure, real, universal, independent of works, and exempt from defect, then the varieties of substance, which are the fruit of the tree of desire, cease to exist in matter. For what is substance? Where is the thing that is devoid of beginning, middle, and end, of one uniform nature? How can reality be predicated of that which is subject to change, and reassumes no more its original character? Earth is fabricated into a jar; the jar is divided into two halves; the halves are broken to pieces; the pieces become dust; the dust becomes atoms. Say, is this reality? though it be so understood by man, whose self-knowledge is impeded by his own acts. Hence, Brahman, except discriminative knowledge, there is nothing any where, or at any time, that is real. Such knowledge is but one, although it appear manifold, as diversified by the various consequences of our own acts. Knowledge perfect, pure, free from pain, and detaching the affections from all that causes affliction; knowledge single and eternal--is the supreme Vásudeva, besides whom there is nothing. The truth has been thus communicated to you by me; that knowledge which is truth; from which all that differs is false. That information, however, which is of a temporal and worldly nature has also been imparted to you; the sacrifice, the victim, the fire, the priests, the acid juice, the gods, the desire for heaven, the path pursued by acts of devotion and the rest, and the worlds that are their consequences, have been displayed to you. In that universe which I have described, he for ever migrates who is subject to the influence of works; but he who knows Vásudeva to be eternal, immutable, and of one unchanging, universal form, may continue to perform them³⁶², as thereby he enters into the deity.

Chapter XIII

Legend of Bharata. Bharata abdicates his throne, and becomes an ascetic: cherishes a fawn, and becomes so much attached to it as to neglect his devotions: he dies: his successive births: works in the fields, and is pressed as a palankin-bearer for the Rájá of Sauvíra: rebuked for his awkwardness: his reply: dialogue between him and the king.

MAITREYA.--Reverend sir³⁶³, all that I asked of you has been thoroughly explained; namely, the situation of the earth, oceans, mountains, rivers, and planetary bodies; the system of the three worlds, of which Vishńu is the stay. The great end of life has also been expounded by you, and the preeminence of holy knowledge. It now remains that you fulfil the promise you made some time since³⁶⁴, of relating to me the story of king Bharata, and how it happened that a monarch like him, residing constantly at the sacred place Śálagráma, and engaged in devotion, with his mind ever applied to Vásudeva, should have failed, through time sanctity of the shrine, and the efficacy of his abstractions, to obtain final emancipation; how it was that he was born again as a Brahman; and what was done by the magnanimous Bharata in that capacity: all this it is fit that you inform me.

PARÁŚARA.--The illustrious monarch of the earth resided, Maitreya, for a considerable period at Śálagráma, his thoughts being wholly dedicated to god, and his conduct distinguished by kindness and every virtue, until he had effected, in the highest degree, the entire control over his mind. The Rájá was ever repeating the names, Yajneśa, Achyuta, Govinda, Mádhava, Ananta, Keśava, Krishńa, Vishńu, Hrishikeśa; nothing else did be utter, even in his dreams; nor upon anything but those names, and their import, did he ever meditate. He accepted fuel, flowers, and holy grass, for the worship of the deity, but performed no other religious rites, being engrossed by disinterested, abstract devotion.

On one occasion he went to the Mahanadi³⁶⁵, for the purpose of ablution: he bathed there, and performed the ceremonies usual after bathing, Whilst thus occupied, there came to the same place a doe big with young, who had come out of the forest to drink of the stream. Whilst quenching her thirst, there was heard on a sudden the loud and fearful roaring of a lion; on which the doe, being excessively alarmed, jumped out of the water upon the bank. In consequence of this great leap, her fawn was suddenly brought forth, and fell into the river; and the king, seeing it carried away by the current, caught hold of the young animal, and saved it from being drowned. The injury received by the deer, by her violent exertion, proved fatal, and she lay down, and died; which being observed by the royal ascetic, he took the fawn in his arms, and returned with it to his hermitage: there he fed it and tended it every day, and it throve and grew up under his care. It frolicked about the cell, and grazed upon the grass in its vicinity; and whenever it strayed to a distance, and was alarmed at a wild beast, it ran back thither for safety. Every morning it sallied forth from home, and every evening returned to the thatched shelter of the leafy bower of Bharata.

Whilst the deer was thus the inmate of his hermitage, the mind of the king was ever anxious about the animal, now wandering away, and now returning to his side, and he was unable to think of anything else. He had relinquished his kingdom, his children, all his friends, and now indulged in selfish affection for a fawn. When absent for a longer time than ordinary, he would fancy that it had been carried off by wolves, devoured by a tiger, or slain by a lion. "The earth," he would exclaim, "is embrowned by the impressions of its hoofs. What has become of the young deer, that was born for my delight? How happy I should be if he had returned from the thicket, and I felt his budding antlers rubbing against my arm. These tufts of sacred grass, of which the heads have been nibbled by his new teeth, look like pious lads chanting the Sáma-veda³⁶⁶." Thus the Muni meditated whenever the deer was long absent from him; and contemplated him with a countenance animated with pleasure as he stood by his side. His abstraction was interrupted, the spirit of the king being engrossed by the fawn, even though he had abandoned family, wealth, and dominion. The firmness of the prince's mind became unsteady, and wandered with the wanderings of the young deer. In the course of time the king became subject to its influence. He died, watched by the deer, with tears in its eyes, like a son mourning for his father; and he himself, as he expired, cast his eyes upon the animal, and thought of nothing else, being wholly occupied with one idea.

In consequence of this predominant feeling at such a season, he was born again, in the Jambumárga forests, as a deer³⁶⁷, with the faculty of recollecting his former life; which recollection inspiring a distaste for the world, he left his mother, and again repaired to the holy place Śálagráma. Subsisting there upon dry grass and leaves, he atoned for the acts which had led to his being born in such a condition; and upon his death he was next born as a Brahman, still retaining the memory of his prior existence. He was born in a pious and eminent family of ascetics, who were rigid observers of devotional rites. Possessed of all true wisdom, and acquainted with the essence of all sacred writings, he beheld soul as contradistinguished from matter (Prakriti). Embued with knowledge of self, he beheld the gods and all other beings as in reality the same. It did not happen to him to undergo investiture with the Brahmanical thread, nor to read the Vedas with a spiritual preceptor, nor to perform ceremonies, nor to study the scriptures. Whenever spoken to, he replied incoherently and in ungrammatical and unpolished speech. His person was unclean, and he was clad in dirty garments. Saliva dribbled from his mouth, and he was treated with contempt by all the people. Regard for the consideration of the world is fatal to the success of devotion. The ascetic who is despised of men attains the end of his abstractions. Let therefore a holy man pursue the path of the righteous, without murmuring; and though men contemn him, avoid association with mankind. This, the counsel of Hirańyagarbha³⁶⁸, did the Brahman call to mind, and hence assumed the appearance of a crazy ideot in the eyes of the world. His food was raw pulse, potherbs, wild fruit, and grains of corn. Whatever came in his way he ate, as part of a necessary, but temporary infliction³⁶⁹. Upon his father's death he was set to work in the fields by his brothers and his nephews, and fed by them with vile food; and as he was firm and stout of make, and a simpleton in outward act, he was the slave of every one that chose to employ him, receiving sustenance alone for his hire.

The head servant of the king of Sauvíra, looking upon him as an indolent, untaught Brahman, thought him a fit person to work without pay (and took him into his master's service to assist in carrying the palankin.)

The king having ascended his litter, on one occasion, was proceeding to the hermitage of Kapila, on the banks of the Ikshumatí river³⁷⁰, to consult the sage, to whom the virtues leading to liberation were known, what was most desirable in a world abounding with care and sorrow. Amongst those who by order of his head servant had been compelled gratuitously to carry the litter was the Brahman, who had been equally pressed into this duty, and who, endowed with the only universal knowledge, and remembering his former existence, bore the burden as the means of expiating the faults for which he was desirous to atone. Fixing his eyes upon the pole, he went tardily along, whilst the other bearers moved with alacrity; and the king, feeling the litter carried unevenly, called out, "Ho bearers! what is this? Keep equal pace together." Still it proceeded unsteadily, and the Rájá again exclaimed, "What is this? how irregularly are you going!" When this had repeatedly occurred, the palankin-bearers at last replied to the king, "It is this man, who lags in his pace." "How is this?" said the prince to the Brahman, "are you weary? You have carried your burden but a little way; are you unable to bear fatigue? and yet you look robust." The Brahman answered and said, "It is not I who am robust, nor is it by me that your palankin is carried. I am not wearied, prince, nor am I incapable of fatigue." The king replied, "I clearly see that you are stout, and that the palankin is borne by you; and the carriage of a burden is wearisome to all persons." "First tell me," said the Brahman, "what it is of me that you have clearly seen³⁷¹, and then you may distinguish my properties as strong or weak. The assertion that you behold the palankin borne by me, or placed on me, is untrue. Listen, prince, to what I have to remark. The place of both the feet is the ground; the legs are supported by the feet; the thighs rest upon the legs; and the belly reposes on the thighs; the chest is supported by the belly; and the arms and shoulders are propped up by the chest: the palankin is borne upon the shoulders, and how can it be considered as my burden? This body which is seated in the palankin is defined as Thou; thence what is elsewhere called This, is here distinguished as I and Thou. I and thou and others are constructed of the elements; and the elements, following the stream of qualities, assume a bodily shape; but qualities, such as goodness and the rest, are dependant upon acts; and acts, accumulated in ignorance, influence the condition of all beings³⁷². The pure, imperishable soul, tranquil, void of qualities, preeminent over nature (Prakriti), is one, without increase or diminution, in all bodies. But if it be equally exempt from increase or diminution, then with what propriety can you say to me, 'I see that thou art robust?' If the palankin rests on the shoulders, and they on the body; the body on the feet, and the feet on the earth; then is the burden borne as much by you as by me³⁷³. When the nature of men is different, either in its essence or its cause, then may it be said that fatigue is to be undergone by me. That which is the substance of the palankin is the substance of you and me and all others, being an aggregate of elements, aggregated by individuality."

Having thus spoken, the Brahman was silent, and went on bearing the palankin; but the king leaped out of it, and hastened to prostrate himself at his feet; saying, "Have compassion on me, Brahman, and cast aside the palankin; and tell me who thou art, thus disguised under the appearance of a fool." The Brahman answered and said, "Hear me, Rája,. Who I am it is not possible to say: arrival at any place is for the sake of fruition; and enjoyment of pleasure, or endurance of pain, is the cause of the production of the body. A living being assumes a corporeal form to reap the results of virtue or vice. The universal cause of all living creatures is virtue or vice: why therefore inquire the cause (of my being the person I appear)." The king said, "Undoubtedly virtue and vice are the causes of all existent effects, and migration into several bodies is for the purpose of receiving their consequences; but with respect to what you have asserted, that it is not possible for you to tell me who you are, that is a matter which I am desirous to hear explained. How can it be impossible, Brahman, for any one to declare himself to be that which he is? There can be no detriment to one's-self from applying to it the word I." The Brahman said, "It is true that there is no wrong done to that which is one's-self by the application to it of the word I; but the term is characteristic of error, of conceiving that to be the self (or soul) which is not self or soul. The tongue articulates the word I, aided by the lips, the teeth, and the palate; and these are the origin of the expression, as they are the causes of the production of speech. If by these instruments speech is able to utter the word I, it is nevertheless improper to assert that speech itself is I³⁷⁴. The body of a man, characterized by hands, feet, and the like, is made up of various parts; to which of these can I properly apply the denomination I? If another being is different specifically from me, most excellent monarch, then it may be said that this is I; that is the other: but when one only soul is dispersed in all bodies, it is then idle to say, Who are you? who am I? Thou art a king; this is a palankin; these are the bearers; these the running footmen; this is thy retinue: yet it is untrue that all these are said to be thine. The palankin on which thou sittest is made of timber derived from a tree. What then? is it denominated either timber or a tree? People do not say that the king is perched upon a tree, nor that he is seated upon a piece of wood, when you have mounted your palankin. The vehicle is an assemblage of pieces of timber, artificially joined together: judge, prince, for yourself in what the palankin differs really from the wood. Again; contemplate the sticks of the umbrella, in their separate state. Where then is the umbrella? Apply this reasoning to thee and to me³⁷⁵. A man, a woman, a cow, a goat, a horse, an elephant, a bird, a tree, are names assigned to various bodies, which are the consequences of acts. Man³⁷⁶ is neither a god, nor a man, nor a brute, nor a tree; these are mere varieties of shape, the effects of acts. The thing which in the world is called a king, the servant of a king, or by any other appellation, is not a reality; it is the creature of our imaginations: for what is there in the world, that is subject to vicissitude, that does not in the course of time go by different names. Thou art called the monarch of the world; the son of thy father; the enemy of thy foes; the husband of thy wife; the father of thy children. What shall I denominate thee? How art thou situated? Art thou the head or the belly? or are they thine? Art thou the feet? or do they belong to thee? Thou art, oh king, distinct in thy nature from all thy members! Now then, rightly understanding the question, think who I am; and how it is possible for me, after the truth is ascertained (of the identity of all), to recognise any distinction, or to speak of my own individuality by the expression I.'

Chapter XIV

Dialogue continued. Bharata expounds the nature of existence, the end of life, and the identification of individual with universal spirit.

PARÁŚARA.--Having heard these remarks, full of profound truth, the king was highly pleased with the Brahman, and respectfully thus addressed him: "What you have said is no doubt the truth; but in listening to it my mind is much disturbed. You have shewn that to be discriminative wisdom which exists in all creatures, and which is the great principle that is distinct from plastic nature; but the assertions--'I do not bear the palankin---the palankin does not rest upon me--the body, by which the vehicle is conveyed, is different from me--the conditions of elementary beings are influenced by acts, through the influence of the qualities, and the qualities are the principles of action;'--what sort of positions are these. Upon these doctrines entering into my ears, my mind, which is anxious to investigate the truth, is lost in perplexity. It was my purpose, illustrious sage, to have gone to Kapila Rishi, to inquire of him what in this life was the most desirable object: but now that I have heard from you such words, my mind turns to you, to become acquainted with the great end of life. The Rishi Kapila is a portion of the mighty and universal Vishńu, who has come down upon earth to dissipate delusion; and surely it is he who, in kindness to me, has thus manifested himself to me in all that you have said. To me, thus suppliant, then, explain what is the best of all things; for thou art an ocean overflowing with the waters of divine wisdom." The Brahman replied to the king, "You, again, ask me what is the best of all things, not what is the great end of life³⁷⁷; but there are many things which are considered best, as well as those which are the great ends (or truths) of life. To him who, by the worship of the gods, seeks for wealth, prosperity, children, or dominion, each of these is respectively best. Best is the rite or sacrifice, that is rewarded with heavenly pleasures. Best is that which yields the best recompense, although it be not solicited. Self-contemplation, ever practised by devout ascetics, is to them the best. But best of all is the identification of soul with the supreme spirit. Hundreds and thousands of conditions may be called the best; but these are not the great and true ends of life. Hear what those are. Wealth cannot be the true end of life, for it may be relinquished through virtue, and its characteristic property is expenditure for the gratification of desire. If a son were final truth, that would be equally applicable to a different source; for the son that is to one the great end of life, becomes the father of another. Final or supreme truth, therefore, would not exist in this world, as in all these cases those objects which are so denominated are the effects of causes, and consequently are not finite. If the acquisition of sovereignty were designated by the character of being the great end of all, then finite ends would sometimes be, and sometimes cease to be. If you suppose that the objects to be effected by sacrificial rites, performed according to the rules of the Rik, Yajur, and Sama Vedas, be the great end of life, attend to what I have to say. Any effect which is produced through the causality of earth partakes of the character of its origin, and consists itself of clay; so any act performed by perishable agents, such as fuel, clarified butter, and Kuśa grass, must itself be of but temporary efficacy. The great end of life (or truth) is considered by the wise to be eternal; but it would be transient, if it were accomplished through transitory things. If you imagine that this great truth is the performance of religious acts, from which no recompense is sought, it is not so; for such acts are the means of obtaining liberation, and truth is (the end), not the means. Meditation on self, again, is said to be for the sake of supreme truth; but the object of this is to establish distinctions (between soul and body), and the great truth of all is without distinctions. Union of self with supreme spirit is said to be the great end of all; but this is false; for one substance cannot become substantially another³⁷⁸. Objects, then, which are considered most desirable are infinite. What the great end of all is, you shall, monarch, briefly learn from me. It is soul: one (in all bodies), pervading, uniform, perfect, preeminent over nature (Prakriti), exempt from birth, growth, and decay, omnipresent, undecaying, made up of true knowledge, independent, and unconnected with unrealities, with name, species, and the rest, in time present, past, or to come. The knowledge that this spirit, which is essentially one, is in one's own and in all other bodies, is the great end, or true wisdom, of one who knows the unity and the true principles of things. As one diffusive air, passing through the perforations of a flute, is distinguished as the notes of the scale (Sherga and the rest), so the nature of the great spirit is single, though its forms be manifold, arising from the consequences of acts. When the difference of the investing form, as that of god or the rest, is destroyed, then there is no distinction."

