Vishnu Purana/Book IV:Chapter XXIV

The Vishnu Purana

translated by Horace Hayman Wilson

1840

Book IV:Chapter XXIV

p. 466

Future kings of Magadha. Five princes of the line of Pradyota. Ten Śaiśunágas. Nine Nandas. Ten Mauryas. Ten Śungas. Four Kańwas. Thirty Ándhrabhrityas. Kings of various tribes and castes, and periods of their rule. Ascendancy of barbarians. Different races in different regions. Period of universal iniquity and decay. Coming of Vishńu as Kalki. Destruction of the wicked, and restoration of the practices of the Vedas. End of the Kali, and return of the Krita, age. Duration of the Kali. Verses chanted by Earth, and communicated by Asita to Janaka. End of the fourth book.

THE last of the Vríhadratha dynasty, Ripunjaya, will have a minister named Sunika ¹, who having killed his sovereign, will place his son Pradyota upon the throne ²: his son will be Pálaka ³; his son will be Viśákhayúpa ⁴; his son will be Janaka ⁵; and his son will be Nandivarddhana ⁶. These five kings of the house of Pradyota will reign over the earth for a hundred and thirty-eight years ⁷.

The next prince will be Śiśunaga ⁸; his son will be Kákavarńa ⁹; his son will be Kshemadharman ¹⁰; his son will be Kshatraujas ¹¹; his son will be Vidmisára ¹²; his son will be Ájátaśatru ¹³; his son will be

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

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

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

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

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will be Vindusára ²²; his son will be Aśokavarddhana ²³; his son will be

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[paragraph continues] Suyaśas ²⁴; his son will be Daśaratha; his son will be Sangata; his son will be Śáliśúka; his son will be Somaśarmman; his son will be Saśadharman ²⁵; and his successor will be Vrihadratha. These are the ten Mauryas, who will reign over the earth for a hundred and thirty-seven years ²⁶.

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

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

Devabhúti, the last Śunga prince, being addicted to, immoral indulgences, his minister, the Kańwa named Vasudeva will murder him, and usurp the kingdom: his son will be Bhúmimitra; his son will be Náráyańa; his son will be Suśarman. These four Káńwas will be kings of the earth for forty-five years ³⁸.

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Suśarman the Káńwa will be killed by a powerful servant named Śipraka, of the Ándhra tribe, who will become king, and found the Ándhrabhritya dynasty ³⁹: he will be succeeded by his brother Krishńa ⁴⁰; his son will be Śrí Śátakarńi ⁴¹; his son will be Púrnotsanga ⁴²; his son will be Śátakarńi (2nd) ⁴³; his son will be Lambodara ⁴⁴; his son will be Ivílaka ⁴⁵; his son will be Meghaswáti ⁴⁶; his son will be Patumat 47; his

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son will be Arisht́akarman ⁴⁸; his son will be Hála ⁴⁹; his son will be Tálaka ⁵⁰; his son will be Pravilasena ⁵¹; his son will be Sundara, named Śátakarńi ⁵²; his son will be Chakora Śátakarńi 53; his son will be Śivaswáti ⁵⁴; his son will be Gomatiputra ⁵⁵; his son will be Pulimat ⁵⁶; his son will be Śivaśrí Śátakarńi ⁵⁷; his son will be Śivaskandha ⁵⁸; his son will be Yajnaśrí ⁵⁹; his son will be Vijaya ⁶⁰; his son will be Chandraśrí ⁶¹; his son will be Pulomárchish ⁶². These thirty Andhrabhritya kings will reign four hundred and fifty-six years ⁶³.

