Imatges de pàgina
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INDIA. PART II.

tween the Brah

satí, and the slaughter of a

ite.

brethren of Kíchaka seized the waiting-maid, and HISTORY OF prepared to burn her upon the funeral pile with the body of the dead man. This barbarous proceeding Distinction be had no connection with the later Brahmanical idea manical idea of of self-sacrifice on the part of a widow in the ex-female favourpectation of rejoining her deceased lord. It originated rather in the desire of the nearest relatives of the dead man that he should enjoy in death the society of the woman whom he had most loved in life. In such cases the willingness or otherwise of the unfortunate victims would be wholly ignored; and their murder would be a scene too painful to contemplate. Indeed, it is almost possible to sympathize in the momentary delirium which impels a poor widow to throw herself upon the pile in the full expectation of enjoying everlasting bliss with her beloved husband in the realms of paradise. But the idea of putting an unhappy female to death, merely because she has unwittingly raised the desires of a voluptuary, is one upon which the mind can scarcely care to dwell. The distinction seems to be fully apprehended by a Hindú audience. Any interference in a Brahmanical satí would be regarded with a peculiar horror, which still finds expression in more remote districts; whilst in the present instance the sympathies are all enlisted in favour of the giant cook, who personates a Gandharva, and delivers Draupadí from the burning pile.

Interference in with horror.

a Brahmanical sati regarded

authentic de

portion of the

In the later portions of the narrative the authen- Obscurity of the tic details cannot be so plainly distinguished from tails in the later those which are mythical. The invasions of Susar- narrative. man and Duryodhana are almost entirely mythical; but the departure of Arjuna and Uttar in a war

INDIA.

PART II.

Procession of

damsels.

In

HISTORY OF chariot, amidst the giggling of the damsels at seeing the eunuch in armour, and the girlish clamours for silks and cloths, forms a striking scene which may have been borrowed from some other tradition. like manner the procession of damsels sent out by Raja Viráta to welcome the youthful conqueror is perfectly in accordance with the receptions given in ancient times to successful warriors, and calls to mind the procession of maidens who went out with timbrels and dances to welcome back the youthful David after the slaughter of Goliath of Gath, and who sang aloud:-"Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands."

2nd, Mythical details connect

In turning to the mythical details which connect ing the tradition the tradition of the amour of Kíchaka with the

of the amour of

Kichaka with

Pandavas.

Geographical difficulties.

the story of the history of the Pándavas, it will be necessary, in the first instance, to inquire into the geographical position of the Raj of Viráta. Here, at the very outset, a difficulty presents itself of no ordinary magnitude. The local traditions of two widely distant countries present almost equal claims to the country of Viráta, namely, the peninsula of Guzerat on the western side of India, and the valley of the Brahmaputra on its eastern quarter. In the Mahá Bhárata, the Raj of Viráta is called Matsya, or the country of the fish, and the city is indifferently termed Matsya or Viráta. The local traditions of Guzerat declare that the site of Matsya-nuggur or Viráta-pur is occupied by the modern town of Dholka, which is situated on the southern coast of the neck of the peninsula.* The local traditions of eastern Bengal are more exCountry of Vi- plicit. The district of Dinajpur is still called Matwith Dinajpur. Sya; and the remains of ancient forts, said to be

City of Viráta the site of the

identified with

modern Dholka.

ráta identified

2 Forbes' Ras Mala, or Hindú Annals of Guzerat, vol. i. p. 103.

3

INDIA.

those of Viráta and Kíchaka, are pointed out to this HISTORY OF day as proofs of the truth of the tradition. The PART II. whole of this region, however, would appear to have Dinajpur anbeen the land of fable. Here it was that Bhíma fable.

ciently a land of

the campaigns of

and Susarman

of Sesostris, Se

ander, and Ti

mour.

fought against the Asuras; and it was in this same country that the sage Vyása was supernaturally born of Matsya, the fish-girl. Whether, however, Authenticity of the Raj of Viráta is to be placed in the peninsula Duryodhana of Guzerat or in the region of eastern Bengal, it is disproved. in either case far too distant from the neighbourhood of Hastinapur to admit of such campaigns as those of Duryodhana and Susarman. That great Long marches and conquering armies, like those of Sesostris and miramis, AlexSemiramis, of Alexander and Timour, have occasionally traversed vast distances, cannot be doubted, but their movements resembled the migrations of nations, and have left their impress upon the history of the world. Then, again, at a later period, the Parthians. Parthian horsemen have made their way from the valley of the Indus to the city of Jerusalem; whilst almost within our own time the Mahratta cavalry Mahrattas. have scoured the great Indian peninsula from sea to sea. But both the Parthian and Mahratta armies were composed of organized and well-trained warriors, and invaded rich and luxurious regions, from which they raised vast contributions of gold, jewels, and beautiful women. The campaigns, however, of