Chapter XV

Bharata relates the story of Ribhu and Nidágha. The latter, the pupil of the former, becomes a prince, and is visited by his preceptor, who explains to him the principles of unity, and departs.

PARÁŚARA continued.--Having terminated these remarks, the Brahman repeated to the silent and meditating prince a tale illustrative of the doctrines of unity. "Listen, prince," he proceeded, "to what was formerly uttered by Ribhu, imparting holy knowledge to the Brahman Nidágha. Ribhu was a son of the supreme Brahmá, who, from his innate disposition, was of a holy character, and acquainted with true wisdom. Nidágha, the son of Pulastya, was his disciple; and to him Ribhu communicated willingly perfect knowledge, not doubting of his being fully confirmed in the doctrines of unity, when he had been thus instructed.

"The residence of Pulastya was at Víranagara, a large handsome city on the banks of the Devíká river. In a beautiful grove adjoining to the stream the pupil of Ribhu, Nidágha, conversant with devotional practices, abode. When a thousand divine years had elapsed, Ribhu went to the city of Pulastya, to visit his disciple. Standing at the doorway, at the end of a sacrifice to the Viśwadevas, he was seen by his scholar, who hastened to present him the usual offering, or Arghya, and conducted him into the house; and when his hands and feet were washed, and he was seated, Nidágha invited him respectfully to eat (when the following dialogue ensued):--

"Ribhu. 'Tell me, illustrious Brahman, what food there is in your house; for I am not fond of indifferent viands.'

"Nidágha. 'There are cakes of meal, rice, barley, and pulse in the house; partake, venerable sir, of whichever best pleases you.'

"Ribhu. 'None of these do I like; give me rice boiled with sugar, wheaten cakes, and milk with curds and molasses.'

"Nidágha. 'Ho dame, be quick, and prepare whatever is most delicate and sweet in the house, to feed our guest.'

"Having thus spoken, the wife of Nidágha, in obedience to her husband's commands, prepared sweet and savoury food, and set it before the Brahman; and Nidágha, having stood before him until he had eaten of the meal which he had desired, thus reverentially addressed him:--

"Nidágha. 'Have you eaten sufficiently, and with pleasure, great Brahman? and has your mind received contentment from your food? Where is your present residence? whither do you purpose going? and whence, holy sir, have you now come?'

"Ribhu. 'A hungry man, Brahman, must needs be satisfied when he has finished his meal. Why should you inquire if my hunger has been appeased? When the earthy element is parched by fire, then hunger is engendered; and thirst is produced when the moisture of the body has been absorbed (by internal or digestive heat). Hunger and thirst are the functions of the body, and satisfaction must always be afforded me by that by which they are removed; for when hunger is no longer sensible, pleasure and contentment of mind are faculties of the intellect: ask their condition of the mind then, for man is not affected by them. For your three other questions, Where I dwell? Whither I go? and Whence I come? hear this reply. Man (the soul of man) goes every where, and penetrates every where, like the ether; and is it rational to inquire where it is? or whence or whither thou goest? I neither am going nor coming, nor is my dwelling in any one place; nor art thou, thou; nor are others, others; nor am I, I. If you wonder what reply I should make to your inquiry why I made any distinction between sweetened and unsweetened food, you shall hear my explanation. What is there that is really sweet or not sweet to one eating a meal? That which is sweet, is no longer so when it occasions the sense of repletion; and that which is not sweet, becomes sweet when a man (being very hungry) fancies that it is so. What food is there that first, middle, and last is equally grateful. As a house built of clay is strengthened by fresh plaster, so is this earthly body supported by earthly particles; and barley, wheat, pulse, butter, oil, milk, curds, treacle, fruits, and the like, are composed of atoms of earth. This therefore is to be understood by you, that the mind which properly judges of what is or is not sweet is impressed with the notion of identity, and that this effect of identity tends to liberation.'

"Having heard these words, conveying the substance of ultimate truth, Nidágha fell at the feet of his visitor, and said, 'Shew favour unto me, illustrious Brahman, and tell me who it is that for my good has come hither, and by whose words the infatuation of my mind is dissipated.' To this, Ribhu answered, 'I am Ribhu, your preceptor, come hither to communicate to you true wisdom; and having declared to you what that is, I shall depart. Know this whole universe to be the one undivided nature of the supreme spirit, entitled Vásudeva.' Thus having spoken, and receiving the prostrate homage of Nidágha, rendered with fervent faith, Ribhu went his way."

Chapter XVI

Ribhu returns to his disciple, and perfects him in divine knowledge. The same recommended to the Rájá by Bharata, who thereupon obtains final liberation. Consequences of hearing this legend.

"AFTER the expiration of another thousand years, Ribhu again repaired to the city where Nidágha dwelt, to instruct him farther in true wisdom. When he arrived near the town, he beheld a prince entering into it, with a splendid retinue; and his pupil Nidágha standing afar off, avoiding the crowd; his throat shrivelled with starvation, and bearing from the thicket fuel and holy grass. Ribhu approached him, and saluting him reverentially (as if he was a stranger) demanded why he was standing in such a retired spot. Nidágha replied, 'There is a great crowd of people attending the entrance of the king into the town, and I am staying here to avoid it.' 'Tell me, excellent Brahman,' said Ribhu, 'for I believe that thou art wise, which is here the king, and which is any other man.' The king,' answered Nidágha, is he who is seated on the fierce and stately elephant, vast as a mountain peak; the others are his attendants.' You have shewn me,' observed Ribhu, 'at one moment the elephant and the king, without noticing any peculiar characteristic by which they may be distinguished. Tell me, venerable sir, is there any difference between them? for I am desirous to know which is here the elephant, which is the king.' 'The elephant,' answered Nidágha, 'is underneath; the king is above him. Who is not aware, Brahman, of the relation between that which bears and that which is borne?' To this Ribhu rejoined, 'Still explain to me, according to what I know of it, this matter: what is it that is meant by the word underneath, and what is it that is termed above?' As soon as he had uttered this, Nidágha jumped upon Ribhu, and said, 'Here is my answer to the question you have asked: I am above, like the Rájá.; you are underneath, like the elephant. This example, Brahman, is intended for your information.' Very well,' said Ribhu, you, it seems, are as it were the Rájá, and I am like the elephant; but come now do you tell me which of us two is you; which is I.'

"When Nidágha heard these words, he immediately fell at the feet o the stranger, and said, Of a surety thou art my saintly preceptor Ribhu the mind of no other person is so fully imbued with the doctrines of unity as that of my teacher, and hence I know that thou art he.' To this Ribhu replied, 'I am your preceptor, by name Ribhu, who, pleased with: the dutiful attention he has received, has come to Nidágha to give him instruction: for this purpose have I briefly intimated to you divine truth, the essence of which is the non-duality of all.' Having thus spoken to Nidágha, the Brahman Ribhu went away, leaving his disciple profoundly impressed, by his instructions, with belief in unity. He beheld all beings thenceforth as the same with himself, and, perfect in holy knowledge, obtained final liberation.

"In like manner do thou, oh king, who knowest what duty is, regarding equally friend or foe, consider yourself as one with all that exists in the world. Even as the same sky is apparently diversified as white or blue, so Soul, which is in truth but one, appears to erroneous vision distinct in different persons. That One, which here is all things, is Achyuta (Vishńu); than whom there is none other. He is I; he is thou; he is all: this universe is his form. Abandon the error of distinction."

PARÁŚARA resumed.--The king, being thus instructed, opened his eyes to truth, and abandoned the notion of distinct existence: whilst the Brahman, who, through the recollection of his former lives, had acquired perfect knowledge, obtained now exemption from future birth. Whoever narrates or listens to the lessons inculcated in the dialogue between Bharata and the king, has his mind enlightened, mistakes not the nature of individuality, and in the course of his migrations becomes fitted for ultimate emancipation³⁷⁹.

Footnotes

1. The text reads Kanyá; and the commentator has, 'he married the daughter of Kardama, whose name was Kanyá.' The copies agree in the reading, and the Váyu has the same name, Kanyá; but the Márkańd́eya, which is the same in other respects as our text, has Kámyá: Kámyá also is the name elsewhere given by the Váyu to the daughter of Kardama (p. 83. n. 6). Kámyá, as has been noticed, appears in the Bráhma and Hari V. (p. 53. n. 6) as the mother of Priyavrata, but erroneously; and the same authorities specify a Kámyá as the wife of that sovereign. So the commentator on the Hari V. states, 'another Kámyá is mentioned (in the text), the daughter of Kardama, the wife of Priyavrata.' p. 162 The name Kanyá is therefore most probably an error of the copyists. The Bhágavata calls the wife of Priyavrata, Varhishmatí, the daughter of Viśwakarman.

2. These names nearly agree in the authorities which specify the descendants of Priyavrata, except in the Bhágavata: that has an almost entirely different series of names, or Ágnidhra, Idhmajihwa, Yajnabáhu, Mahávíra, Hirańyaretas, Medhatithi, Ghritaprisht́ha, Savana, Vitihotra, and Kavi; with one daughter, Urjjaswatí. It also calls the Manus Uttama, Tamasa, and Raivata the sons of Priyavrata by another wife.

3. According to the Bhágavata, he drove his chariot seven times round the earth, and the ruts left by the wheels became the beds of the oceans, separating it into seven Dwípas.

4. Even the Bhágavata concurs with the other Puráńas in this series of Priyavrata's grandsons.

5. Of these divisions, as well as of those of the earth, and of the minor divisions of the Varshas, we have further particulars in the following chapter.

6. This place of pilgrimage has not been found elsewhere. The term is usually applied to a stone, an ammonite, which is supposed to be a type of Vishńu, and of which the worship is enjoined in the Uttara Khańd́a of the Padma P. and in the Brahma Vaivartta, authorities of no great weight or antiquity. As these stones are found chiefly in the Gandak river, the Sálagráma Tírtha was probably at the source of that stream, or at its confluence with the Ganges. Its sanctity, and that of the stone, are probably of comparatively modern origin.

7. 'The great road,' or 'road of heroes.' The pebble was intended either to compel perpetual silence, or to prevent his eating. The Bhágavata p. 164 adverts to the same circumstance. That work enters much more into detail on the subject of Rishabha's devotion, and particularizes circumstances not found in any other Puráńa. The most interesting of these are the scene of Rishabha's wanderings, which is said to be Konka, Venkat́a, Kút́aka, and southern Karnátaka, or the western part of the Peninsula; and the adoption of the Jain belief by the people of those countries. Thus it is said, "A king of the Konkas, Venkat́as, and Kút́akas, named Arhat, having heard the tradition of Rishabha's practices (or his wandering about naked, and desisting from religious rites), being infatuated by necessity, under the evil influence of the Kali age, will become needlessly alarmed, and abandon his own religious duty, and will foolishly enter upon an unrighteous and heretical path. Misled by him, and bewildered by the iniquitous operation of the Kali age, disturbed also by the delusions of the deity, wicked men will, in great numbers, desert the institutes and purifications of their own ritual; will observe vows injurious and disrespectful to the gods; will desist from ablutions, mouth-washings, and purifications, and will pluck out the hair of the head; and will revile the world, the deity, sacrifices, Brahmans, and the Vedas." It is also said, that Sumati, the son of Bharata, will be irreligiously worshipped by some infidels, as a divinity. Besides the import of the term Arhat, or Jain, Rishabha is the name of the first, and Sumati of the fifth Tírthakara, or Jain saint of the present era. There can be no doubt, therefore, that the Bhágavata intends this sect; and as the Jain system was not matured until a comparatively modern date, this composition is determined to be also recent. The allusions to the extension of the Jain faith in the western parts of the Peninsula, may serve to fix the limit of its probable antiquity to the 11th or 12th century, when the Jains seem to have been flourishing in Guzerat and the Konkan. As. Res. XVII. 232.

8. This etymology is given in other Puráńas; but the Matsya and Váyu have a different one, deriving it from the Manu, called Bharata, or the cherisher, one who rears or cherishes progeny. The Váyu has, in another place, the more common explanation also: ###.

9. The Agni, Kúrma, Márkańd́eya, Linga, and Váyu Puráńas agree with the Vishńu in these genealogical details. The Bhágavata has some additions and variations of nomenclature, but is not essentially different. It ends, however, with Śatajit, and cites a stanza which would seem to make Viraja the last of the descendants of Priyavrata.

10. The descendants of Priyavrata were the kings of the earth in the first or Swáyambhuva Manwantara. Those of Uttánapáda, his brother, are placed rather incongruously in the second or Swárochisha Manwantara: whilst, with still more palpable inconsistency, Daksha, a descendant of Uttánapáda, gives his daughter to Kaśyapa in the seventh or Vaivaswata Manwantara. It seems probable that the patriarchal genealogies are older than the chronological system of Manwantaras and Kalpas, and have been rather clumsily distributed amongst the different periods.

11. The geography of the Puráńas occurs in most of these works; and in all the main features, the seven Dwípas, seven seas, the divisions of Jambu-dwípa, the situation and extent of Meru, and the subdivisions of Bhárata, is the same. The Agni and Bráhma are word for word the same with our text; and the Kúrma, Linga, Matsya, Márkańd́eya, and Váyu present many passages common to them and the Vishńu, or to one another. The Váyu, as usual, enters most fully into particulars. The Bhágavata differs in its nomenclature of the subordinate details from all, and is followed by the Padma. The others either omit the subject, or advert to it but briefly. The Mahábhárata, Bhíshma Parva, has an account essentially the same, and many of the stanzas are common to it and different Puráńas. It does not follow the same order, and has some peculiarities; one of which is calling Jambu-dwípa, Sudarśana, such being the name of the Jambu-tree: it is said also to consist of two portions, called Pippala and Śaśa, which are reflected in the lunar orb, as in a mirror.

12. The shape of Meru, according to this description, is that of an inverted cone; and by the comparison to the seed-cup its form should be circular: but there seems to be some uncertainty upon this subject amongst the Pauráńics. The Padma compares its form to the bell-shaped flower of the Dhatura. The Váyu represents it as having four sides of different colours; or, white on the east, yellow on the south, black on the west, and red on the north; but notices also various opinions of the outline of the mountain, which, according to Atri, had a hundred angles; to Bhrigu, a thousand: Sávarni calls it octangular; Bháguri, quadrangular; and Varsháyani says it has a thousand angles: Gálava makes it saucer-shaped; Garga, twisted, like braided hair; and others maintain that it is circular. The Linga makes its eastern face of the colour of the ruby; its southern, that of the lotus; its western, golden; and its northern, coral. The Matsya has the same colours as the Váyu, and both contain this line: 'Four-coloured, golden, four-cornered lofty:' but the Váyu compares its summit, in one place, to a saucer; and observes that its circumference must be thrice its diameter. The Matsya also, rather incompatibly, says the measurement is that of a circular form, but it is considered quadrangular. According to the Buddhists of Ceylon, Meru is said to be of the same diameter throughout. Those of Nepal conceive it to be shaped like a drum. A translation of the description of Meru and its surrounding mountains, contained in the Brahmáńd́a, which is the same exactly as that in the Váyu, occurs in the As. Researches, VIII. 343. There are some differences in Col. Wilford's version from that which my MSS. would authorize, but they are not in general of much importance. Some, no doubt, depend upon variations in the readings of the different copies: of others, I must question the accuracy.

13. This diminution is the necessary consequence of the diminished radius of the circle of Jambu-dwípa, as the mountain ranges recede from the centre.