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After these, various races will reign, as seven Ábhíras, ten Garddhabas, sixteen Śakas, eight Yavanas, fourteen Tusháras, thirteen Muńd́as,

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

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

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then eleven Pauras will be kings for three hundred years ⁶⁵. When they are destroyed, the Kailakila Yavanas will be kings; the chief of whom will be Vindhyaśakti; his son will be Puranjaya; his son will be Rámachandra; his son will be Adharma, from whom will be Varánga, Kritanandana, Śudhinandi, Nandiyaśas, Śiśuka, and Pravíra; these will rule for a hundred and six years ⁶⁶. From them will proceed thirteen sons;

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

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

In Magadhá a sovereign named Viśwasphat́ika will establish other tribes; he will extirpate the Kshatriya or martial race, and elevate fishermen, barbarians, and Brahmans, and other castes, to power ⁶⁹. The nine Nágas will reign in Padmávati, Kántipuri, and Mathurá; and the Guptas of Magadhá along the Ganges to Prayága 70. A prince named

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[paragraph continues] Devarakshita will reign, in a city on the sea shore, over the Kośalas, Od́ras, Puńd́ras, and Támraliptas ⁷¹. The Guhas will possess Kálinga, Máhihaka, and the mountains of Mahendra ⁷². The race of Mańidhanu will occupy the countries of the Nishádas, Naimishikas, and Kálatoyas ⁷³.

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[paragraph continues] The people called Kanakas will possess the Amazon country, and that called Múshika ⁷⁴. Men of the three tribes, but degraded, and Ábhíras and Śúdras, will occupy Śaurásht́ra, Avanti, Śúra, Arbuda, and Marubhúmi: and Śúdras, outcastes, and barbarians will be masters of the banks of the Indus, Dárvika, the Chandrabhágá, and Káshmir ⁷⁵.

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These will all be contemporary monarchs, reigning over the earth; kings of churlish spirit, violent temper, and ever addicted to falsehood and wickedness. They will inflict death on women, children, and cows; they will seize upon the property of their subjects; they will be of limited power, and will for the most part rapidly rise and fall; their lives will be short, their desires insatiable, and they will display but little piety. The people of the various countries intermingling with them will follow their example, and the barbarians being powerful in the patronage of the princes, whilst purer tribes are neglected, the people will perish ⁷⁶. Wealth and piety will decrease day by day, until

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the world will be wholly depraved. Then property alone will confer rank; wealth will be the only source of devotion; passion will be the sole bond of union between the sexes; falsehood will be the only means of success in litigation; and women will be objects merely of sensual gratification. Earth will be venerated but for its mineral treasures ⁷⁷; the Brahmanical thread will constitute a Brahman; external types (as the staff and red garb) will be the only distinctions of the several orders of life; dishonesty will be the universal means of subsistence; weakness will be the cause of dependance; menace and presumption will be substituted for learning; liberality will be devotion; simple ablution will be purification ⁷⁸; mutual assent will be marriage; fine clothes will be dignity ⁷⁹; and water afar off will be esteemed a holy spring. Amidst all castes he who is the strongest will reign over a principality thus vitiated by many faults. The people, unable to bear the heavy burdens imposed upon them by their avaricious sovereigns, will take refuge amongst the valleys of the mountains, and will be glad to feed upon wild honey, herbs, roots, fruits, flowers, and leaves: their only covering will be the bark of trees, and they will be exposed to the cold, and wind, and sun, and rain. No man's life will exceed three and twenty years. Thus in the Kali age shall decay constantly proceed, until the human race approaches its annihilation.

When the practices taught by the Vedas and the institutes of law shall nearly have ceased, and the close of the Kali age shall be nigh, a

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portion of that divine being who exists of his own spiritual nature in the character of Brahma, and who is the beginning and the end, and who comprehends all things, shall descend upon earth: he will be born in the family of Vishńuyaśas, an eminent Brahman of Sambhala village, as Kalki, endowed with the eight superhuman faculties. By his irresistible might he will destroy all the Mlechchhas and thieves, and all whose minds are devoted to iniquity. He will then reestablish righteousness upon earth; and the minds of those who live at the end of the Kali age shall be awakened, and shall be as pellucid as crystal. The men who are thus changed by virtue of that peculiar time shall be as the seeds of human beings, and shall give birth to a race who shall follow the laws of the Krita age, or age of purity. As it is said; "When the sun and moon, and the lunar asterism Tishya, and the planet Jupiter, are in one mansion, the Krita age shall return ⁸⁰."