Duryodhana and Susarman were the mere marauding forays of two bands of cattle-lifters; and

the

3 Buchanan's Report on the district of Dinajpur, preserved in Martin's Eastern India, vol. ii. p. 609 et seq.

* In the original myth Raja Viráta is said to have been the brother of Matsya, and was preserved like her in the belly of a fish. These myths may be altogether rejected, as the depraved creations of monks, either Brahmans or Buddhists, whose imaginations were ever turning upon women and the mysteries of reproduction.

Contrast begoing expedicattle-lifting

tween the fore

tions and the

forays of Duryodhana and Su

sarinan.

INDIA. PART II.

the Brahmani

associate the

HISTORY OF readers of the Mahá Bhárata are called upon to believe that these petty Chieftains marched a distance of at least five or six hundred miles for the purpose of carrying away a few sheep and cows; and that, too, at a time, when the Aryan Kshatriyas appear to have had some difficulty in maintaining their outposts in the neighbourhood of Delhi. Futile efforts of Accordingly, the geographical notices must be recal compilers to garded as another instance of the efforts of the Pandavas with Brahmanical compilers to associate the traditions of the Pandavas with the more remote populations of India, which can be referred in almost every instance to a mythical origin. In a word, it seems to be fully proved that every authentic tradition connected with the Raj of Bhárata refers either to the immediate neighbourhood of Hastinápur and Indra-prastha, or else must be thrown back upon some locality further to the west or north, in the direction of Cabul or Cashmere.

remote quarters

of India.

Mythical character of the

scene in which

the Pandavas

themselves to Raja Viráta.

and Bhima pro

The scene in which the Pándavas first present themselves to Raja Viráta is as mythical as the first presented geography of the Raj. Their ostensible object was to conceal their real names, and yet they appear to Yudhishthira have provoked discovery, for Yudhishthira declares voke discovery. that he had been a retainer of Raja Yudhishthira, whilst Bhíma asserts that he had been cook to Raja Modern tone of Yudhishthira. Again, the language of Yudhishthira is the polished flattery of a suppliant in the court of a modern Raja; and is wholly wanting in that rude eloquence in which an ancient warrior His artificial re- might be expected to ask for protection. The bitter irony of Yudhishthira's explanation that he had been a teacher of dice, is wholly untrue to nature, and probably originated in sheer paucity of invention.

Yudhishthira's language.

ference to his

own losses.

INDIA. PART II.

to be a Brahman

er.

His losses at the gambling match may have indeed HISTORY OF suggested the idea to the Brahmanical compiler, but it is altogether incredible that he should have deliberately revived the agony of that hour, without any cause or reason whatever. His assertion that Asserts himself he was a Bráhman is equally unintelligible, and and a dice-playprobably originated in an abortive effort of the compilers to impart a Brahmanical tone to the legend; for the profession of gambling is scarcely compatible with that ideal of the Brahmanical caste which seems to have been generally present to the imaginations of the "arrangers."

guises of Bhima

as cook.

character of Ar

The disguises of Bhíma and Arjuna are also Mythical dissomewhat remarkable. The traditional appetite of and Arjuna. Bhíma seems to have suggested the idea of his serv- Bhima serving ing as a cook; although there are traces of a period when a knowledge of cookery was regarded as a royal accomplishment.5 But Arjuna's disguise is palpably mythical. By a miracle he became a Supernatural eunuch for a year; and, indeed, without some such juna's disguise miracle, the Brahmanical compilers could scarcely have ventured to introduce him into a zenana. Considering that the Pándavas were rude warriors living in the practice of polyandry, the idea itself is a glaring anachronism; although in accordance with the manners which appear to have prevailed in the Courts of the later and more effeminate Rajas.

as a eunuch.

racter of Draupadi's

servant.

The engagement of Draupadí is equally suggest- Mythical chaive of a myth. She declared that she had been the tion of a maidwaiting-maid of Krishna's wife, and the waitingmaid and dearest friend of Draupadí. The arrange- Extraordinary ment of her hair appears to have occasioned some her hair in con

5 See hereafter the tradition of Nala and Damayanti, where Damayanti discovers her husband through his disguise by the flavour of his cookery.

arrangement of

sequence of her VOW.

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