14. These, being the two outer Varshas, are said to take the form of a bow; that is, they are exteriorly convex, being segments of the circle.

15. The whole diameter of Jambu-dwípa has been said to be 100,000 Yojanas. This is thus divided from north to south: Ilávrita, in the centre, extends each way 9000, making 18000: Meru itself; at the base, is 16000: the six Varshas, at 9000 each, are equal to 54000: and the six ranges, at 2000 each, are 12000: and 18 + 16 + 54 + 12 = 100. From east to west the Varshas are of the extent necessary to occupy the space of the circle.

16. The Bhágavata and Padma call these Mandara, Merumandara, Supárśwa, and Kumuda.

17. Nauclea Kadamba, Eugenia Jambu, Ficus religiosa, and F. Indica. The Bhágavata substitutes a mango-tree for the Pípal; placing it on Mandara, the Jambu on Merumandara, the Kadamba on Supárśwa, and the Vat́a on Kumuda.

18. The Bhágavata substitutes Sarvatobhadra for the Gandhamádana forest; and calls the lakes, lakes of milk, honey, treacle, and sweet water.

19. The Váyu gives these names, and many more; and describes at great length forests, lakes, and cities of gods and demigods upon these fabulous mountains, or in the valleys between them. (As. Res. VIII. 354.)

20. The Lokapálas, or eight deities in that character, Indra, Yama, Varuńa, Kuvera, Vivaswat, Soma, Agni, and Váyu. Other cities of the gods are placed upon the spurs, or filament mountains, by the Váyu; or that of Brahmá on Hemaśringa, of Śankara on Kálanjara, of Garud́a on Vaikanka, and of Kuvera on Kailása. Himavat is also specified by the same work as the scene of Śiva's penance, and marriage with Umá; of his assuming the form of a Kiráta, or forester: of the birth of Kártikeya, in the Śara forest; and of his dividing the mountain Krauncha with his spear. This latter legend, having been somewhat misunderstood by Col. Wilford, is made the theme of one of his fanciful verifications. "Here, he (the author of the Váyu) says, in the forest of Śankha, was born Shad́ánana or Kártikeya, Mars with six faces. Here he wished or formed the resolution of going to the mountains of Crauncha, Germany, part of Poland, &c. to rest and recreate himself after his fatigues in the wars of the gods with the giants. There, in the skirts of the mountains of Crauncha, he flung his sword; the very same which Attila, in the fifth century, asserted he had found under a clod of earth. It was placed in his tomb, where it is probably to be found." As. Res. VIII. 364. The text of which this is in part a representation is, ###. The legend here alluded to is told at length in the Vámana Puráńa. Mahishásura, flying from the battle, in which Táraka had been slain by Kártikeya, took refuge in a cave in the Krauncha mountain. A dispute arising between Kártikeya and Indra, as to their respective prowess, they determined to decide the question by circumambulating the mountain; the palm to be given to him who should first go round it. Disagreeing about the result, they appealed to the mountain, who untruly decided in favour of Indra. Kártikeya, to punish his injustice, hurled his lance at the mountain Krauncha, and pierced at once it and the demon Mahisha. Another division of Krauncha is ascribed to Paraśuráma. Megha Dúta, v.59. Krauncha is also sometimes considered to be the name of an Asura, killed by Kártikeya; but this is perhaps some misapprehension of the Pauráńic legend by the grammarians, springing out of the synonymes of Kártikeya, Kraunchári, Kraunchadárańa, &c., implying the foe or destroyer of Krauncha, occurring in the Amara, and other Koshas.

21. The Bhágavata is more circumstantial. The river flowed over the great toe of Vishńu's left foot, which had previously, as he lifted it up, made a fissure in the shell of the mundane egg, and thus gave entrance to the heavenly stream. The Váyu merely brings it from the lunar orb, and takes no notice of Vishńu's interposition. In a different passage it describes the detention of Gangá amidst the tresses of Śiva, in order to correct her arrogance, until the divinity was moved by the penance and prayers of king Bhagíratha to set her free. The Mahábhárata represents Śiva's bearing the river for a hundred years on his head, merely to prevent its falling too suddenly on the mountains.

22. Although the Váyu has this account, it subsequently inserts another, which is that also of the Matsya and Padma. In this the Ganges, after escaping from Śiva, is said to have formed seven streams; the Naliní, Hládiní, and Pavaní going to the east; the Chakshu, Śítá, and Sindhu to the wrest; and the Bhágirathí to the south. The Mahábhárata calls them Vaswaukasára, Naliní, Pavaní, Gangá, Śítá, Sindhu, and Jambunadí. The more usual legend, however, is the first, and it offers some trace of actual geography. Mr. Faber, indeed, thinks that Meru, with the surrounding Varsha of Ilávrita, and its four rivers, is a representation of the garden of Eden. (Pagan Idolatry, I. 315.) However this may he, it seems not unlikely to have originated in some imperfect account of four great rivers flowing from the Himálaya, and the high lands north of that range, towards the cardinal points: the Bhadrá, to the north, representing the Oby of Siberia; and the Śítá, the river of China, or Hoangho. The Alakanandá is well known as a main branch of the Ganges, near its source; and the Chakshus is very possibly, as Major Wilford supposed, the Oxus. (As. Res. VIII. 309.) The printed copy of the Bhágavata, and the MS. Padma, read Bankshu; but the former is the more usual reading. It is said, in the Váyu, of Ketumála, through which this river runs, that it is peopled by various races of barbarians.

23. The text applies the latter name so variously as to cause confusion: it is given to one of the four buttresses of Meru, that on the south; to one of the filament mountains, on the west; to a range of boundary mountains, on the south; and to the Varsha of Ketumála: here another mountain range is intended, or a chain running north and south, upon the east of Ilávrita, connecting the Níla and Nishadha ranges. Accordingly the Váyu states it to be 34000 Yojanas in extent; that is, the diameter of Meru 16000, and the breadth of Ilávrita on each side of it, or together 18000. A similar range, that of Mályaván, bounds Ilávrita on the west. It was probably to avoid the confusion arising from similarity of. nomenclature, that the author of the Bhágavata substituted different names for Gandhamádana in the other instances, calling the buttress, as we have seen, Merumandara; the southern forest, Sarvatobhadra; and the filament mountain, Hansa; restricting the term Gandhamádana to the eastern range: a correction, it may be remarked, corroborative of a subsequent date.

24. These eight mountains are similarly enumerated in the Bhágavata and Váyu, but no mention is made in them of any seas, and it is clear that the eastern and western oceans cannot be intended, as the mountains Mályavat and Gandhamádana intervene. The commentator would seem to understand 'Arńava' as signifying 'mountain,' as he says between the seas means within Mályavat and Gandhamádana; The Bhágavata describes these eight mountains as circling Meru for 18000 Yojanas in each direction, leaving, according to the commentator, an interval of a thousand Yojanas between them and the base of the central mountain, and being 2000 high, and as many broad: they may be understood to be the exterior barriers of Meru, separating it from Ilávritta. The names of these mountains, according to the Bhágavata, are Jat́hara and Devakút́a on the east, Pavana and Parípátra on the west, Triśringa and Makara on the north, and Kailása and Karavíra on the south. Without believing it possible to verify the position of these different creations of the legendary geography of the Hindus, it can scarcely admit of doubt that the scheme was suggested by imperfect acquaintance with the actual character of the country, by the four great ranges, the Altai, Muztag or Thian-shan, Ku-en-nun, and Himálaya, which traverse central Asia in a direction from east to west, with a greater or less inclination from north to south, which are connected or divided by many lofty transverse ridges, which enclose several large lakes, and which give rise to the great rivers that water Siberia, China, Tartary, and Hindustan. (Humboldt on the mountains of Central Asia, and Ritter. Geogr. Asia.)

25. More ample details of the Varshas are given in the Mahábhárata, Bhágavata, Padma, Váyu, Kúrma, Linga, Matsya, and Márkańd́eya Puráńas; but they are of an entirely fanciful nature. Thus of the Ketumála-varsha it is said, in the Váyu, the men are black, the women of the complexion of the lotus; the people subsist upon the fruit of the Panasa or jack-tree, and live for ten thousand years, exempt from sorrow or sickness: seven Kula or main ranges of mountains in it are named, and a long list of countries and rivers is added, none of which can be identified with any actually existing, except perhaps the greats river the Suchakshus, the Amu or Oxus. According to the Bhágavata, Vishńu is worshipped as Kámadeva in Ketumála. The Váyu says the object of adoration there is Íśwara, the son of Brahmá. Similar circumstances are asserted of the other Varshas. See also As. Res. VIII. 352.

26. As Bhárata-varsha means India, a nearer approach to the truth, with regard to its extent, might have been expected; and the Váyu has another measurement, which is not much above twice the actual extent, or 1000 Yojanas from Kumári (Comorin) to the source of the Ganges.

27. These are called the Kula parvatas, family mountains, or mountain ranges or systems. They are similarly enumerated in all the authorities, and their situation may be determined with some confidence by the rivers which flow from them. Mahendra is the chain of hills that extends from Orissa and the northern Circars to Gondwana, part of which, near Ganjam, is still called Mahindra Malei, or hills of Mahindra: Malaya is the southern portion of the western Ghats: Śuktimat is doubtful, for none of its streams can be identified with any certainty: Sahya is the northern portion of the western Ghauts, the mountains of the Konkan: Riksha is the mountains of Gondwana: Vindhya is the general name of the chain that stretches across central India, but it is here restricted to the eastern division; according to the Váyu it is the part south of the Narmada, or the Sathpura range: Páripátra, as frequently written Páriyátra, is the northern and western portion of the Vindhya: the name, indeed, is still given to a range of mountains in Guzerat (see Col. Tod's map of Rajasthán), but the Chambal and other rivers of Málwa, which are said to flow from the Páriyátra mountains, do not rise in that province. All these mountains therefore belong to one system, and are connected together. The classification seems to have been known to Ptolemy, as he specifies seven ranges of mountains, although his names do not correspond, with exception of the Vindus mons: of the others, the Adisathrus and Uxentus agree nearly in position with the Páriyátra and Riksha: the Apocopi, Sardonix, Bettigo, and Orudii must be left for consideration. The Bhágavata, Váyu, Padma, and Márkańd́eya add a list of inferior mountains to these seven.

28. This last is similarly left without a name in all the works: it is the most southerly, that on the borders of the sea, and no doubt intends India proper. Wilford places Isere a division called Kumáriká. No description is anywhere attempted of the other divisions. To these the Váyu adds six minor Dwípas, which are situated beyond sea, and are islands, Anga-dwípa, Yama-d., Matsya-d., Kumuda or Kuśa-d., Varáha-d., and Sankha-d.; peopled for the most part by Mlechchhas, but who worship Hindu divinities. The Bhágavata and Padma name eight such islands, Swarńaprastha, Chandraśukla, Avarttana, Rámańaka, Mandahára, Pánchajanya, Sinhalá, and Lanká. Col. Wilford has endeavoured to verify the first series of Upadwípas, making Varáha Europe; Kuśa, Asia Minor, &c.; Śankha, Africa; Malaya, Malacca: Yama is undetermined; and by Anga, he says, they understand China. How all this may be is more than doubtful, for in the three Puráńas in which mention is made of them, very little more is said upon the subject.

29. By Kirátas, foresters and mountaineers are intended, the inhabitants to the present day of the mountains east of Hindustan. The Yavanas, on the west, may be either the Greeks of Bactria and the Punjab--to whom there can be little doubt the term was applied by the Hindus--or the Mohammedans, who succeeded them in a later period, and to whom it is now applied. The Váyu calls them both Mlechchhas, and also notices the admixture of barbarians with Hindus in India proper. The same passage, slightly varied, occurs in the Mahábhárata: it is said especially of the mountainous districts, and may allude therefore to the Gonds and Bhils of central India, as well as to the Mohammedans of the north-west. The specification implies that infidels and outcastes had not yet descended on the plains of Hindustan.

30. This is a very meagre list, compared with those given in other Puráńas. That of the Váyu is translated by Col. Wilford, As. Res. vol. VIII; and much curious illustration of many of the places by the same writer occurs, As. Res. vol. XIV. The lists of the Mahábhárata, Bhágavata, and Padma are given without any arrangement: those of the Váyu, Matsya, Márkańd́eya, and Kúrma are classed as in the text. Their lists are too long for insertion in this place. Of the rivers named in the text, most are capable of verification. The Śatadru, 'the hundred channelled'--the Zaradrus of Ptolemy, Hesidrus of Pliny--is the Setlej. The Chandrabhágá, Sandabalis, or Acesines, is the Chinab. The Vedasmriti in the Váyu and Kúrma is classed with the Vetravatí or Betwa, the Charmanwati or Chambal, and Siprá and Párá, rivers of Malwa, and may be the same with the Beos of the maps. The Narmadá or Narbadda, the Namadus of Ptolemy, is well known; according to the Váyu it rises, not in the Vindhya, but in the Riksha mountains, taking its origin in fact in Gondwana. The Surasá is uncertain. The Tápí is the Tápti, rising also in Gondwana: the other two are not identified. The Godaveri preserves its name: in the other two we have the Beemah and the Krishńa. For Kritamálá the Kúrma reads Ritumálá, but neither is verified. The Támraparní is in Tinivelly, and rises at the southern extremity of the western Ghats. The Rishikulyá, that rises in the Mahendra mountain, is the Rasikulia or Rasíkoila, which flows into the sea near Ganjam. The Trisámá is undetermined. The text assigns another Rishikulyá to the Śuktimat mountains, but in all the other authorities the word is Rishíka. The Kumárí might suggest some connexion with Cape Comorin, but that the Malaya mountains seem to extend to the extreme south. A Rishikulyá river is mentioned (Vana P. v. 3026) as a Tírtha in the Mahábhárata, in connexion apparently with the hermitage of Vaśisht́ha, which in another passage (v. 4096) is said to be on mount Arbuda or Abu. In that case, and if the reading of the text be admitted for the name of the river, the Śuktimat range would be the mountains of Guzerat; but this is doubtful.

31. The list of nations is as scanty as that of the rivers: it is, however, omitted altogether in the Bhágavata. The Padma has a long catalogue, but without arrangement; so has the Mahábhárata. The lists of the Váyu, Matsya, and Márkańd́eya class the nations as central, northern, eastern, southern, and western. The names are much the same in all, and are given in the 8th vol. of the As. Res. from the Brahmáńd́a, or, for it is the same account, the Váyu. The Márkańd́eya has a second classification, and, comparing Bhárata-varsha to a tortoise, with its head to the east, enumerates the countries in the head, tail, flanks, and feet of the animal. It will be sufficient here to attempt an identification of the names in the text, but some further illustration is offered at the end of the chapter. The Kurus are the people of Kurukshetra, or the upper part of the Doab, about Delhi. The Pánchálas, it appears from the Mahábhárata, occupied the lower part of the Doab, extending across the Jumna to the Chambal. Kullúka Bhat́t́a, in his commentary on Manu, II. 59, places them at Kanoj. Kámarupa is the north-eastern part of Bengal, and western portion of Asam. Puńd́ra is Bengal proper, with part of south Behar and the Jungle Mahals. Kalinga is the sea-coast west of the mouths of the Ganges, with the upper part of the Coromandel coast. Magadhá is Behar. The Saurásht́ras are the people of Surat, the Surastrene of Ptolemy. The Śúras and Bhíras, in the same direction, may be the Suri and Phauni or Phryni of Strabo. The Arbudas must be the people about mount Abu, or the natives of Mewar. The Kárushas and Málavas are of course the people of Malwa. The Sauvíras and Saindhavas are usually conjoined as the Sindhu-Sauvíras, and must be the nations of Sindh and western Rajputána. By the Minas we are to understand the white Huns or Indo-Scythians, who were established in the Punjab and along the Indus at the commencement of our era, as we know from Arrian, Strabo, and Ptolemy, confirmed by recent discoveries of their coins, The Śálwas or, as also read, Śályas are placed by the Váyu and Matsya amongst the central nations, and seem to have occupied part of Rájasthan, a Śálwa Rája being elsewhere described as engaging in hostilities with the people of Dwaraká in Guzerat. Śákala, as I have elsewhere noticed, is a city in the Punjab (As. Res. XV. 108), the Sagala of Ptolemy (ibid. 107); the Mahábhárata makes it the capital of the Madras, the Mardi of the ancients; but they are separately named in the text, and were situated something more to the south-east. The Rámas and Ambasht́has are not named in the other Puráńas, but the latter are amongst the western, or more properly north-western nations subjugated by Nakula, in his Dig-vijaya. Mahábh. Sabhá P. Ambas and Ambasht́has are included in the list extracted by Col. Wilford from the Varáha Sanhitá, and the latter are supposed by him to be the Ambastæ of Arrian. The Párasíkas carry us into Persia, or that part of it adjoining to the Indus. As far as the enumeration of the text extends, it seems applicable to the political and geographical divisions of India about the era of Christianity.