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

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rise in the heavens, and some lunar asterism is seen at night at an equal distance between them, then the seven Rishis continue stationary in that conjunction for a hundred years of men ⁸². At the birth of

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[paragraph continues] Paríkshit they were in Maghá, and the Kali age then commenced, which consists of 1200 (divine) years. When the portion of Vishńu (that had been born from Vasudeva) returned to heaven, then the Kali age commenced. As long as the earth was touched by his sacred feet, the Kali age could not affect it. As soon as the incarnation of the eternal Vishńu had departed, the son of Dharma, Yudhisht́hira, with his brethren, abdicated the sovereignty. Observing unpropitious portents, consequent upon Krishńa's disappearance, he placed Paríkshit upon the throne. When the seven Rishis are in Purváshád́há, then Nanda will begin to reign ⁸³, and thenceforward the influence of the Kali will augment.

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The day that Krishńa shall have departed from the earth will be the first of the Kali age, the duration of which you shall hear; it will continue for 360,000 years of mortals. After twelve hundred divine years shall have elapsed, the Krita age shall be renewed.

Thus age after age Brahmans, Kshatriyas, Vaiśyas, and Śúdras, excellent Brahman, men of great souls, have passed away by thousands; whose names and tribes and families I have not enumerated to you, from their great number, and the repetition of appellations it would involve. Two persons, Devápi of the race of Puru, and Maru of the family of Ikshwáku, through the force of devotion continue alive throughout the whole four ages, residing at the village of Kalápa: they will return hither in the beginning of the Krita age, and, becoming members of the family of the Manu, give origin to the Kshatriya dynasties ⁸⁴. In this manner the earth is possessed through every series of the three first ages, the Krita, Treta, and Dwápara, by the sons of the Manu; and some remain in the Kali age, to serve as the rudiments of renewed generations, in the same way as Devápi and Maru are still in existence.

I have now given you a summary account of the sovereigns of the earth; to recapitulate the whole would be impossible even in a hundred lives. These and other kings, who with perishable frames have possessed this ever-during world, and who, blinded with deceptive notions of individual occupation, have indulged the feeling that suggests, "This earth is mine--it is my son's--it belongs to my dynasty," have all passed away. So, many who reigned before them, many who succeeded them, and many who are yet to come, have ceased, or will cease, to be. Earth laughs, as if smiling with autumnal flowers, to behold her kings unable to effect the subjugation of themselves. I will repeat to you, Maitreya, the stanzas that were chanted by Earth, and which the Muni Asita communicated to Janaka, whose banner was virtue. "How great is the folly of princes, who are endowed with the faculty of reason, to cherish

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the confidence of ambition, when they themselves are but foam upon the wave. Before they have subdued themselves, they seek to reduce their ministers, their servants, their subjects, under their authority; they then endeavour to overcome their foes. 'Thus,' say they, 'will we conquer the ocean-circled earth;' and, intent upon their project, behold not death, which is not far off. But what mighty matter is the subjugation of the sea-girt earth to one who can subdue himself. Emancipation from existence is the fruit of self-control. It is through infatuation that kings desire to possess me, whom their predecessors have been forced to leave, whom their fathers have not retained. Beguiled by the selfish love of sway, fathers contend with sons, and brothers with brothers, for my possession. Foolishness has been the character of every king who has boasted, 'All this earth is mine--every thing is mine--it will be in my house for ever;' for he is dead. How is it possible that such vain desires should survive in the hearts of his descendants, who have seen their progenitor, absorbed by the thirst of dominion, compelled to relinquish me, whom he called his own, and tread the path of dissolution? When I hear a king sending word to another by his ambassador, 'This earth is mine; immediately resign your pretensions to it;' I am moved to violent laughter at first, but it soon subsides in pity for the infatuated fool."

