INDIA. Argha. tween the legend and the mythic account of the pavilions. the story to the but not to the traditions refer ring to the de scendants of of the Argha to the greatest Chieftain present at the HISTORY OF Rajasúya; the Argha being a respectful gift, such as PART II. fruit and flowers, or milk and honey, which the Nature of the Hindús are still accustomed to offer to an idol, or to a Bráhman, or to a bridegroom on his wedding day. The legend is at variance with the mythic account Discrepancy beof the pavilions from which the Rajas are said to of the Argha have beheld the sacrifice; but this contradiction cannot be said to prove anything, as it is derived from a mythical source. A stronger suspicion arises from Conformity of the fact that the story is perfectly in accordance with traditions refer the traditionary accounts of the assemblies of the Yádavas, but has no parallel in the traditionary ac'counts of the councils of the Kshatriyas of the royal house of Bhárata, which indeed are generally characterized by an observance of order and law. Then Presentation of again no trace of such custom, as that of presenting the ancient rithe Argha to the most distinguished Chieftain at such jasuya. an assembly, appears in the ancient ritual of the Rajasúya, as preserved in the Aitareya Brahmanam. On the contrary, the Rajasúya was a ceremony expressive of the superiority of the Raja who performed the sacrifice; whilst the custom of offering the Argha The Arghat as a token of respect or act of worship belonged to period. the Buddhist period, and was essentially a form of worship antagonistic to that of sacrifice. That the Argha not to be found in tual of the Ra tributed to Buddhist Reason why the Yadava tradition of the death Sisupála was killed at some festival of the Yádavas of Sisupala is is by no means unlikely, and more than one such grafted on to the dition. Kshatriya tra religious myth, tragedy will be noticed hereafter in the traditionary history of Krishna; and the only question that re- The legend, a mains is the reason why the Brahmanical compilers representing the grafted such a barbarous incident upon the traditions of the Kshatriyas. opposition of Vishnu to Siva, and enforcing the worship of Krishna as an incarnation of The whole legend, however, as it appears in the Vishnu. HISTORY OF Mahá Bhárata, is leavened with references to the diPART II. vine nature of Krishna, as an incarnation of Vishnu; INDIA. The chakra of Krishna an emblem of the wrath of Vishnu. (4.) Jealous wrath of Duryodhana. Duryodhana's! whilst Sisupála is said to have been born with three eyes, a fable which at once converts him into a representative or incarnation of Siva. For a long period the opposition of the worship of Vishnu to the worship of Siva desolated India with persecutions and civil wars; and the ancient legend has been converted into a myth to indicate both the opposition of the two deities, and the superior might of Vishnu. The Argha was a token of worship. By denouncing the presentation of the Argha to Krishna, Sisupála virtually denounced the worship of Vishnu; and his extraordinary death is thus treated as a manifestation of the divine wrath of Krishna, as an incarnation of Vishnu, of whom the chakra is a distinguished symbol.8 The jealous wrath of Duryodhana forms the conclusion of the story of the Rajasúya; but whilst the envy of the Kaurava Chieftain at beholding the success of his rival kinsmen is perfectly intelligible, his anger is said to have been excited by circumstances which can only be regarded as fictions of a later age. This conclusion will at once be obvious from the story, which is as follows: When the sacrifice had been fully accomplished, Duryodsurprise at the hana entered the place where it had been performed, and saw very many beautiful things that he had never beheld in his own Raj at Hastinápur. Amongst other wonders was a marvels at Indra-prastha. Mistakes a square of crystal for real water. 8 The chakra, or sharp-edged quoit, was the peculiar weapon of Vishnu, and is invariably placed in one of his four hands. At a subsequent period the chakra was converted into the prayer-wheel of the Buddhists. The subject however belongs more directly to the history of the religion of the Hindús, under which head it will be considered in a future volume. [INDIA. PART II. square made of black crystal, which appeared to the eye of HISTORY OF Duryodhana to be clear water; and as he stood on the margin he began to draw up his garments lest they should be wetted, and then throwing them off he plunged in to bathe, and was struck violently on the head against the crystal. Then he was very much ashamed and left that place immediately; and coming to a lake of clear water, he thought it Mistakes a lake was black crystal and boldly walked into it, and would have for one of been drowned had he not been dragged out by the servants of Raja Yudhishthira. Then the servants brought him new Excites the clothes, and he walked very warily; and the four brethren Pandavas. of Yudhishthira saw him, and began to laugh at his walking. Duryodhana was then very wroth, but he would not look at them, and he said nothing to them, and he sought to come of clear water crystal. mirth of the against a false away from that place; and it so happened that he tried to Strikes his head go out at a false door, and struck his head very violently in door. trying to pass quickly through it. After this he found his. way out of the palace and returned to the city of Hastinápur, and told his father, the Maháraja, all that had occurred. fiction borrowed of the Mussul It is somewhat singular that the foregoing story The foregoing is not only a fiction of a later age, but seems to have from the Koran been borrowed from the Mussulmans. A legend is mans. preserved in the Koran that when the Queen of Sheba paid a visit to Solomon, she was conducted by the Hebrew King into a room floored with glass, upon which she thought that the glass was water and lifted up her robe. That the early colonists at Indra-prastha should have arrived at such a high pitch of art as the story would seem to imply ap Koran, chap. xxvii. Sale's translation. According to Arab commentators the legs of the Queen of Sheba were covered with hair like those of an ass; and Solomon was anxious to prove the fact by ocular demonstration. Subsequently the Queen is said to have renounced idolatry, and to have professed Islam; and Solomon thought of marrying her, but would not do so until the hair had been removed. See Sale's notes on the passage." INDIA. Possibility of the legend originating from HISTORY OF pears wholly incredible; but that the unscrupulous PART II. compilers should have borrowed the idea from the early Mussulmans is by no means unlikely; although it is possible that the fable might naturally arise in the mind of any imaginative people on first beholding a commodity like glass, which bears so strong a resemblance to solid water. an independent source. CHAPTER VII. THE GAMBLING MATCH AT HASTINÁPUR. INDIA. jealous of the Rajasuya, plots to dispossess the THE celebration of the Rajasúya had raised the HISTORY OF fortunes of the Pándavas to the height of human PART II. prosperity; and at this point the universal concep- The avenging tion of an avenging Nemesis, that humbles the proud Nemesis. and casts down the mighty, finds full expression in the Hindú Epic. The grandeur of the Rajasúya, Duryodhana, and the sovereignty which it involved, excited the jealousy of Duryodhana, and revived the old feud between the Kauravas and Pándavas. Duryodhana plotted with his brother Duhsásana and his uncle Sákuni, how they might dispossess the Pandavas of their newly acquired territory; and at length they Proposal to indetermined to invite their kinsmen to a gambling match, and seek by underhand means to deprive Yudhishthira of his Raj. their new Raj. vite the Pandavas to a gamb special vice of The specialities of Hindú gambling are worthy Gambling the of some attention. The passion for play, which has the Kshatriyas. ever been the vice of warriors in times of peace, becomes a madness amidst the lassitude of a tropical clime; and more than one Hindú legend has been Hindú tradipreserved of Rajas playing together for days, until astrous results. the wretched loser has been deprived of everything he possessed and reduced to the condition of an exile or a slave. But gambling amongst the Hindús does tions of its dis Specialities of lindú dice: chance brought skill as well as into play. |