32. Enjoyment in Swarga, like punishment in Naraka, is only for a certain period, according to the merit or demerit of the individual. When the account is balanced, the man is born again amongst mankind.

33. A crippled or mutilated person, or one whose organs are defective, cannot at once obtain liberation; his merits must first secure his being born again perfect and entire.

34. In attempting to verify the places or people specified in the text, various difficulties are to be encountered, which must serve to apologize for but partial success. Some are inherent in the subject, such as the changes which have taken place in the topography of India since the lists were compiled, and the imperfectness of the specification itself: states and tribes and cities have disappeared, even from recollection, and some of the natural features of the country, especially the rivers, have undergone a total alteration. Buchanan (Description of Eastern Hindustan), following Rennell over the same ground at an interval of some thirty or forty years, remarks that many of the streams laid down in the Bengal Atlas (the only series of maps of India yet published, that can be regarded as of authority) are no longer to be traced. Then the lists which are given are such mere catalogues, that they afford no clue to verification beyond names; and names have been either changed or so corrupted, as to be no longer recognizable. On the other hand, much of the difficulty arises from our own want of knowledge. Scattered through the Puráńas and other works, the names given in the topographical lists recur with circumstances which fix their locality; but these means of verification have not yet been sufficiently investigated. There are also geographical treatises in Sanscrit, which there is reason to believe afford much accurate and interesting information: they are not common. Col. Wilford speaks of having received a number from Jaypur, but upon his death they disappeared. After a considerable interval some of his MSS. were purchased for the Calcutta Sanscrit College, but by far the larger portion of his collection had been dispersed. A few leaves only on geographical subjects were found, from which I translated and published a chapter on the geography of some of the districts of Bengal: (Calcutta Quarterly Magazine, Dec. 1824:) the details were accurate and valuable, though the compilation was modern. Notwithstanding these impediments, however, we should be able to identify at least mountains and rivers to a much greater extent than is now practicable, if our maps were not so miserably defective in their nomenclature. None of our surveyors or geographers have been Oriental scholars. It may be doubted if any of them have been conversant with the spoken language of the country: they have consequently put down names at random, according to their own inaccurate appreciation of sounds carelessly, vulgarly, and corruptly uttered; and their maps of India are crowded with appellations which bear no similitude whatever either to past or present denominations. We need not wonder that we cannot discover Sanscrit names in English maps, when, in the immediate vicinity of Calcutta, Barnagore represents Varáhanagar, Dakshineswar is metamorphosed into Duckinsore,and Ulubaría is Anglicised into Willoughbruy. Going a little farther off, we have Dalkisore for Darikeswarí, Midnapore for Medinipur, and a most unnecessary accumulation of consonants in Caughmahry for Kákamárí. There is scarcely a name in our Indian maps that does not afford proof of extreme indifference to accuracy in nomenclature, and of an incorrectness in estimating sounds, which is in some degree, perhaps, a national defect.

35. The printed edition reads Śaktimat, which is also found in some MSS., but the more usual reading is that of the text. I may here add that a Śuktimat mountain occurs in Bhíma's invasion of the eastern region. Mahábh. Sabhá P. Gandhamádana here takes the place of Riksha.

36. For additional mountains in the Váyu, see Asiatic Researches, VIII. 334 The Bhágavata, Padma, and Márkańd́eya add the following: Maináka, which it appears from the Rámáyańa is at the source of the Sone, that river being termed Mainákaprabhava. 'Kishkindhya Káńd́a;' Trikút́a, called also in Hemachanchra's vocabulary Suvela; Rishabha, Kút́aka, Konwa, Devagiri (Deogur or Ellora, the mountain of the gods; the Apocopi are said by Ptolemy to be also called mountains of the gods); Rishyamuka, in the Dekhin, where the Pampá rises; Śrí-śaila or Śrí-parvata, near the Krishńa (As. Res. V. 303); Venkata, the hill of Tripatí, Váridhára, Mangala-prastha, Drońa, Chitrakút́a (Chitrakote in Bundelkhand), Govarddhana (near Mathurá), Raivata, the range that branches off from the western portion of the Vindhya towards the north, extending nearly to the Jumna; according to Hemachandra it is the Girińara range; it is the Aravali of Tod; Kakubha, Níla (the blue mountains of Orissa), Gohamukha, Indrakíla, Ramagiri (Ram-tek, near Nag-pur), Valakrama, Sudháma, Tungaprastha, Nága (the hills east of Ramghur), Bodhana, Pandara, Durjayanta, Arbuda (Abu in Guzerat), Gomanta (in the western Ghats), Kút́aśaila, Kritasmara, and Chakora. Many single mountains are named in different works.

37. See note 4, p. 175.

38. The Sarsuti, or Caggar or Gaggar, N. W. of Tahnesar. See below, note 6.

39. The Báhudá is elsewhere said to rise in the Himalaya. Wilford considers it to be the Mahánada, which falls into the Ganges below Malda. The Mahábhárata has amongst the Tírthas, or places of pilgrimage, two rivers of this name, one apparently near the Saraswatí, one more to the east. Hemachandra gives as synonymes Árjuní and Saitaváhiní, both implying the 'white river:' a main feeder of the Mahánada is called Dhavalí or Daub, which has the same meaning.

40. The Drishadwatí is a river of considerable importance in the history of the Hindus, although no traces of its ancient name exist. According to Manu it is one boundary of the district called Brahmávartta, in which the institution of castes, and their several duties, had for ever existed: implying that in other places they were of more recent origin. This holy land, 'made by the gods,' was of very limited extent. Its other boundary was the Saraswatí. That the Drishadwatí was not far off we learn from Manu, as Kurukshetra, Matsya, Panchála, and Śúrasena, or the upper part of the Doab, and country to the east, were not included in Brahmávartta; they constituted Brahmarshi-deśa, contiguous to it: Kullúka Bhat́t́a explains Anantara, 'something less or inferior;' but it more probably means 'not divided from,' 'immediately contiguous.' We must look for the Drishadwatí, therefore, west of the Jumna. In the Tírtha Yátrá of the Mahábhárata we find it forming one of the boundaries of Kurukshetra. It is there said, 'Those who dwell on the south of the Saraswatí, and north of the Drishadwatí, or in Kurukshetra, dwell in heaven.' In the same place, the confluence of the Drishadwatí with a stream of Kurukshetra, called the Kauśikí, is said to be of peculiar sanctity. Kurukshetra is the country about Tahnesur or Stháneśwara, where a spot called Kurukhet still exists, and is visited in pilgrimage. The Kirin-kshetra of Manu may be intended for the country of the Kurus, in the more immediate vicinity of Delhi. According to Wilford, the Drishadwatí is the Caggar; in which case our maps have taken the liberty of transposing the names of the rivers, as the Caggar now is the northern stream, and the Sursooty the southern, both rising in the Himálaya, and uniting to form one river, called Gagar or Caggar in the maps, but more correctly Sarsuti or Saraswatí; which then runs south-west, and is lost in the desert. There have no doubt been considerable changes here, both in the nomenclature and in the courses of the rivers.

41. The Beyah, Hyphasis, or Bibasis.

42. The Ráví or Hydraotes or Adris.

43. The Jhelum, but still called in Kashmir the Vitastá, the Bidaspes or Hydaspes.

44. This river, according to the Vishńu P., rises from the Riksha mountains, but the Váyu and Kúrma bring it from the Vindhya or Sathpura range. There are several indications of its position in the Mahábhárata, but none very precise. Its source appears to be near that of the Krishńa: it flows near the beginning of the Dańd́aka forest, which should place it rather near to the sources of the Godávarí: it passes through Vidarbha or Berar, and, Yudhisht́hira having bathed in it, comes to the Vaidúrya mountain and the Narmadá river. These circumstances make it likely that the Payín Gangá is the river in question.

45. The Devá, or Goggra.

46. Both these are from the Páripátra range. In some MSS. the latter is read Vedasiní and Vetasiní. In the Rámáyańa occur Vedá and Vedavainasiká, which may be the same, as they seem to be in the direction of the Sone. One of them may be the Beos of eastern Malwa, but it rises in the Riksha mountain.

47. From Páripátra, Kúrma; from Mahendra, Váyu.

48. One copy has Ikshumáliní; two others, Ikshulá and Krimi: one MS. of the Váyu has an Ikshulá from Mahendra: the Matsya has Ikshudá; Wilford's list has Drákshalá.

49. Of these rivers, the two first are named in the Padma P., but not in the Váyu, &c. The Gomati in Oude, the Gandak, and the Kosi are well known. The Dhutapápá is said to rise in the Himálaya.

50. In different MSS. read Michitá and Nisritá. In the Váyu and Matsya, Niśchirá or Nirvirá is said to flow from the Himálaya.

51. Also Lohatárańí and Lohachárińí.

52. The Sarayú or Sarju is commonly identified with the Deva. Wilford says it is so by the Pauráńics, but we have here proof to the contrary. They are also distinguished by the people of the country. Although identical through great part of their course, they rise as different streams, and again divide and enter the Ganges by distinct branches.

53. The recurrence of the same name in this, as in several similar subsequent instances, is possibly an error of the copyist; but it is also sometimes likely that one name is applied to different rivers. In one MS. we have

54. Read also Śatávarí. According to Wilford, the Śarávatí is the Ban-gangá.

55. The Váyu has Párá, which is a river in Malwa, the Párvatí. MSS. read Váńí and Veńá.

56. According to the Váyu, this rises in the Sahya m., and flows towards the south: it is therefore the Beema of Aurungabad.

57. The Kaverí is well known, and has always borne the same appellation, being the Chaberis of Ptolemy.

58. Read Chuluká.

59. Read also Tápí; the Taptí river of the Dekhin.

60. Read Ahitá and Sahitá.

61. Rises in the Sahya mountain, and flows southwards: Váyu, &c.

62. Read Vichitrá.

63. Several rivers are called by this name, as well as the Indus: there is one of some note, the Káli Sindh in Malwa.

64. Also Vájiní.

65. This agrees best in name with the Beema: it is also mentioned as a tírtha in the Mahábhárata.

66. From Śuktimat: Kúrma and Váyu. There is a Balásan from the eastern portion of the Himálaya, a feeder of the Mahánada, which may be the Palásiní, if the mountain be in this direction.

67. Also Pippalalávatí. The Váyu has a Pippalá from the Riksha mountain.

68. Also Kuśavírá.

69. Also Mahiká and Maruńd́áchí.

70. Also Śená.

71. Read Kritavatí and Ghritavatí.

72. Also Dhuśulyá.

73. Also Atikrishńa.

74. In place of both Suvártháchí.

75. From Páripátra: Váyu and Matsya.

76. Also Kuśanára.

77. Also Śaśikánta.

78. Also Vastrá and Suvastrá.

79. One of the tírthas in the Mahábhárata.

80. According to the Mahábhárata, this rises in the Vaidúrya mountain, part of the southern Vindhya or Sathpura range.

81. Also Kuvíra.

82. Three MSS. agree in reading this Ambuváhiní.

83. Also Vainadí.

84. Also Kuveńá: it is possibly meant for the Tungabhádra or Toombudra.

85. A river in Malwa, so called from the city of the same name, which I have elsewhere conjectured to be Bhilsa. Megha Dúta, 31. There is a 'Bess' river in the maps, which joins the Betwa at Bhilsa, and is probably the river of the text.

86. The Varna or Suvamá, 'the beautiful river,' Wilford identifies with the Ramgangá.

87. Also Mahapagá, 'the great river.'

88. Also Kuchchilá.

89. The Sona river, rising in Maináka or Amarakantak, and flowing east to the Ganges.

90. This and the preceding both rise from the Vindhya mountain: the latter is also read Antassilá, 'the river flowing within or amidst rocks.'

91. Also Parokshá.

92. We have a Suraná in the Váyu, and Surasá in the Kúrma and Matsya, flowing from the Riksha mountain.

93. The Tamasá or Tonse, from Riksha.

94. This and the preceding scarcely merit a place amongst the rivers, being two small streams which fall into the Ganges east and west of Benares, which is thence denominated Varanásí.

95. Parńáśá or Varńáśá, from the Páripátra mountain.

96. Also Mánaví.

97. The Krishńá of the Dakhin is probably here intended, although its more ordinary designation seems to be that already specified, Krishńaveńa or Krishńaveńí. The meaning is much the same; the one being the 'dark river,' the other simply the 'dark,' the Niger.

98. A river from Śuktimat: Váyu.

99. A river in Cuttack, according to Wilford: it is one of the tírthas of the Mahábhárata, and apparently in a different direction. Buchanan (Eastern Hindustan) has a river of this name in Dinajpur.

100. Both from the Vindhya: Váyu and Kúrma. There is a Goaris in Ptolemy in central India.

101. From Riksha: Váyu.

102. Also Munja and Makaraváhiní.

103. From Riksha: Váyu. According to the Mahábhárata, it rises in the mountain Chitrakote.

104. The Baitarańí in Cuttack. It is named in the Mahábhárata as a river of Kalinga.

105. Also read Nípa and Koka.

106. From Riksha, but read also Śuktimati, which is the reading of the Matsya. Wilford considers it to be the Swarnarekka of Cuttack.

107. Also Anágá and Surangá; perhaps the preferable reading should be Sumangá, a river .flowing from Maináka, according to the Mahábhárata.

108. Part of the Brahmaputra.

109. A considerable river in the east, flowing between Dinajpur and Rangpur.

110. Also Vrishasáhwa.

111. This and the preceding flow from Śuktimat, according to the Váyu, Matsya, and Kúrma. The last occurs also Rishíka.

112. Also Suparńá. The Punyá is considered to be the Pun-pun of Behan, but there is also a Parná river in the same province.

113. It is possible that further research will identify more than those attempted to be verified in the foregoing notes, as well as meet with others readily recognizable. In the authorities consulted several occur not comprehended in the text, as the Kuhu and Ikshu, from the Himálaya; Vritraghní, Chandaná (Chandan of Bhagalpur), Mahí (the Mahy of western Malwa), Śiprá, and Avantí (rivers near Ujayin), from Páripátra; Mahánada in Orissa, Drumá, Dasárńa (Dhosaun in Bundelkhand), Chitrakút́á, Śroní or Śyená, Piśáchiká, Banjulá, Báluváhiní, and Matkuńá, all from Riksha; Nirvindhyá, Madrá, Nishadhá, Śinibáhu, Kumudvatí, and Toyá, from Vindhya; Banjula, from Sahya; Kritamálá, Támraparńí, Pushpajáti, and Utpalavatí, from Malaya; Lánguliní and Vansadhárá, from Mahendra; and Mandagá and Kripá or Rúpá, from Śuktimat. In the Rámáyańa we have, besides some already specified, the Ruchirá, Pampá, eastern Saraswatí, Vegavatí or Vyki of Madurá, and Varadá or Wurda of Berar; and we have many others in the Mahábhárata and different works, from which the Sanscrit appellations of most of the Indian rivers might be, with some little time and trouble, collected.

114. The people of the upper part of the Doab. The two words might also be understood as denoting the Pánchálas of the Kuru country, there being two divisions of the tribe: see below, note 20.

115. The Śúrasenas were the inhabitants of Mathura, the Suraseni of Arrian.

116. The people of the upper part of the Coromandel coast, well known in the traditions of the eastern Archipelago as Kling. Ptolemy has a city in that part called Caliga; and Pliny, Calingæ proximi mari.

117. One of the tribes of central India, according to the Váyu: it is also read Báhyas.

118. The Malas and Málavarttis are placed, in the Váyu and Matsya, amongst the central nations. The Márkańd́eya reads Gavavarttis. Wilford considers Mála to be the Mal-bhúm of Medinipur. As noticed in the Megha Dúta, I have supposed it to be situated in Chattisgarh. p. 21, note.