These were the verses, Maitreya, which Earth recited, and by listening to which ambition fades away like snow before the sun. I have now related to you the whole account of the descendants of the Manu; amongst whom have flourished kings endowed with a portion of Vishńu, engaged in the preservation of the earth. Whoever shall listen reverently and with faith to this narrative, proceeding from the posterity of Manu, shall be purified entirely from all his sins, and, with the perfect possession of his faculties, shall live in unequalled affluence, plenty, and prosperity. He who has heard of the races of the sun and moon, of Ikshwá.ku, Jahnu, Mańd́hátri, Sagara, and Raghu, who have all perished; of Yayati, Nahusha, and their posterity, who are no more; of kings of great might, resistless valour, and unbounded wealth, who have been overcome by still more powerful time, and are now only a tale; he will learn wisdom, and forbear to call either children, or wife, or house, or

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lands, or wealth, his own. The arduous penances that have been performed by heroic men obstructing fate for countless years, religious rites and sacrifices of great efficacy and virtue, have been made by time the subject only of narration. The valiant Prithu traversed the universe, every where triumphant over his foes; yet he was blown away, like the light down of the Simal tree, before the blast of time. He who was Kártavíryya subdued innumerable enemies, and conquered the seven zones of the earth; but now he is only the topic of a theme, a subject for affirmation and contradiction 85. Fie upon the empire of the sons of Raghu, who triumphed over Daśánana, and extended their sway to the ends of the earth; for was it not consumed in an instant by the frown of the destroyer? Mańd́hátri, the emperor of the universe, is embodied only in a legend; and what pious man who hears it will ever be so unwise as to cherish the desire of possession in his soul? Bhagíratha, Sagara, Kakutstha, Daśánana, Rama, Lakshmana, Yudhishthira, and others, have been. Is it so? Have they ever really existed? Where are they now? we know not! The powerful kings who now are, or who will be, as I have related them to you, or any others who are unspecified, are all subject to the same fate, and the present and the future will perish and be forgotten, like their predecessors. Aware of this truth, a wise man will never be influenced by the principle of individual appropriation; and regarding them as only transient and temporal possessions, he will not consider children and posterity, lands and property, or whatever else is personal, to be his own.

Foot notes

66:1 Munika, Váyu; Pulika, Matsya; Śunaka, Bhág.

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

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

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

466:5 Ajaka, 21 yrs. V.; Súryaka, 21, M.; Rajaka, Bhág.

466:6 20 yrs. V. and M.

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

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

466:9 36 yrs. V. and M. 466:10 Kshemakarman, 20 yrs. V.; Kshemadharmman, 36, M.

466:11 40 yrs. V.; Kshemajit or Kshemárchis, 36, M.; Kshetrajna, Bhág.

466:12 Vimbisara, 28 yrs. V.; Vindusena or Vindhyasena, 28, M.; Vidhisára, Bhág.

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

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

467:15 33 yrs. V.; Udibhi or Udásin, 33, M. According to the Váyu, Udaya or Udayáśwa founded Kusumapur or Pát́aliputra, on the southern angle of the Ganges. The legends of Śákya, consistently with this tradition, take no notice of this city in his peregrinations on either bank of the Ganges. The Maháwanśo calls the son and successor of Ajátaśatru, Udayibhadako (Udayinhhadraka): p. 15.

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

467:17 The several authorities agree in the number of ten Śaiśunágas, and in the aggregate years of their reigns, which the Matsya and the Bhágavata call 360: the Váyu has 362, with which the several periods correspond: the details of the Matsya give 363. The Váyu and Matsya call the Śaiśunágas, Kshatrabandhus, which may designate an inferior order of Kshatriyas: they also observe, that cotemporary with the dynasties already specified, the Pauravas, the Várhadrathas, and Mágadhas, there were other races of royal descent; as, Aikshwákava princes, 24: Pánchálas, 25, V.; 27, M: Kálakas or Kásakas or Káseyas, 24: Haihayas, 24, V.; 28, M.: Kálingas, 32, V.; 40, M.: [[Saka|Śakas, V.; Aśmakas, M., 25: Kuravas, 26: Maithilas, 28: Śúrasenas, 23: and Vitihotras, 20.

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

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

468:20 For the particulars of the story here alluded to, see the Mudrá Rákshasa, Hindu Theatre, vol. II. Kaut́ilya is also called, according to the commentator on our text, Vátsyáyana, Vishńugupta, and Cháńakya. According to the Matsya P., Kant́ilya retained the regal authority for a century; but there is some inaccuracy in the copies.

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

469:22 So the Maháwanśo, Bindusáro. Burmese Table, Bin-tu-sara. The Váyu has Bhadrasára, 25 years; the Bhágavata, Várisára. The Matsya names but four princes of this race, although it concurs with the others in stating the series to consist of ten. The names are also differently arranged, and one is peculiar: they are, Śatadhanwan, Vrihadratha, Śuka, and Daśaratha. 469:23 Aśoka, 36 years, Váyu; Śuka, 26, Mats.; Aśokavarddhana, Bhág.; Aśoko and Dhammaśoko, Maháwanśo. This king is the most celebrated of any in the annals of the Buddhists. In the commencement of his reign he followed the Brahmanical faith, but became a convert to that of Buddha, and a zealous encourager of it. He is said to have maintained in his palace 64,000 Buddhist priests, and to have erected 84,000 columns or topes throughout India. A great convocation of Buddhist priests was held in the eighteenth year of his reign, which was followed by missions to Ceylon and other places. According to Buddhist chronology he ascended the throne 218 years after the death of Buddha, B. C. 325. As p. 470 the grandson of Chandragupta, however, he must have been some time subsequent to this, or, agreeably to the joint duration of the reigns of Chandragupta and Bindusara, supposing the former to have commenced his reign about B. C. 315, forty-nine years later, or B. C. 266. The duration of his reign is said to have been thirty-six years, bringing it down to B. C. 230: but if we deduct these periods from the date assignable to Chandragupta, of B. C. 283, we shall place Aśoka's reign from B. C. 234 to 198. Now it is certain that a number of very curious inscriptions, on columns and rocks, by a Buddhist prince, in an ancient form of letter, and the Páli language, exist in India; and that some of them refer to Greek princes, who can be no other than members of the Seleucidan and Ptolemæan dynasties, and are probably Antiochus the Great and Ptolemy Euergetes, kings of Syria and Egypt in the latter part of the third century before Christ. Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, February and March, 1838. The Indian king appears always under the appellation Piyadaśí or Priyadarśín, 'the beautiful;' and is entitled Devánam-piya, 'the beloved of the gods.' According to Buddhist authorities, the Rasawáhiní and Dípawanśo, quoted by Mr. Turnour (J. As. Soc. of Bengal, Dec. 1837, p. 1056, and Nov. 1838, p. 930), Piyadaśí or Piyadaśano is identified both by name and circumstances with Aśoka, and to him therefore the inscriptions must be attributed. Their purport agrees well enough with his character, and their wide diffusion with the traditionary report of the number of his monuments. His date is not exactly that of Antiochus the Great, but it is not very far different, and the corrections required to make it correspond are no more than the inexact manner in which both Brahmanical and Buddhist chronology is preserved may well be expected to render necessary.

470:24 The name of Daśaratha, in a similar ancient character as that of Piyadaśí's inscriptions, has been found at Gaya amongst Buddhist remains, and like them decyphered by Mr. Prinsep, Journ. As. Soc. Bengal, Aug. 1837, p. 677. A different series of names occurs in the Váyu; or, Kuśala, 8 yrs.; Bandhupálita, Indrapálita, Daśavarman, 7 yrs.; Śatadhara, 8 yrs.; and Vrihadaśwa, 7 yrs. The Bhágavata agrees in most of the names, and its omission of Daśaratha is corrected by the commentator.

470:25 Śatadhanwan, Bhág.

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

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

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

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

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

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

471:32 3 yrs. V. and M.