119. The people of Dinajpur, Rangpur, and Cooch Behar. Calcutta Mag. Dec. 1824.

120. Read Kuśańd́as, Kuśalyas, Kuśádhyas, Kisádhajas, and placed in central India.

121. Also Sauśalyas and Sauśulyas.

122. Kuntala is in one place one of the central countries; in another, one of the southern: the name is applied in inscriptions p. 186 to the province in which Curgode is situated, part of the Adoni district: (As. Res. IX. 427:) and consistently with this position it is placed amongst the dependant or allied states of Vidarbha in the Dada Kumára. Calcutta Quarterly Mag. Sept. 1827.

123. A central nation: Váyu. The Rámáyana places them in the east. The combination indicates the country between Benares and Oude.

124. Chedi is usually considered as Chandail, on the west of the Jungle Mehals, towards Nagpur. It is known, in times subsequent to the Puráńas, as Rańastambha.

125. Some copies read Vatsa, and the other Puráńas have such a name amongst the central countries; the people perhaps of Vatsa, Rája of Kausámbhí, near the junction of the Jumna and the Ganges. There are, however, two Matsyas, one of which, according to the Yantra Samrát́, is identifiable with Jaypur. In the Dig-vijaya of Nakula he subdues the Matsyas farther to the west, or in Guzerat.

126. Situated on the back of the Vindhya range: Váyu and Matsya. They are generally named with the people of Málava, which confirms this locality. They are said to be the posterity of Karusha, one of the sons of Vaivaswata Manu.

127. These are also placed along the Vindhya chain, but at different times appear to have occupied different positions. They were a kindred tribe with the Andhakas and Vrishńis, and a branch of the Yádavas. A Bhoja Rájá is amongst the warriors of the Mahábhárata. At a later period, Bhoja, the Rájá of Dhár, preserves an indication of this people; and from him the Bhojpuris, a tribe still living in western Behar, profess to be descended: they are not improbably relics of the older tribe. Bhoja is also used sometimes as a synonyme of Bhojakat́a, a city near the Narmadá, founded by Rukmi, brother-in-law of Krishńa, and before that, prince of Kundińa or Condavir.

128. Pulinda is applied to any wild or barbarous tribe; those here named are some of the people of the deserts along the Indus; but Pulindas are met with in many other positions, especially in the mountains and forests across central India, the haunts of the Bhils and Gonds. So Ptolemy places the Pulindai along the banks of the Narmadá to the frontiers of Larice; the Lát́a or Lar of the Hindus; Kandesh and part. of Guzerat.

129. In the other three Puráńas we have Uttámárńas, on the Vindhya range.

130. The people of the 'ten forts,' subsequently multiplied to 'thirty-six,' such being the import of Chattisgerh, which seems to be in the site of Dasárńa. Megha Dúta, p. 30, note.

131. A Vindhya tribe, according to the other Puráńas. The locality is confirmed by mythological personations; for Mekala is said to be a Rishi, the father of the river Narmadá; thence called Mekalá and Mekalakanyá: the mountain where it rises is also called Mekaládri. The Rámáyańa places the Mekalas amongst the southern tribes.

132. Utkala is still the native name of Orissa.

133. These may be the southern Pańchálas. When Drońa overcame Drupada, king of Panchála, as related in the Mahábhárata, Ádi Parva, he retained half the country, that north of the Ganges, and restored to its former chief the other half, south of that river as far as to the Chambal. The capital of the latter became Mákandi on the Ganges; and the country included also Kámpilya, the Kampil of the Mohammedans, but placed by them in the Doab. The capital of the northern portion was Ahikshetra, a name traceable in the Adisathrus of Ptolemy, though the position differs: but Ahikshetra or Ahichchatra, as it is also written, seems to have been applied to more than one city.

134. Perhaps the people of Tirhut, along the Kosi.

135. 'Having more than one back;' probable some nickname or term of derision. Thus we have, in the Rámáyańa and other works, enumerated amongst tribes, the Karńa-právarańas, 'those who wrap themselves up in their ears;' Asht́a-karńakas, 'the eight-eared;' or Osht́ha-karńakas, 'having lips extending to their ears;' Kákamukhas, 'crow-faced;' Ekapádukas, 'one-footed,' or rather 'one-slippered:' exaggerations of national ugliness, or allusions to peculiar customs, which were not literally intended, although they may have furnished the Mandevilles of ancient and modern times with some of their monsters. The spirit of the nomenclature is shewn by these tribes being associated with Kirátas, 'barbarians,' and Yavanas, either Greeks or Mohammedans.

136. A preferable reading seems to be Yugandhara: a city in the Punjab so called is mentioned in the Mahábhárata, Karńa P.

137. Read Bodhas, Godhas, and Saudhas. There is a Rajput tribe called Sodha.

138. This may consist of two names, and is so read in MSS., or the latter term occurs Kalingas; both terms are repeated. Besides the Machu of the north, a similar word,. Madru, is applied to Madura in the south. As. Res. IX. 428. The Rámáyańa has Madras in the east, as well as in the north.

139. The people of the Benares district, and that opposite.

140. The inhabitants of Ujayin.

141. These should be opposite to the Kuntis, but where either is situated does not appear.

142. The best reading is Gomanta, part of the Konkan about Goa.

143. The more usual reading is Khańd́as; one MS. has Parńas.

144. A country of considerable extent and power at various periods. The name remains in Beder, which may have been the ancient capital; but the kingdom seems to have corresponded with the great part of Berar and Kandesh. It is mentioned in the Rámáyańa and the Puráńas amongst the countries of the south.

145. Also Rúpavásikas. There is a Rupá river from the Śuktimat mountain, the vicinity of which may be alluded to. We have Rúpasas or Rúpapas amongst the southern tribes of the Puráńas.

146. Read also Aśmalas and Aśmakas: the latter are enumerated amongst the people of the south in the Rámáyańa, and in the Váyu, Matsya, and Márkańd́eya P. There is a prince of the same name of the solar dynasty.

147. Gova or Kuva is an ancient name of the southern Konkan, and may be intended in this place by the Gopa country; or it may imply 'the district of cow-herds,' that is, of Nomadic tribes.

148. Also read Kulatis and Páńítakas.

149. Read also Adhirájya and Adhirásht́ra, which mean the same, 'the over or superior kingdom.'

150. Also Kuśádhya, Kuśánda, and Mukuntha.

151. Also Vallirásht́ra. There are Mallas in the east, along the foot of the Himalaya, in Bhíma's Dig-vijaya; but we should rather look for them in the north-west, in the site of the Malli of Arrian. We have in the Puráńas, Mahárásht́ra, the Mahratta country, which may be here intended.

152. Two copies read Kevala; one, Kambala, The text is probably wrong, as we have Kerala below.

153. Also Váráyásis and Varavásis: one copy has, what is likely to be most correct, Vánarásyas, the monkey-faced people.'

154. Read Upaváha and Praváha.

155. The MSS. agree in reading this Vakra.

156. The Śakas occur again, more than once, which may be possibly unnecessary repetition: but these people, the Sakai and Sacæ of classical writers, the Indo-Scythians of Ptolemy, extended, about the commencement of our era, along the west of India, from the Hindu Koh to the mouths of the Indus.

157. The inhabitants of Tirhut.

158. The people of South Bahar.

159. Also read Mahyas and Suhmas: the latter is probably correct. The Suhmas and Prasuhmas were found in the east by Bhíma; and Suhma is elsewhere said to be situated east of Bengal, towards the sea, the king and the people being Mlechchhas, that is not Hindus: it would correspond therefore with Tiperah and Aracan.

160. Also read Malajas, but less correctly perhaps. The Malayas are the people of the southern Ghats.

161. We have Pravijayas in the east, according to the Puráńas.

162. Anga is the country about Bhagalpur, of which Champá was the capital.

163. Eastern Bengal.

164. We have had these before, but they are repeated perhaps in conformity to the usual classification, which connects them with the two preceding, being derived in the genealogical lists from a common ancestor.

165. In Bhíma's Dig-vijaya we have two people of this name, both in the east; one along the foot of the Himálaya, and the other more to the south.

166. Uniformly read in the MSS. Sudeshńa.

167. Three copies read Máhishas. We have Mahishakas amongst the southern people in the Puráńas; and a Máhishikí in the Rámáyańa, also in the south: the latter may be connected with Máhishmatí, which Sahadeva visits in his southern invasion, and which has been elsewhere conjectured to be in Mysur. (Calcutta Annual Register, 1822,) There is also a Máhishmatí on the road to the south (Mahábh. Udyoga P.), which is commonly identified with Chulí Maheśwar, on the Narmadá.

168. Also Rishíkas; people placed by the Rámáyańa both in the north and in the south. Arjuna visits the former, and exacts from them eight horses. Dig-vijaya.

169. Also read Báhíkas, which we may here prefer, as the Báhlíkas are subsequently named: the former are described in the Mahábhárata, Karńa Parva, with some detail, and comprehend the different nations of the Punjab, from the Setlej to the Indus.

170. These are included amongst the northern nations; Váyu, &c.; but in Nakula's Dig-vijaya they are in the west.

171. The Ábhíras, according to the Puráńas, are also in the north: in the Rámáyańa and Mahábh. Sabhá P. they are in the west. The fact seems to be, that the people along the Indus, from Surat to the Himálaya, are often regarded as either western or northern nations, according to the topographical position of the writer: in either case the same tribes are intended.

172. The MSS. read Kálátoyakas, a people placed by the Puráńas in the north.

173. The Váyu reads Aparítas, a northern nation. There are Aparytæ in Herodotus, classed with a people bordering on India, the Gandari. The term in the text signifies also borderers,' and is probably correct, as opposed to the following word Parántas; the latter signifying those beyond, and the former those not beyond the borders. The latter has for Parántas, Parítas; and the Matsya, Parádas.

174. Also Pahlavas, a northern or northwestern nation, often mentioned in Hindu writings, in Manu, the Rámáyańa, the Puráńas, &c. They were not a Hindu people, and may have been some of the tribes between India and Persia.

175. Also Charmakháńd́ikas, but the sense is the same; those living in the district Mańd́ala or Khańd́a of Charma: they are a northern people: Váyu, &c. Pliny mentions a king of a people so called, "Charmarum rex."

176. Read Marubhaumas; more satisfactorily, as it means the inhabitants of Marubhúmí, 'the desert;' the sands of Sindh.

177. Also Surásht́ras, which is no doubt more correct; the inhabitants of Surat.

178. The Kekayas or Kaikeyas appear amongst the chief nations in the war of the Mahábhárata, their king being a kinsman of Krishńa. The Rámáyańa, II. 53, specifies their position beyond, or west of, the Vipáśa.

179. We have in the Puráńas Kut́t́apracharańas and Kut́t́aprávarańas amongst the mountain tribes.

180. These may be people upon the Mahí river: they are named amongst the southern nations by the Váyu, &c., but the west is evidently intended.

181. Read also Kachchas: the Puráńa have Kachchiyas. The form is equally applicable to people dwelling in districts contiguous to water and in marshy spots, and denotes the province still called Cutch.

182. Also read Adhya, Antya, and Andhra: the latter is the name of Telingana, the Andhri of Pliny.

183. Three MSS. have Malada, a people of the east in Bhíma's Dig-vijaya.

184. Also Mánavalakas.

185. A people of the east.

186. The western provinces of Bengal, or, as sometimes used in a more comprehensive sense, it includes the following districts: Rajshahi, Dinajpur, and Rangpur; Nadiya, Birbhum, Burdwan, part of Midnapur, and the Jungle Mahals; Ramgerh, Pachete, Palamow, and part of Chunar. See an account of Puńd́ra, translated from what is said to be part of the Brahmańd́a section of the Bhavishyat Puráńa. Calcutta Quart. Mag. Dec. 1824.

187. There is considerable variety in this term, Lárga, Márja, Samuttara, and Samantara; probably neither is correct. Bhargas are amongst the people subdued in the east by Bhíma.

188. These are foresters and barbarians in general.

189. Notwithstanding the celebrity of this country, as the kingdom of Nala, it does not appear exactly where it was situated: we may conclude it was not far from Vidharba (Berar) as that was the country of Damayantí. From the directions given by Nala to Damayantí, it is near the Vindhya mountain and Payoshńí river, and roads lead from it across the Riksha mountain to Avanti and the south, as well as to Vidarbha and to Kośalá. Nalopákhyána, sec. 9.

190. These are always placed in the west: they are fabled to be the descendants of Ánartta, the son of Saryáti, who founded the capital Kuśasthalí afterwards Dwáraká, on the sea-shore in Guzerat.

191. Also Pratimatsyas; those opposite or adjacent to the Matsyas.

192. Also Kuśajas and Kośalas; the latter is probably correct, as the name does not occur in any other form than that of Kasikośalá above. Kośalá is a name variously applied. Its earliest and most celebrated application is to the country on the banks of the Sar.ayú, the kingdom of Ráma, of which Ayodhyá was the capital. Rámáyańa, I. s. 5. In the Mahábhárata we have one Kośalá in the east, and another in the south, besides the Prak-kośalas and Uttara-kośalas in the east and north, The Puráńas place the Kośalas amongst the people or the back of Vindhya;' and it would appear from the Váyu that Kuśa, the son of Ráma, transferred his kingdom to a more central position; he ruled over Kośalá at his capital of Kuśasthalí or Kuśávatí, built upon the Vindhyan precipices: the same is alluded to in the Pátála Khańd́a of the Padma Puráńa, and in the Raghu Vanśa, for the purpose of explaining the return of Kuśa to Ayodhyá. Certainly in later times the country of Kośalá lay south of Oude, for in the Ratnávalí the general of Vatsa surrounds the king of Kośalá in the Vindhya mountains: (Hindu Theatre, II. 305:) and, as noticed in the same work, (p. 267,) we have in the Puráńas, Sapta Kośalas, or seven Kośalas. An inscription found at Ratnapur in Chattisgarh, of which I have an unpublished translation, states that Sri-deva, the governor of Malahari Mandala, having obtained the favour of Prithwideva, king of Kośalá, was enabled to build temples, and dig tanks, &c., indicating the extension of the power of Kośalá across the Ganges in that direction. The inscription is dated Samvat 915, or A. D. 858. The Kośalá of the Puráńas and of the dramatic and poetic writers was however more to the west, along a part of the Vindhya range. Ptolemy has a Kontakossula in the south, probably one of the Kośalas of the Hindus.

193. Also Itíkas; perhaps the Ishíkas or Aishíkas of the Váyu, &c. a people of the south.

194. The people of Kashmir.

195. One of the chief tribes engaged in the war of the Mahábhárata. The Rámáyańa places them in the west; the Puráńas in the north. The term Sindhu shews their position to have been upon the Indus, apparently in the Punjab.

196. These are also a people of the northwest, found both on the west of the Indus and in the Punjab, and well known to classical authors as the Gandarii and Gandaridæ. As. Res. XV. 103; also Journal of the R. As. Soc.; Account of the Foe-küe-ki.

197. From the context this should probably be Darvakas, the people of a district usually specified in connexion with the succeeding.

198. These are the inhabitants of the country bordering on Cashmir, to the south and west; known to the Greeks as the kingdom of Abisares. It often occurs in composition with Darya, as Darvábhisára. As. Res. XV. 24.

199. Also read Ulút́as and Kulút́as: the Rámáyańa has Kolúkas or Kaulút́as amongst the western tribes.

200. Also with the short vowel, Śaivalas.

201. The Váhlíkas or Báhlíkas are always associated with the people of the north, west, and ultra-Indian provinces, and are usually considered to represent the Bactrians, or people of Balkh. It is specified in the Mahábh. Udyoga P. as famous for its horses, a reputation the country bordering upon it, at least Bokhara and Maimena, still preserves: and in Arjuńa's Dig-vijaya it is said to be difficult of approach.

202. These are probably intended for the p. 192 neighbours of the Abhisáras: they are found in the north by Arjuna, Dig-vijaya, and are there termed also Kshatriyas.