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

471:34 9 yrs. M.

471:35 Bhága, M.; 32 yrs. V. and M.

471:36 Kshemabhúmi, V.; Devabhúmi, M.; 10 yrs. both.

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

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

Vasudeva will reign 9 years

Bhúmimitra 14

Náráyańa 12

Suśarman 10

Total 45

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

472:39 The expressions Andhrajátiyas and Andhrabhrityas have much perplexed Col. Wilford, who makes three races out of one, Ándhras, Andhrajátiyas, and Andhrabhrityas. As. Res. IX. 101. There is no warrant for three races in the Puráńas, although the Matsya, and perhaps the Váyu, distinguishes two, as we shall hereafter see. Our text has but one, to which all the terms may be applied. The first of the dynasty was an Ándhra by birth or caste (játiya), and a servant (bhritya) of the last of the Káńwa race. So the Váyu; ###: the Matsya; ### and the Bhágavata; ###. The terms 'an Andhra by caste' and 'a Bhritya or servant,' with the addition, in the last passage, of Vrishala, 'a Śúdra,' all apply to one person and one dynasty. Wilford has made wild work with his triad. The name of the first of this race is variously read: Sindhuka, Váyu; Śiśuka, Matsya; Balin, Bhág.; and, according to Wilford, Chhismaka in the Brahmańd́a P., and Śúdraka or Śúraka in the Kumáriká Khańd́a of the Skánda P. As. Res. IX. 107. He reigned 23 years, Váyu and Matsya. If the latter form of his name be correct, he may be the king who is spoken of in the prologue to the Mrichchhakat́í.

472:40 10 yrs. V.; 18, M. 472:41 56 yrs. V.; 18, M.; 10, Brahmańd́a, Wilford; Simálakarńi, Mats.; Śántakarńa, Bhág.

472:42 Omitted, V.; 18 yrs. M.; Paurnamása, Bhág.

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

472:44 18 yrs. M.

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

472:46 Omitted, V. and M.

472:47 Patumávi, 24 yrs. V.; Drirhamána, Bhág.

473:48 Nemi-krishńa, 25 yrs. V.; Arisht́akarńi, 25 yrs. M.

473:49 Hála, 1 yr. V.; 5 yrs. M.; Háleya, Bhág.

Notes 50 - 85

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

473:51 Puríshasena, 21 yrs. V.; Purindrasena, 5 yrs. Mats.; Puríshataru, Bhág.

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

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

473:54 28 yrs. V. and M.

473:55 Gotamíputra, 21 yrs. V. and M.

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

473:57 Omitted, V.; 7 yrs. M.; Medhaśiras, Bhág.

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

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

473:60 6 yrs. V. and M.

73:61 Dańd́aśrí, 3 yrs. V.; Chandraśrí, 10 yrs. M.; Chandravijaya, Bhág.

473:62 Pulovápi, 7 yrs. V.; Pulomat, 7 yrs. M.; Sulomadhi, Bhág.

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

1. Śiśuka 23 yrs.

2. Krishńa 18

3. Simalakarńi 18

4. Purnotsanga 18

5. Śrívaswáni 18

6. Śátakarńi 56

7. Lambodara 18

8. Apítaka 12

9. Sangha 18

10. Śátakarńi 18

11. Skandhaswáti 7

12. Mrigendra 3

13. Kuntalaswáti 28

14. Swátikarńa 1

15. Pulomávit 36

16. Goraksháśwaśrí 25

17. Hála 5

18. Mantalaka 5

19. Puríndrasena 5

20. Rajádaswáti 0 6 months

21. Śivaśwáti 28

22. Gautamiputra 21

23. Pulomat 28

p. 474

24. Śivaśrí 7

25. Skandhaswáti 7

26. Yajnaśrí 9

27. Vijaya 6

28. Vadaśrí 10

29. Pulomat 7

Total 435 yrs. 6 m.

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

10 Mauryas 137 yrs.

10 Śungas 112

4 Kańwas 45

27 Andhras 437

...........731

Deduct for Chandragupta's date 312 B. C.

.............419 A. C.

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

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

Ábhíras, 7, M.; 10, V; kings of Avabhriti, 7, Bhág.

Garddabhins, 10, M. V. Bhág.

Śakas, 18, M. V.; Kankas, 16, Bhág.

Yavanas, 8, M. V. Bhág.

Tusháras, 14, M. V.; Tushkaras, 14, Bhág.

Marúńd́as, 13, V.; Purúńd́as, 13, M.; Surúńd́as, 10, Bhág.

Maunas, 18, V.; Húńas, 19, M.; Maulas, 11, Bhág.

Total--85 kings, Váyu; 89, Matsya; 76, and 1399 years, Bhág.

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

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

477:66 Kilakila, Kolakila, Kolikila, Kilinakila, as it is variously read. Sir Wm. Jones's Pandit stated that he understood it to be a city in the Mahratta country (As. Res. XI. 142); and there has been found a confirmation of his belief in an inscription, where Kilagila, as it is there termed, is called the capital of Márasinha Deva, king of the Konkan. Journ. R. As. Soc. vol. IV. p. 282. This inscription dates A. D. 1058. The Puráńas refer probably to a long antecedent date, when the Greek princes, or their Indo-Scythic successors, following the course of the Indus, spread to the upper part of the western coast of the peninsula. The text calls them Yavanas; and the Váyu and Matsya say they were Yavanas in institutions, manners, and policy. The Bhágavata names five of their princes, Bhutánanda, p. 478 Bangiri, Śiśunandi, Yaśnandi, and Pravíra, who will reign 106 years, and they are therefore imperfect representatives of the series in our text. The Matsya has no farther specific enumeration of any dynasty. The Váyu makes Pravíra the son of [[Vindhyashakti|Vindhyaśakti; the latter reigning 96 years, and the former 60: the latter is king of Kánchana puri, 'the golden city,' and is followed by four sons, whose names are not mentioned. Between Vindhyaśakti and Pravíra, however, a dynasty of kings is introduced, some of the names of which resemble those of the Kilakila princes of the text. They are, Bhogin the son of Seshanága, Sadáchandra, Nakhavat, Dhanadhamita, Vinśaja, Bhutinanda--at a period before the end of the Śungas? (the copies have ###)--Madhunandi, his younger brother Nandiyaśas; and in his race there will be three other Rájás, Dauhitra, Śiśuka, and Ripukáyán. These are called princes of Vidiśa or Videśa; the latter meaning perhaps 'foreign,' and constitute the Nága dynasty. Our text calls Vindhyaśakti a Murddhábhishikta, a warrior of a mixed race, sprung from a Brahman father and Kshatriya mother.

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

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

479:69 The Váyu has Viśwaspháńi and Viśwasphińi; the Bhágavata, Viśwasphúrtti, or in some MSS. Viśwaphúiji. The castes he establishes or places in authority, to the exclusion of the Kshatriyas, are called in all the copies of our text Kaivarttas, Pat́us, Pulindas, and Brahmans. The Váyu (three MSS.) has Kaivarttas, Panchakas, Pulindas, and Brahmans. The Bhágavata has, Pulindas, Yadus, and Mádrakas. The Váyu describes Viśwaspháńi as a great warrior, and apparently as a eunuch: He worshipped the gods and manes, and dying on the banks of the Ganges went to the heaven of Indra.