203. Also read Báhubádhya and Bahurada.

204. The name occurs in the Rámáyańa as that of a mountain in the Punjab or in the Báhíka country. II. 53.

205. The MSS. agree in reading this Vánáyava or Vanayus, a people in the northwest, also famous for horses.

206. A better reading is Dasapárśwa, as we have had Daśárńas before.

207. Also Ropáńas; quere, Romans?

208. Also Gachchas and Kachchas: the last is the best reading, although it has occurred before.

209. Also Gopála-kachchas: they are amongst the eastern tribes in Bhíma's Dig-vijaya.

210. Or Langalas.

211. Kurujángalas, or the people of the forests in the upper part of the Doab: it is also read Paravallabhas.

212. The analogy to 'barbarians' is not in sound only, but in all the authorities these are classed with borderers and foreigners and nations not Hindu.

213. Also Dáhas, in which we should have a resemblance to the Scythian Dahæ.

214. Or Támaliptas or Dámaliptas; the people at the western mouth of the Ganges in Medinipur and Tamluk. Támraliptí was a celebrated sea-port in the fourth century, (Account of the Poe-küe-ki,) and retained its character in the ninth and twelfth. Daśa Kumára Charitra and Vrihat Katha; also Journ. Royal As. Soc.

215. The people of Odra or Orissa.

216. The inhabitants of Puńd́ra: see note 73.

217. The people of the Coromandel coast, from Madras southwards; those by whom the Tamil language is spoken.

218. The people of Malabar proper.

219. Also Prásyas. Práchyas properly means the people of the east, the Prasii of the Greeks, east of the Ganges.

220. Múshika is the southernmost part of the Malabar coast, Cochin and Travancore.

221. Also Vánavásinas and Vánavásikas; the inhabitants of Banawasi, the Banavasi of Ptolemy, a town the remains of which are still extant in the district of Sunda.

222. The people of the centre of the Peninsula, the proper Kernáta or Carnatie.

223. The people of Mysore: see note 54.

224. Also Vikalpas.

225. Also Pushkalas,

226. Also Karńikas.

227. Read Kuntikas.

228. Variously read Nalakálaka, Nabhakánana, and Tilakanija.

229. Kaukundaka and Kaukuntaka.

230. The inhabitants of the lower part of the Coromandel coast; so called after them Chola-mańd́ala.

231. People of the Konkan: according to some statements there are seven districts so named.

232. Malavanara and Śálaváńaka.

233. These two words are sometimes compounded as Kukkurángára: it is also read Kanurájada.

234. This is a questionable name, though the MSS. agree. We have in Arjuna's Dig-vijaya, Utsavamanketa; and in Nakula's, to the west, Utsavasanketa.

235. These are amongst the warriors of the Mahábhárata; they are included in all the lists amongst the northern tribes, and are mentioned in the Rájátaranginí as not far from Kashmir: they are considered to be the people of Lahone.

236. Also Vyúkas and Vrikas: the latter are specified amongst the central nations: Váyu, &c.

237. Kokavakas and Kokanakhas.

238. Śáras and Vegasaras; also Parasanchárakas.

239. Vindhyapálakas and Vindhyamúlikas: the latter, those at the foot of Vindhya, are named in the Pauráńik lists amongst the southern tribes.

240. Balwala and Valkaja.

241. Also Málaka and Májava.

242. Also Vallabhas, which from the succeeding word may be conjectured to be correct. A city named Vallabhí makes a great figure in the traditions of Rajputana. See Tod's Rajasthan.

243. One of the tribes in the west or north-west subdued by Arjuna.

244. Kálada and Dohada.

245. Kundala, Karantha, and Mańd́aka: the latter occurs in the Rámáyańa amongst the eastern nations.

246. Kurat́a, Kunaka.

247. Stanabála.

248. Satírtha, Satíya, Náríya.

249. The Śrinjayas are a people from the north-west amongst the warriors of the Mahábhárata: the reading may be incorrect. It occurs also Putísrinjaya.

250. Also Aninda.

251. Also Sivata, Sirála, Syuvaka.

252. Tanapa, Stanapa, Sutapa.

253. Pallipanjaka and Vidarbha.

254. Dadhividarbha, but three copies have Rishika. Great variety, and no doubt great inaccuracy, prevails in the MSS. in several of the names ]sere given: they are not found elsewhere.

255. The reading of three copies is Kákas: there is a tribe so called on the banks of the Indus, as it leaves the mountains.

256. These and the following are mountaineers p. 194 in the north-west. The former are placed by the Puráńas in the north, and the Váyu includes them also amongst the mountain tribes. The Rámáyańa has Tankanas in the north.

257. The term Yavanas, although in later times applied to the Mohammedans, designated formerly the Greeks, as observed in the valuable notes on the translation of the Birth of Umá, from the Kumára Sambhava. (Journal As. Soc. of Bengal, July 1833.) The Greeks were known throughout western Asia by the term ‏ו יון‎, Yavan; or Ion, Ἰαονες; the Yavana, ###, of the Hindus; or as it occurs in its Prakrit form, in the very curious inscription decyphered by Mr. Prinsep, (J. As. Soc. Beng. Feb. 1838,) Yona: the term Yona Rájá being there associated with the name Antiochus, in all likelihood Antiochus the Great, the ally of the Indian prince Sophagasenas, about B. C. 210. That the Macedonian or Bactrian Greeks were most usually intended is not only probable from their position and relations with India, but from their being usually named in concurrence with the north-western tribes, Kambojas, Daradas, Páradas, Báhlikas, Śakas, &c. in the Rámáyańa, Mahábhárata, Puráńas, Manu, and in various poems and plays.

258. Chinas, or Chinese, or rather the people of Chinese Tartary, are named in the Rámáyańa and Manu, as well as in the Puráńas. If the designation China was derived from the Tsin dynasty, which commenced B. C. 260, this forms a limit of antiquity for the works in question. The same word however, or Tsin, was the ancient appellation of the northern province of Shen-sy, and it may have reached the Hindus from thence at an earlier period.

259. These Wilford regards as the people of Arachosia. They are always mentioned together with the north-western tribes, Yavanas, Śakas, and the like: they are also famous for their hoses; and in the Rámáyańa they are said to be covered with golden lotuses. What is meant is doubtful, probably some ornament or embellishment of their dress. We have part of the name, or Kambi, in the Cambistholi of Arrian: the last two syllables, no doubt, represent the Sanscrit Sthala, 'place,' 'district;' and the word denotes the dwellers in the Kamba or Kambis country: so Kámboja may be explained those born in Kamba or Kambas.

260. Also Śakridvaha or Śakridguha.

261. Also Kulachchas and Kuntalas: the Puráńas have Kupathas amongst the mountain tribes.

262. Also Párataka: the first is not a common form in the Puráńas, although it is in poetical writings, denoting, no doubt, the Persians, or people of Pars or Fars: the latter, also read Páradas, may imply the same, as beyond (Pára) the Indus.

263. We have Ramathas in Nakula's Dig-vijaya, and in the Váyu and Matsya.

264. Daśamánas and Deśamánikas, in the north: Váyu and Matsya.

265. The passage occurs in the Váyu and Márkańd́eya Puráńas, as well as in the Mahábhárata; but the purport is not very distinct, and the proper reading is doubtful. In three MSS. of the latter it occurs ### the latter páda is the same in all: the former, is ### in a fourth copy, in two copies of the Váyu it is ###. None of these are intelligible, and the Márkańd́eya furnishes the reading followed, Modern geographers have supposed the Cathæi, Cathari, and Chatriæi of the ancients, in the lower parts of the Punjab, to mean a people of Kshatriyas; but no such people occur directly named in our lists. Considering that the text is speaking of barbarous and foreign tribes, perhaps no particular nation is here meant, and it may be intended as an epithet of those which follow, or of Vaiśya (agricultural) and Śúdra (servile or low) tribes, living either near to, or after the manner of Kshatriyas: in that case a better reading would be, ###. According to Manu, various northern tribes, the Śakas, Kámbojas, Páradas, Pahlavas, Kirátas, Daradas, and Khasas, and even the Chinas and Yavanas, are degraded Kshatriyas, in consequence of neglecting religious rites. X. 43, 44. According to the Pauráńik legend they were overcome in war by Sagara, and degraded from their original caste. See book IV.

266. Here we have a people called Śúdras by all the authorities, and placed in the west or north-west, towards the Indus. They have been ingeniously, and with probability, conjectured by Mr. Lassen to be the Oxydracæ; for Śúdraka is equally correct with Śúdra; and in place of Ὀξυδράκαι various MSS. of Strabo, as quoted by Siebenkees, read Σιδράκαι and Συδράκαι: the latter is precisely the Sanscrit appellation. Pliny also has Sudraci for the people who formed the limit of Alexander's eastern conquests, or those hitherto inaccurately called Oxydracæ.

267. These are always conjoined with the Śúdras, as if conterminous. Their situation is no doubt correctly indicated by Ptolemy by the position of Abiria above Pattalene on the Indus.

268. The Durds are still where they were at the date of our text, and in the days of Strabo and Ptolemy; not exactly, indeed, at the sources of the Indus, but along its course, above the Himálaya, just before it descends to India; a position which might well be taken for its head.

269. Also read Paśus, 'brutes.' If the term might be altered to Palli, it would imply 'village or pastoral tribes.'

270. Also Khasíkas and Khasákas. The first of these is probably most correct, being equivalent to Khasas, barbarians named along with the Śakas and Daradas by Manu, &c.; traces of whom may be sought amongst the barbarous tribes on the north-east of Bengal, the Kasiyas; or it has been thought that they may be referred to the situation of Kashgar. Two copies have, in place of this, Tukháras, and the same occurs in the Rámáyańa; the Váyu has Tusháras, but the Márkańd́eya, Tukhára: these are probably the Tochari, Tachari, or Thogari, a tribe of the Śakas, by whom Bactria was taken from the Greeks, and from whom Tocharestan derives the name it still bears.

271. Also Pahlavas and Pallavas. The form in the text is the more usual.

272. The Rámáyańa has Gahvaras. The mountains from Kabul to Bamian furnish infinitely numerous instances of cavern habitations.

273. These two, according to the Váyu, are amongst the northern nations; but they might be thought to be religious fraternities, from the sages Atri and Bharadwaja.

274. The latter member of the compound occurs poshikas, páyikas, and yodhikas, 'cherishers,' 'drinkers,' or 'fighters:' the first term denotes the female breast.

275. Also Drońakas, 'people of vallies.'

276. Also Kajingas. Kalingas would be here out of place.

277. These and the preceding are included by the Váyu amongst the mountain tribes of the north.

278. Many names indeed might be added to the catalogue from the lists referred to in the Váyu, Matsya, and Márkańd́eya Puráńas, as well as several capable of verification from the Rámáyańa, and other passages of the Mahábhárata. This is not the place however to exhaust the subject, and it has been prosecuted too far perhaps already. It is evident that a very considerable proportion of the names recorded can be verified, and that many of them may be traced in the geographical notices of India left by the historians of Alexander's expedition. That more cannot be identified is owing in a great measure to incomplete research; and a more extensive examination of the authorities would no doubt discover passages where circumstances, as well as names, are given by which the places would be recognised. It is evident, however, that much embarrassment also arises from the inaccuracy of manuscripts, which vary widely and irreconcilably. I have given instances from four different copies of the text; one in my own possession, three in the library of the East India Company; all very excellent copies, but manifestly erroneous in many respects in their nomenclature of places, and particularly of those which are least known. No assistance is to be had from any commentary, as the subject is one of little interest in native estimation.

279. So the commentator explains the terms Avasarpińí and Utsarpińí; but these words most commonly designate divisions of time peculiar to the Jainas; during the former of which men are supposed to decline from extreme felicity to extreme distress; and in the latter, to ascend from misery to happiness. The author of the text had possibly the Jaina use of these terms in view; and if so, wrote after their system was promulgated.

280. The Kúrma is the only Puráńa in which the white island, Śweta-dwípa, the abode of Vishńu, is included in the geography of the world: an incidental description of it is quoted by Col. Wilford from the Uttara Khańd́a of the Padma Puráńa (As. Res. XI. 99); and it is in this and in the Brahma Vaivartta that allusions to it are most frequent and copious.

281. A slight alteration has been here made in the order of the description.

282. The description of the Dwípas in the Agni, Bráhma, Kúrma, and Váyu Puráńas agrees with that of our text. The Márkańd́eya, Linga, and Matsya contain no details. The Bhágavata and Padma follow the same order as the Vishńu, &c. but alter all the names, and, many of the measurements. The account of the Mahábhárata is very irregular and confused. The variations throw no additional light upon the geographical system of the Puráńas. Some traces of this appear discoverable in the west; and the seven Dwípas, with their surrounding seas, may have some connexion with the notion of the seven climates, as Col. Wilford has supposed. That learned, but fanciful writer bestowed great pains upon the verification of these fictions, and imagined the different Dwípas to represent actual divisions of the globe: Jambu being India; Kuśa, the Kush of Scripture, or the countries between Mesopotamia and India: Plaksha being Asia Minor; Śálmali, eastern Europe; Krauncha, Germany; Śáka, the British isles; and Pushkara, Iceland. The white or silver island, or island of the moon, was also, according to him, the island of Great Britain. Whatever may be thought of his conclusions, his essays on these subjects, particularly in the eighth, tenth, and eleventh volumes of the Asiatic Researches, contain much curious and interesting matter.

283. Although the Hindus seem to have had a notion of the cause of the tides, they were not very accurate observers of the effect. The extreme rise of the tide in the Hugli river has never exceeded twenty feet, and its average is about fifteen. (As. Res. vol. XVIII. Kyd on the Tides of the Hugli.)

284. The Ańd́a kat́áha. The Kat́áha is properly a shallow hemispherical vessel, a saucer; but compounded in this form, implies the shell of the mundane egg. The Bhágavata thus describes these portions of the world: "Beyond the sea of fresh water is the mountain belt, called Lokáloka, the circular boundary between the world and void space. The interval between Meru and Mánasottara is the land of living beings. Beyond the fresh water sea is the region of gold, which shines like the bright surface of a mirror, but from which no sensible object presented to it is ever reflected, and consequently it is avoided by living creatures. The mountain range by which it is encircled is termed Lokáloka, because the world is separated by it from that which is not world; for which purpose it was placed by Íśwara on the limit of the three worlds; and its height and breadth are such that the rays of the heavenly luminaries, from the sun to the polar-star, which spread over the regions within the mountain, cannot penetrate beyond it." According to Col. Wilford, however, there is a chasm in the belt, and a sea beyond it, where Vishńu abides; but he has not given his authorities for this. (As. Res. XI. 54.) The Mohammedan legends of Koh Kaf, 'the stony girdle that surrounds the world,' are evidently connected with the Lokáloka of the Hindus. According to the Śiva Tantra, the El Dorado, at the foot of the Lokáloka mountains, is the play-ground of the gods.

285. This comprises the planetary spheres; for the diameter of the seven zones and oceans--each ocean being of the same diameter as the continent it encloses, and each successive continent being twice the diameter of that which precedes it--amounts to but two crones and fifty-four lacs. The golden land is twice the diameter of Pushkara, or two crones and fifty-six lacs; and the Lokáloka is but ten thousand Yojanas. So that the whole is five crores ten lacs and ten thousand (5.10.10.000). According to the Śiva Tantra, the golden land is ten crores of Yojanas, making, with the seven continents, one fourth of the whole measurement. Other calculations occur, the incompatibility of which is said by the commentators on our text, and on that of the Bhágavata, to arise from reference being made to different Kalpas, and they quote the same stanza to this effect: 'Whenever any contradictions in different Puráńas are observed, they are ascribed by the pious to differences of Kalpas and the like.'

286. In the Bhágavata and Padma P. they are named Atala, Vitala, Sutala, Talátala, Mahátala, Rasátala, and Pátála. The Váyu has Rasátala, Sutala, Vitala, Gabhastala, Mahátala, Śrítala, and Pátála. There are other varieties.

287. Allusion is here made, perhaps, to the description given in the Mahábhárata, Udyoga Parva, p. 218, of Nárada's and Mátali's visit to Pátála. Several of the particulars there given are not noticed in the Puráńas.