479:70 Such appears to be the purport of our text. The nine Nagas might be thought to mean the same as the descendants of Śesha Nága, but the Váyu has another series here, analogous to that of the text: 'The nine Náka kings will possess the city Champávatí, and the seven Nágas (?) the pleasant city Mathura. Princes of the Gupta race will possess all these countries, the banks of the Ganges to Prayága and Sáketa and Magadhá.' p. 480 This account is the most explicit, and probably most accurate, of all. The Nákas were Rájás of Bhágalpur; the Nágas, of Mathura; and the intermediate countries along the Ganges were governed by the Guptas, or Rájás of the Vaiśya caste. The Bhágavata seems to have taken great liberties with the account, as it makes Viśwasphúrtti king over Anugangá, the course of the Ganges from Haridwar, according to the commentator, to Prayága, residing at Padmávatí: omitting the Nágas altogether, and converting 'gupta' into an epithet of 'medini,' the preserved or protected earth. Wilford considers the Nágas, Nákas, and Guptas to be all the same: he says, 'Then came a dynasty of nine kings, called the nine Nagas or Nágas; these were an obscure tribe, called for that reason Guptavanśas, who ruled in Padmávati.' That city he calls Patna; but in the Málati and Mádhava, Padmávatí lies amongst the Vindhya hills. Kántipuri he makes Cotwal, near Gwalior. The reading of the Váyu, Champávati, however, obviates the necessity of all vague conjecture. According to Wilford there is a powerful tribe still called Nákas between the Jamuna and the Betwa. Of the existence and power of the Guptas, however, we have recently had ample proofs from inscriptions and coins, as in the Chandragupta and Samudragupta of the Allahabad column; Journ. As. Soc. Bengal, March and June, 1834; and Kumáragupta, Chandragupta, Samudragupta, Śaśigupta, &c. on the Archer coins, found at Kanoj and elsewhere; As. Res. XVII. pl. 1. fig. 5, 7, 13, 19; and Journ. As. Soc. Bengal, Nov. 1835, pl. 38 and 39; and in other numbers of the same Journal: in all which, the character in which the legends are written is of a period prior to the use of the modern Devanagari, and was current in all probability about the fifth century of our era, as conjectured by Mr. Prinsep: see his table of the modifications of the Sanscrit alphabet from 543 B. C. to 1200 A. D. Journ. As. Soc. Bengal, March 1838.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Magadha kings 1000 yrs.

Pradyota, &c. 138

Śiśunága, &c. 362

.................1500

[paragraph continues] The shorter period is best proportioned to the number of kings; for reckoning from Sahadeva, who was cotemporary with Parikshit, and taking the number of the Várhadrathas from the Matsya, we have thirty-two of them, five of the Pradyota race, and ten Śaiśunágas, or in all forty-seven; which, as the divisor of 1050, gives rather more than twenty-two years to a reign. The Váyu and the Matsya further specify the interval from Nanda to Pulomat, the last of the Andhra kings, as being 836 years; a total that does notp. 485 agree exactly with the items previously specified:

9 Nandas 100 yrs.

10 Mauryas 137

10 Śungas

112

4 Kańwas 45

29 Andhras 460

62

854

[paragraph continues] In either case the average duration of reign is not improbable, as the highest number gives less than fourteen years to each prince. It is important to remember that the reign of Parikshit is, according to Hindu chronology, coeval with the commencement of the Kali age; and even therefore taking the longest Pauráńik interval we have but sixteen centuries between Chandragupta--or considering him as the same with Sandrocoptos, nineteen centuries B. C.--for the beginning of the Kali age. According to the chronology of our text, however, it would be but B. C. 1415; to that of the Váyu and Matsya, B. C. 1450; and to that of the Bhágavata, 1515. According to Col. Wilford's computations the conclusion of the great war took place B. C. 1370: Buchanan conjectures it to have occurred in the thirteenth century B. C. Vyása was the putative father of Páńd́u and Dhritarásht́ra, and consequently was cotemporary with the heroes of the great war. Mr. Colebrooke infers from astronomical data that the arrangement of the Vedas attributed to Vyása took place in the fourteenth century B.C. Mr. Bentley brings the date of Yudhisht́hira, the chief of the Páńd́avas, to 575 B. C. ; but the weight of authority is in favour of the thirteenth or fourteenth century B. C. for the war of the Mahabharata, and the reputed commencement of the Kali age.

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

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

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

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

. . . I, demens, et sævas curre per Alpes, Ut pueris placeas, et declamatio fias.

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