288. There is no very copious description of Pátála in any of the Puráńas. The most circumstantial are those of the Váyu and Bhágavata: the latter has been repeated, with some additions, in the first chapters of the Pátála Khańd́a of the Padma Puráńa. The Mahábhárata and these two Puráńas assign different divisions to the Dánavas, Daityas, and Nágas; placing Vásuki and the other Nága chiefs in the lowest: but the Váyu has the cities of the principal Daityas and Nágas in each; as in the first, those of the Daitya Namuchi, and serpent Kálíya; in the second, of Hayagríva and Takshaka; in the third, of Prahláda and Hemaka; in the fourth, of Kálanemi and Vainateya; in the fifth, of Hirańyáksha and Kirmíra; and in the sixth, of Pulomán and Vásuki: besides others. Bali the Daitya is the sovereign of Pátála, according to this authority. The Mahábhárata places Vásuki in Rasátala, and calls his capital Bhogavatí. The regions of Pátála, and their inhabitants, are oftener the subjects of profane, than of sacred fiction, in consequence of the frequent intercourse between mortal heroes and the Nága-kanyás, or serpent-nymphs. A considerable section of the Vrihat Kathá, the Súryaprabhá lambaka, consists of adventures and events in this subterraneous world.

289. Śesha is commonly described as being in this situation: he is the great serpent on which Vishńu sleeps during the intervals of creation, and upon whose numerous heads the world is supported. The Puráńas, making him one with Balaráma or Sankarshana, who is an impersonation or incarnation of Śesha, blend the attributes of the serpent and the demigod in their description.

290. With the Swastika, a particular diagram used in mystical ceremonies.

291. One of the oldest writers on astronomy amongst the Hindus. According to Mr. Bentley, his Sanhitá dates 548 B. C. (Ancient Astron. of the Hindus, p. 59.)

292. The Bhágavata places the Narakas above the waters. The commentator on our text endeavours to reconcile the difference, by explaining the text to imply a dark cavity in which the waters are received, not the original abysses where they were collected at first, and above which Tartarus lies.

293. Some of these names are the same that are given by Manu, b. IV. v. 88-90. Kullúka Bhat́t́a refers to the Márkańd́eya P. for a description of the twenty-one divisions of hell; but the account there given is not more ample than that of our text. The Bhágavata enumerates twenty-eight, but many of the names differ from the above. In the last instance the term Avíchi is either inaccurately repeated, or the adjective Apara is intended to distinguish it from the previous Avíchi. In Manu, Mahávíchi occurs.

294. The Padma P. (Kriya Yoga Sára) and the Śiva Dharma, which appears to be a section of the Skánda P., contain a number of interesting circumstances previous to the infliction of punishment. It appears also from them that Yama fulfils the office of judge of the dead, as well as sovereign of the damned; all that die appearing before him, and being confronted with Chitragupta, the recorder, by whom their actions have been registered. The virtuous are thence conveyed to Swarga, or Elysium, whilst the wicked are driven to the different regions of Naraka, or Tartarus.

295. 'Who teaches the Vedas for hire.' This notion still prevails, and renders the few Pandits who are acquainted with the Vedas very unwilling to teach them for a gratuity.

296. 'Thereby,' observes the commentator, 'defrauding or disappointing children.'

297. Rangopajivina: the commentator explains it wrestlers and boxers, but Ranga applies to any stage or arena.

298. The term in the text is Máhishika, which might mean a feeder of buffaloes; but the commentator quotes a text from the Smriti, authorizing the sense above followed.

299. This is the interpretation of Parvakárí; it is also read Parvagámí, he who cohabits with his wife on prohibited days.'

300. An account of Naraka is found in only a few of the Puráńas, and in less detail than in the text. The Bhágavata and Váyu have similar descriptions of them. The Márkańd́eya enters into detail in some of the instances only. A short account is found in the Śiva, Garura, and Brahma Vaivartta P. and in the Káśí Khańd́a of the Skánda P. The fullest descriptions, however, are those mentioned in a previous note as being in the Śiva Dharma of the Skánda, and Kriya Yoga Sára of the Padma; works of a somewhat equivocal character, and belonging rather to Tántra than Pauráńik literature.

301. The commentator observes that the sight of heavenly bliss is given to the damned in order to exacerbate their torments; whilst the inflictions of hell are exhibited to the gods to teach them disregard of even heavenly enjoyments, as they are but of temporary duration.

302. That is, when punishment or reward in hell or heaven, proportioned to the sin or virtue of the individual, has been received, he must be born again as a stone or plant, and gradually migrate through the several inferior conditions, until he is once more born a man; his future state is then in his own power.

303. Manu is here especially intended, as the commentator observes.

304. This remembrance of Vishńu is the frequent reiteration of any or all of his names: hence the lower orders of Hindus procure a starling or parrot, that, in the act of teaching it to cry Ráma or Krishńa or Rádhá, they may themselves repeat these appellations; the simple recitation of which, even if accidentally, irreverently, or reluctantly performed, is meritorious. Thus according to the Vishńu Disarms Tantra: 'Let a man ever and every where repeat the names of the discus-armed (Vishńu); for its repetition, even by one who is impure, is a means of purification. Hari removes all sins, even when invoked by evil-minded persons, as fire burns one by whom it is unwillingly approached.'

305. The object of the text, according to the commentator, is to shew that the common notions of heaven and hell are erroneous; that they are only temporal pleasure and temporal pain; and virtue and vice, being the origin of transient, and therefore unreal effects, are themselves unrealities: there is nothing real but faith in Vishńu.

306. Text and comment are here somewhat obscure; but the purport of the former seems to be the explanation of the existence of Jnyán wisdom, both as a genus and a species: in the former case it is all that is; and in the latter, it may be either true or false wisdom: the latter being influenced by notions of self or individuality, and therefore the cause of confinement to existence; the former dissipating the belief of self, and being therefore the cause of liberation from bodily being.

307. Bhúr-loka, the terrestrial sphere, is earth and the lower regions; from thence to the sun is the Bhuvar-loka, or atmospheric sphere; and from the sun to Dhruva is the Swar-loka, or heaven; as subsequently explained in the text, and in other Puráńas.

308. A similar account of the situations and distances of the planets occurs in the Padma, Kúrma, and Váyu Puráńas. The Bhágavata has one or two varieties, but they are of no great importance.

309. An account of these Lokas is met with only in a few of the Puráńas, and is not much more detailed in them than in our text. The Váyu is most circumstantial. According to that authority, Mahar, which is so called from a mystical term Maha, is the abode of the Gańadevas, the Yámas and others, who are the regents or rulers of the Kalpa, the Kalpádhikáris they are so designated also in the Kúrma. The Káśí Khańd́a refers the name to Mahas, 'light,' the sphere being invested with radiance. Its inhabitants are also called lords of the Kalpa: but the commentator explains this to denote Bhrigu and the other patriarchs, whose lives endure for a day of Brahmá. The different accounts agree in stating, that when the three lower spheres are consumed by fire, Mahar-loka is deserted by its tenants, who repair to the next sphere, or Jana-loka. Jana-loka, according to the Váyu, is the residence of the Rishis and demigods during the night of Brahmá, and is termed Jana because the patriarchs are the progenitors of mankind. The Káśí Khańd́a agrees with the Vishńu in peopling it with Sanandana and the other ascetic sons of Brahmá, and with Yogis like themselves. These are placed by the Váyu in the Tapo-loka, and they and the other sages, and the demigods, after repeated appearances in the world, become at last Vairájas in the Brahmá or Satya loka. After many divine ages of residence there with Brahmá, they are, along with him, absorbed, at the end of his existence into the indiscrete. The commentator on the Káśí Khańd́a explains Vairája to mean 'relating to, or derived from, Brahmá or Viráj.' The Vairájas are there, as in the Vishńu Puráńa, placed in the Tapo-loka, and are explained to be ascetics, mendicants, anchorets, and penitents, who have completed a course of rigorous austerities. It maybe doubted, however, if the Pauráńiks have very precise notions regarding these spheres and their inhabitants, The Puráńas of a decidedly sectarial character add other and higher worlds to the series. Thus the Kúrma identifies Brahmá-loka with Vishńu-loka, and has a Rudra-loka above it. The Śiva places Vishńu-loka above Brahmá-loka, and Rudra-loka above that. In the Káśí Khańd́a as we have, instead of those two, Vaikuntha and Kailása, as the lofty worlds of Vishńu and Śiva; whilst the Brahma Vaivartta has above all a Go-loka, a world or heaven of cows and Krishńa. These are all evidently additions to the original system of seven worlds, in which we have probably some relation to the seven climates of the ancients, the seven stages or degrees of the earth of the Arabs, and the seven heavens of the Mohammedans, if not to the seven Amshaspends of the Parsis. Seven, suggested originally perhaps by the seven planets, seems to have been a favourite number with various nations of antiquity. Amongst the Hindus it was applied to a variety of sacred or mythological objects, which are enumerated in a verse in the Hanumán Nátaka. Ráma is described there as piercing seven palm-trees with an arrow, on which other groups of seven take fright, as the seven steeds of the sun, the seven spheres, Munis, seas, continents, and mothers of the gods.

310. Kritika and Akritika; literally 'made and unmade:' the former being renewed every Kalpa, the latter perishing only at the end of Brahmá's life.

311. Of the Kapittha (Feronia Elephantum).

312. See before the order in which the elements are evolved (p. 14).

313. The followers of Anaximander and Democritus taught "an ἀπειρία κόσμων 'an infinity of worlds;' and that not only successive in that space which this world of ours is conceived now to occupy, in respect of the infinity of past and future time, but also a contemporary infinity of coexistent worlds, at all times, throughout endless and unbounded space." Intellect. System, I. 303.

314. Literally 'in wood,' the attrition of two pieces of which does not create, but developes, their latent heat and flame.

315. Thus in Scipio's dream the divinity is made the external limit of the universe: "Novem tibi orbibus vel potius globis connexa sunt omnia, quorum unus est cælestis externus qui reliquos omnes complectitur, summus ipse deus arcens et continens ceteros:" which Macrobius explains as to be understood of the Supreme First Cause of all things, only in respect of his supremacy over all, and from his comprehending as well as creating all things, and being regarded as the soul of the world: "Quod et virtutes omnes, quæ illam primæ omnipotentiam summitates sequuntur, aut ipse faciat aut ipse contineat: ipsam denique Jovem veteres vocaverunt, et apud theologos Jupiter est mundi anima." In Somn. Scip. c. XVII.

316. The two passages in parentheses are the additions of the commentator, intended to explain how the deity is the material cause of the world. He is not so of his own essence, not so immediately, but through the interposition of Pradhána: 'As however he is the source of Prakriti, he must be considered the material as well as immaterial cause of being.'

317. The sun's car is 10.000 Yojanas broad, and as many deep, according to the Váyu and Matsya. The Bhágavata makes it thirty-six hundred thousand long, and one fourth that broad. The Linga agrees with the text.

318. There is no great difference in this number in other accounts. The length of this axle, which extends from Meru to Mánasa, is nearly equal to the semidiameter of the earth, which, according to the Matsya P., is 18.950.000 Yojanas.

319. The three naves are the three divisions of the day, morning, noon, and night; the five spokes are the five cyclic years; and the six peripheries are the six seasons. The Bhágavata explains the three naves to be three periods of the year, of four months each, and gives twelves spokes as types of the twelve months. The Váyu, Matsya, and Bhavishya Puráńas enter into much more detail. According to them, the parts of the wheel are the same as above described: the body of the car is the year; its upper and lower half are the two solstices; Dharma is its flag; Artha and Káma the pins of the yoke and axle; night is its fender; Nimeshas form its floor; a moment is the axle-tree; an instant the pole; minutes are its attendants; and hours its harness.

320. This shorter axle is, according to the Bhágavata, one fourth of the longer.

321. We are to understand here, both in the axle and yoke, two levers, one horizontal, the other perpendicular. The horizontal arm of the axle has a wheel at one end; the other extremity is connected with the perpendicular arm. To the horizontal arm of the yoke are harnessed the horses; and its inner or right extremity is secured to the perpendicular. The upper ends of both perpendiculars are supposed to be attached to Dhruva, the pole-star, by two aerial cords, which are lengthened in the sun's southern course, and shortened in his northern; and retained by which to Dhruva, as to a pivot, the wheel of the car traverses the summit of the Mánasottara mountain on Pushkara-dwípa, which runs like a ring round the several continents and oceans. The contrivance is commonly compared to an oil mill, and was probably suggested by that machine as constructed in India. As the Mánasottara mountain is but 50.000 leagues high, and Meru 84.000, whilst Dhruva is 1500.000, both levers are inclined at obtuse angles to the nave of the wheel and each other. In images of the sun, two equal and semicircular axles connect a central wheel with the sides of the car.

322. In the Linga the city of Indra is called Amarávati; and in it and the Váyu that of Varuńa is termed Sukhá.

323. The terms Púrva and Apara mean properly 'before and behind;' but 'before' naturally denotes the east, either because men, according to a text of the Vedas, spontaneously face, as if to welcome the rising sun, or because they are enjoined by the laws so to do. When they face the rising sun, the west is of course behind them. The same circumstance determines the application of the term Dakshina, properly 'right,' δεξιὸς, or 'dexterum,' to the south. Uttara, 'other' or 'last,' necessarily implies the north.

324. This is rather obscure, but it is made out clearly enough in the commentary, and in the parallel passages in the Váyu, Matsya, Linga, Kúrma, and Bhágavata. The sun travels round the world, keeping Meru always on his right: to the spectator who fronts him therefore, as he rises, Meru must be always on the north; and as the sun's rays do not penetrate beyond the centre of the mountain, the regions beyond, or to the north of it, must be in darkness; whilst those on the south of it must be in light: north and south being relative, not absolute terms, depending upon the position of the spectator with regard to the sun and to Meru. So the commentator: ###. It was probably through some misapprehension of this doctrine that Major Wilford asserted, "by Meru the Pauráńiks understand in general the north pole, but the context of the Puráńas is against this supposition." As. Res. VIII. 286. There is no inconsistency, however, in Meru's being absolutely in the centre of the world, and relatively north to the inhabitants of the several portions, to all of whom the east is that quarter where the sun first appears, and the other quarters are thereby regulated.

325. Similar notions are contained in the Váyu.

326. The sun travels at the rate of one-thirtieth of the earth's circumference in a Muhúrtta, or 31.50.000 Yojanas; making the total 9 crores and 45 lakhs, or 9.45.00.000; according to the Váyu, Lingo, and Matsya Puráńas.

327. This passage, which is somewhat at variance with the general doctrine, that the length of the day depends upon the velocity of the sun's course, and which has not been noticed in any other Pauráńik text, is defended by the commentator, upon the authority of the Jyotishśástra, or astronomical writings. According to them, he asserts, the signs of the Zodiac are of different extent. Aquarius, Pisces, and Aries are the shortest; Taurus, Capricornus, and Gemini are something longer; Leo and Scorpio longer still; and the remaining four the longest of all. According to the six which the sun traverses, the day or night will be the longer or shorter. The text is, ###. The apparent contradiction may however be reconciled by understanding the sun's slow motion, and the length of a sign, to be equivalent terms.

328. The same story occurs in the Váyu, with the addition that the Mandehas are three crores in number. It seems to be an ancient legend, imperfectly preserved in some of the Puráńas.

329. The sacred syllable Om has been already described (p. 1. n. 1). The Gayatrí, or holiest verse of the Vedas, not to be uttered to ears profane, is a short prayer to the sun, identified as the supreme, and occurs in the tenth hymn of the fourth section of the third Asht́aka of the Sanhitá of the Rig-veda: 'We meditate on that excellent light of the divine sun: may he illuminate our minds.' Such is the fear entertained of profaning this text, that copyists of the Vedas not unfrequently refrain from transcribing it, both in the Sanhitá and Bháshya.

330. Or, in the text, with the prayer that commences with the words Súrya jyotir, 'That which is in the sun (or light) is adorable,' &c. The whole prayer is given in Colebrooke's account of the religious ceremonies of the Hindus. As. Res. V. 355.

331. But this comprehends the two Sandhyás, 'morning and evening twilight.' Two Náris, or half a Muhúrtta before sunrise, constitute the morning Sandhyá; and the same interval after sunset the evening. Sandhya, meaning 'junction,' is so termed as it is the juncture or interval between darkness and light; as in the Váyu and Matsya: ###.

332. The four months are named in the Váyu, and are, 1. the Saura, or solar-sydereal, consisting of the sun's passage through a sign of the Zodiac: 2. the Saumya or Chándra or lunar month, comprehending thirty lunations or Tithis, and reckoned most usually from new moon to new moon, though sometimes from full moon to full moon: 3. the Sávana or solar month, containing thirty days of sunrise and sunset: and 4. the Nákshatra or lunar asterismal month, which is the moon's revolution through the twenty-eight lunar mansions.

333. The five years forming this Yuga, or cycle, differ only in denomination, being composed of the months above described, with such Malamásas, or intercalary months, as may be necessary to complete the period, according to Vriddha Garga. The cycle comprehends, therefore, sixty solar- sydereal months of 1800 days; sixty-one solar months, or 1830 days; sixty-two lunar months, or 1860 lunations; and sixty-seven lunar-asterismal months, or 1809 such days. Col. Warren, in his Kála Sankalitá, considers these years to be severally cycles. "In the cycle of sixty," he observes, "are contained five cycles of twelve years, each supposed equal to one year of the planet (Jupiter). I only mention this cycle because I found it mentioned in some books; but I know of no nation nor tribe that reckons time after that account. The names of the five cycles, or Yugs, are, 1. Samvatsara, 2. Parivatsara, 3. Idvatsara, 4. Anuvatsara, 5. Udravatsara. The name of each year is determined from the Nákshatra, in which Vrihaspati sets and rises heliacally, and they follow in the order of the lunar months." K. S. 212. It may be reasonably doubted, however, if this view be correct; and the only connexion between the cycle of five years and that of Vrihaspati may be the multiplication of the former by the latter (5 x 12), so as to form the cycle of sixty years: a cycle based, the commentator remarks, upon the conjunction (Yuga) of the sun and moon in every sixtieth year. The original and properly Indian cycle, however, is that of five years, as Bentley remarks. "The astronomers of this period (1181 B. C.) framed a cycle of five years for civil and religious ceremonies." Ancient and modern Hindu Astronomy. It is in fact, as Mr. Colebrooke states, the cycle of the Vedas, described in the Jyotish, or astronomical sections, and specified in the institutes of Paráśara as the basis of calculation for larger cycles. As. Res. VIII. 470.

334. Reference is here made apparently, though indistinctly, to those positions of the planets which indicate, according to Bentley, the formation of the lunar mansions by Hindu astronomers, about 1424 B. C. Hindu Astronomy, p. 3 and 4. The Váyu and Linga Puráńas specify the positions of the other planets at the same time, or the end, according to the former, of the Chákshusha Manwantara. At that time the sun was in Viśákhá, the moon in Krittiká, Venus in Pushyá, Jupiter in Púrvaphalguní, Mars in Áshád́há, Budha in Dhanisht́há, Śani in Revatí, Ketu in Ásleshá, and Ráhu in Bharaní. There are differences between some of these and the positions cited by Bentley, but most of them are the same. He considers them to have been observations of the occultations of the moon by the planets, in the respective lunar mansions, 1424-5 B. C. According to the Váyu, these positions or origins of the planets are from the Vedas: ###. The Linga, less accurately perhaps, reads ### referring it to the works of law.

335. These are the names of the months which occur in the Vedas, and belong to a system now obsolete, as was noticed by Sir Wm. Jones. As. Res. III. 258. According to the classification of the text, they correspond severally with the lunar months Mágha, Phálguna, Chaitra, Vaiśákha, Jyesht́ha, Áshárha, or from December to June; and with Śrávańa, Bhádra, Áswina, Kártika, Agraháyana, and Pausha, from July to December. From this order of the two series of the months, as occurring in the Vedas, Mr. Colebrooke infers, upon astronomical computations, their date to be about fourteen centuries prior to the Christian era. As. Res. VII. 283.

336. The Váyu has the same names, but ascribes a different descent to the first, making Sudháman the son of Viraja. Sankhapád is the son of Kardama: the other two are the sons of Parjanya and Rajas, consistently with the origin ascribed to these Lokapálas in the patriarchal genealogies of that Puráńa (see p. 83).

337. Allusion is here made to some divisions of the celestial sphere which are not described in any other part of the text. The fullest, but still in some respects a confused and partly inaccurate account is given in the Matsya Puráńa; but a more satisfactory description occurs in the comment on the Bhágavata, there cited from the Váyu, but not found in the copies consulted on the present occasion. According to those details, the path (Márga) of the sun and other planets amongst the lunar asterisms is divided into three portions or Avasht́hánas, northern, southern, and central, called severally Airávata, Járadgava (Ajagava, Matsya P.), and Vaiswánara. Each of these, again, is divided into three parts or Víthis: those of the northern portion are termed Nágavithi, Gajavíthi, and Airávati; those of the centre are Árshabhí Govíthí, and Járadgaví; and those of the south are named Ajavíthí, Mrígavithí, and Vaiswánarí. Each of these Víthis comprises three asterisms.
Nágavíthi Aswiní
Bharańí
Krittiká
Gajavíthí Rohiní
Mrigaśiras
Ardrá
Airávati Punarvasu
Pushyá
Ásleshá
Árshabhí Maghá
Púrvaphalguní
Uttaraphalguní
Govíthí Hastá
Chitrá
Swáti
Járadgaví Viśákhá
Anurádhá
Jyesht́há
Ajavíthi Múlá
Purváshád́há
Uttaráshád́há
Mrigavíthí Śravańá
Dhanisht́há
Satábhishá
Vaiswánarí Púrva Bhádrapadá
Uttara Bhádrapadá
Revatí.
See also As. Res. IX. table of Nakshatras, 346. Agastya is Canopus; and the line of the goat, or Ajavíthi, comprises asterisms which contain stars in Scorpio and Sagittarius.

338. A marginal note in one MS. explains the phrase of the text, ### to signify as far as to the moon and stars; but the Pitri yána, or path of the Pitris, lies amongst the asterisms; and, according to the Pauráńik system of the heavens, it is not clear what could be meant by its being bounded by the moon and stars. The path south of the solar orb is, according to the Vedas, that of smoke or darkness.

339. The stars of the Nágavíthi are those of Aries and Taurus; and by the seven Rishis we are here to understand Ursa Major.

340. This, according to the Vedas, is all that is to be understood of the immortality of the gods: they perish at the period of universal dissolution.

341. That is, generally as affecting created beings, not individuals, whose acts influence their several successive births.

342. From Ursa Major to the polar star.

343. The popular notion is, that Śiva or Mahádeva receives the Ganges on his head; but this, as subsequently explained, is referred, by the Vaishńavas at least, to the descent of the Alakanandá, or Ganges of India, not to the celestial Ganges.

344. Or, in other words, 'flows into the sea.' The legend here alluded to is more fully detailed in a subsequent book.

345. The situation of the source of the Ganges of heaven identifies it with the milky way.

346. A more particular description of this porpoise occurs farther on.

347. Consequently, the Linga P. observes, there is no waste of water in the universe, as it is in constant circulation.

348. The theory of the clouds is more fully detailed in the Váyu, Linga, and Matsya Puráńas: it is the same in its general tenor, but comprises additional circumstances. Clouds, according to those authorities, are of three classes: 1. Ágneya, originating from fire or heat, or in other words evaporation: they are charged with wind and rain, and are of various orders, amongst which are those called Jímúta, from their supporting life; 2. Brahmaja, born from the breath of Brahmá: these are the clouds whence thunder and lightning proceed: and 3. Pakshaja, or clouds which were originally the wings of the mountains, and which were cut off by Indra: these are also termed Pushkáravarttakas, from their including water in their vortices: they are the largest and most formidable of all, and are those which, at the end of the Yugas and Kalpas, poor down the waters of the deluge. The shell of the egg of Brahmá, or of the universe, is formed of the primitive clouds.

349. According to the Váyu, the water scattered by the elephants of the quarters is in summer dew, and in winter snow; or the latter is brought by the winds from a city called Puńd́ra, which lies between the Himavat and Hemakuta mountains, and falls down upon the former. In like manner, also, as heat radiates from the sun, so cold radiates from the moon.

350. It might be doubted whether the text meant 180 in each hemisphere or in both, but the sense is sufficiently clear in the Váyu, &c., and the number of Mańd́alas travelled in the year is 360: the Mańd́alas, 'circles' or 'degrees,' being in fact the sun's diurnal revolutions, and their numbers corresponding with the days of the solar year; as in the Bhavishya P. 'The horses of the sun travel twice 180 degrees in a year, internal and external (to the equator), in the order of the days.'

351. A similar enumeration of the attendants upon the sun's car occurs in the Váyu, &c. For Yakshas, the generic term there employed is Grámańís, but the individuals are the same. The Kúrma and Bhavishya refer the twelve Ádityas to different months:--
Vishńu. Kúrma. Bhavishya.
Dhátri Chaitra Vaiśákha Kártika
Áryamat Vaiśákha Chaitra Vaiśákha
Mitra Jyesht́ha Márgaśírsha Márgaśírsha
Varuńa Áshád́ha Mágha Bhádra
Indra Śrávańa Jyesht́ha Áswina
Vivaswat Bhádra Śrávańa Jyesht́ha
Púshan Áswina Phálguna Pausha
Parjanya Kártika Áswina Śrávańa
Ansu Márgaśírsha Áshád́ha Áshád́ha
Bhaga Pausha Bhádra Mágha
Twasht́ri Mágha Kártika Phálguna
Vishńu Phálguna Pausha Chaitra.

352. This mysticism originates in part apparently from a misapprehension of metaphorical texts of the Vedas, such as 'that triple knowledge (the Vedas) shines;' and 'the hymns of the Rich shine;' and in part from the symbolization of the light of religious truth by the light of the sun, as in the Gáyatri, p. 222. n. 13. To these are to be added the sectarial notions of the Vaishńavas.

353. The formulæ of the Sáma-veda are not to be used along with those of the Rich and Yajush, at sacrifices in general.

354. The Váyu, Linga, and Matsya P. specify several of the rays of the sun from amongst the many thousands which they say proceed from him. Of these, seven are principal, termed Sushumna, Harikeśa, Viśwakarman, Viśwakárya, Sampadvasu, Arvavasu, and Swaráj, supplying heat severally to the moon, the stars, and to Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn.

355. So is the car, according to the Váyu. The orb of the moon, according to the Linga, is only congealed water; as that of the sun is concentrated heat.

356. There is some indistinctness in this account, from a confusion between the division of the moon's surface into sixteen Kalás or phases, and its apportionment, as a receptacle of nectar, into fifteen Kalás or digits, corresponding to the fifteen lunations, on the fourteen of which, during the wane, the gods drink the amrita, and on the fifteenth of which the Pitris exhaust the remaining portion. The correspondence of the two distinctions appears to be intended by the text, which terms the remaining digit or Kalá, composed of Amrita, the form or superficies of the two Kalás. This, the commentator observes, is the fifteenth, not the sixteenth. The commentator on our text observes, also, that the passage is sometimes read ###, Lava meaning 'a moment,' 'a short period.' The Matsya and Váyu express the parallel passage so as to avoid all perplexity, by specifying the two Kalás as referring to time, and leaving the number of nectareous Kalás undefined: 'They, the Pitris, drink the remaining Kalás in two Kalás of time.' Col. Warren explains Kalá, or, as he 'writes it, Calá, in one of its acceptations, 'the phases of the moon, of which the Hindus count sixteen.' Kála Sankalita, 359. So the Bhágavata terms the moon, and the Váyu, after noticing the exhaustion of the fifteenth portion on the day of conjunction, states the recurrence of increase or wane to take place in the sixteenth phase at the beginning of each fortnight.

357. The Váyu and Matsya add a fourth class, the Kavyas; identifying them with the cyclic years; the Saumyas and Agnishwáttas with the seasons; and the Varhishads with the months.

358. The Váyu makes the horses ten in number, each of a different colour.

359. The Matsya, Linga, and Váyu add the circumstance of Ráhu's taking up, on these occasions, the circular shadow of the earth.

360. The different bands of air attached to Dhruva are, according to the commentator, varieties of the Pravaha wind; but the Kúrma and Linga enumerate seven principal winds which perform this function, of which the Pravaha is one.

361. The four last are therefore stars in the circle of perpetual apparition. One of these is the pole-star; and in Kaśyapa we have a verbal affinity to Cassiopeia. The Śiśumára, or porpoise, is rather a singular symbol for the celestial sphere; but it is not more preposterous than many of the constellations of classical fiction. The component parts of it are much more fully detailed, in the Bhágavata, whence it has been translated by Sir Wm. Jones. As. Res. II. 402. The Bhágavata, however, mystifies the description, and says it is nothing more than the Dhárańá, or symbol, by which Vishńu, identified with the starry firmament, is to be impressed upon the mind in meditation. The account of the planetary system is, as usual, fullest in the Váyu, with which the Linga and Matsya nearly agree. The Bhavishya is nearly, also, the same. They all contain many passages common to them and to our text. In the Agni, Padma, Kúrma, Bráhma, Garud́a, and Vámana descriptions occur which enter into less detail than the Vishńu, and often use its words, or passages found in other Puráńas. Many intimations of a similar system occur in the Vedas, but whether the whole is to be found in those works is yet to be ascertained. It must not be considered as a correct representation of the philosophical astronomy of the Hindus, being mixed up with, and deformed by, mythological and symbolical fiction.

362. Only, however, as far as they are intended to propitiate Vishńu, and not for any other purpose.

363. One copy addresses Paráśara, Bhagavan sarvabhutesa, 'Sacred sovereign, lord of all creatures;' rather an unusual title for a sage, even though an inspired one. The other two copies begin, Samyagákhyátam, 'All has been thoroughly explained.'

364. See page 264.

365. The Mahánadí is properly a river in Orissa, but the name is applicable to any great stream, and its connexion with Śálagráma Tírtha makes it probable that it is intended for the Gandaki or Gandaka, in which the Śálagram or Ammonite is most abundantly found. It may be here noticed that Śálagráma is named amongst the Tírthas in the Mahábhárata: see p. 163.

366. The applicability of this simile is not explained by the commentator: it refers possibly to the cropped or shaven heads of the religious students.

367. According to the Bhágavata, Jambumárga is the Kálanjara mountain or Kalanjar in Bundelkhand.

368. Hirańyagarbha or Brahmá is named here instead of the Yoga doctrine, which is sometimes ascribed to him as its author.

369. As a Kála sanyama, a state of suffering or mortification lasting only for a season; or, in other words, bodily existence; the body being contemplated as a sore, for which food is the unguent; drink, the lotion; and dress, the bandage.

370. A river in the north of India.

371. That is, What have you discerned of me, my body, life, or soul?

372. The condition--that is, the personal individuality--of any one is the consequence of his acts; but the same living principle animates him which is common to all living things.

373. The body is not the individual; therefore it is not the individual, but the body, or eventually the earth, which bears the burden.

374. That is, speech, or any or all of the faculties or senses, is not soul.

375. The aggregate limbs and senses no more constitute the individual, than the accidental combination of certain pieces of wood makes the fabric anything else than wood: in like manner as the machine is still timber, so the body is still mere elementary matter. Again; the senses and limbs, considered separately, no more constitute the man, than each individual stick constitutes the umbrella. Whether separate or conjoined, therefore, the parts of the body are mere matter; and as matter does not make up man, they do not constitute an individual.

376. T́he term in this and the preceding clause is Pumán; here used generically, there specifically.

377. You ask what is Śreyas, not what is Paramártha: the first means literally 'best,' 'most excellent,' and is here used to denote temporary and special objects, or sources of happiness, as wealth, posterity, power, &c.; the latter is the one great object or end of life, true wisdom or truth, knowledge of the real and universal nature of soul.

378. But this is to be understood as applying to the doctrines which distinguish between the vital spirit (Jívátmá) and the supreme spirit (Paramátmá), the doctrine of the Yoga. It is here argued, that it is absurd to talk of effecting a union between the soul of man and supreme soul; for if they are distinct essentially, they cannot combine; if they are already one and the same, it is nonsense to talk of accomplishing their union. The great end of life or truth is not to effect the union of two things, or two parts of one thing, but to know that all is unity.

379. This legend is a good specimen of a sectarial graft upon a Pauráńik stem. It is in a great measure peculiar to the Vishńu P., as although it occurs also in the Bhágavata, it is narrated there in a much more concise manner, and in a strain that looks like an abridgment of our text.

APRIL 14, 2020