INDIA. PART II. etc., a disqualifi Aswamedha. of the later Brahmanical notion that it was a sacri- HISTORY OF fice for the atonement of sin and the acquisition of religious merit. Again, the disqualifications men- Low marriage, tioned by Krishna, as unfitting a man to assist at an cation for an Aswamedha; namely, marriage with an Asura wife, or with a wife of lower rank than himself, or residing in the house of a father-in-law;--are all breaches of Brahmanical law, which could scarcely have had any connection with the ancient celebration of an Aswamedha. Lastly, a palpable fable has been intro- Fable of the duced of a treasure hidden in the Himalayas, which Yudhishthira declined to accept because it had belonged to the Bráhmans; all of which may be regarded as a later interpolation, intended to indicate by a negative process the respect to be paid by Hindú Rajas to the Brahmanical hierarchy. and treasure. tions referring features in the nature of Krishna as a man of pleasure and as an incar nationof the Su Besides, however, these purely Brahmanical de- Large interpolatails, it will have been seen that the narrative of the to Krishna. capture of the horse is largely interpolated with incidents referring to Krishna, which are very curious and suggestive, and serve to illustrate that epicurean phase in the religion of the Hindus which will be discussed hereafter. Krishna appears not only as a lover Contradictory of women, but as prone to mirth and jesting; no doubt these were the characteristics of the mortal hero. But in elevating Krishna to the Godhead, preme being." and representing him as the incarnation of the Supreme Being, it seems to have been deemed necessary to invest him with divine attributes, such as the forgiveness of sins, and even to identify him with the universe in accordance with a pantheistic idea that the universe existed in him. The attempt Absurd attempts to harmonize these two opposite conceptions of conteste Krishna as a man and Krishna as a god, has re to harmonize conceptions. INDIA. PART II. Krishna's prac tical jest with women. HISTORY OF Sulted in a strange medley of absurdities; and these are especially manifest in the scenes between Krishna and Bhíma. Krishna reproaches Bhíma for his large stomach, his Asura wife, and his love of Bhíma retorts by an extravagant allusion to Krishna as the Supreme Being in whom the whole creation exists, not as an idea in the divine intellect, but in his stomach as an actual and material fact. Bhíma also refers to the traditionary history of Krishna, in which it is recorded that the hero married the daughter of a Bear, and indulged in a multiplicity of amours. The scene in the dining hall, in which Krishna is descanting upon the excellence of the dishes whilst Bhíma is kept outside frantic with hunger, is still more whimsical, and precisely in accordance with Hindú tastes. It is utterly devoid of religious meaning, but yet it is a part of the conception of Krishna: and pious worshippers will laugh all the more because the jest was perpetrated by Krishna, just as courtiers will laugh at the sorriest jest uttered by their sovereign. Mixture of jest. But the scenes in Krishna's motley camp exhibit incongruities which would surpass the mysteries of the middle ages, or the practices at the Dionysian festivals. A courtesan excites merriment by falling dining hall. ing and piety. 5 It would be difficult to find a more curious illustration of the wide difference between the idealism of the learned class of Hindús and the intense realism which is alone apprehended by the masses, than is here involved in the remark of Bhima as regards the universe. Many Pundits are perfectly capable of conceiving the creation as existing as a Divine idea in the mind of the Creator; and do indeed teach that all external nature, and the exploits of Krishna himself as a human being, are all Maya, or a delusion of the intellect. But the masses are totally incapable of apprehending such metaphysical conceptions. To them the mountains, rivers, and seas are absolute material facts, and nothing short of representing the universe as so much matter existing in the stomach of Krishna as the Creator of the universe, will render the cosmogony intelligible to the popular mind. As to Krishna's human character, that is to be dismissed as something incomprehensible, which the learned only can understand. INDIA. PART II. from her camel, and then proves her religious faith by HISTORY OF declaring that her sins are forgiven her because she has beheld Krishna. The benevolence of the deity is shown by his dubious liberality to a flower-girl ; whilst his humanity is displayed in a still more dubious exchange of jests with Bhíma respecting the jealousy of their wives at the presence of the courtesans. The bantering remarks of the men and Bantering of the women of Mathurá, and those of the Bráhmans and men at Madancing girls who welcomed the approach of Krishna to Hastinapur, are all of the same grotesque character; and instead of elevating a man into a deity, only tend to degrade the deity into a very ordinary mortal. men and wo thurá. dent of the old to leave her to bathe in the There is one other incident in the narrative of Natural incithe capture of the horse which is very curious; lady who refused namely, the story of the old mother of the Raja of household goods Badravati, who refused to leave her milk and butter Ganges. to the mercy of the servants, or to believe in the efficacy of Ganges water; and who accordingly by the advice of the Minister was carried away by force. The language of the old lady is startling from its truthfulness to human nature. She is a perfect type of a large class. The power of the Ganges water to wash away her sins was a newfangled doctrine which she utterly refused to believe. The springs in her own neighbourhood she declared were quite as good as the Ganges; in the same spirit that Naaman the Syrian declared that the rivers of Damascus were better than all the 6 This observation of the courtesan is a striking instance of that doctrine of the power of faith in Ráma and Krishna as incarnations of deity, which is insisted upon by the worshippers of Vishnu; as opposed to the doctrine of the power of good works, such as austerities and sacrifices, which is insisted upon by the worshippers of Siva. HISTORY OF rivers of Israel. In a word, she seems to have cared INDIA. PART II. more for her household goods than for the forgiveness of her sins; like Martha, she was cumbered with too much serving. Narrative of the loosening of the horse. the real adven by Brahmanical exaggeration over all the known world. The narrative of the second event in the performance of the Aswamedha, namely, the loosening of the horse, is quite as barren of real incidents as the narrative of the capture. The horse was loosened, and it was followed by Arjuna accompanied by a body of retainers; but there the authentic tradition Limited area of ends. The real adventures of the horse during the tures extended subsequent wanderings, were probably restricted to the immediate neighbourhood of Hastinapur; but in the Mahá Bhárata the travels of the horse are extended not only to the most remote quarters of India, but beyond the Bengal frontier to the city of Munnipore, and beyond the Himálaya mountains as far as the northern ocean. The whole of these adnected with the ventures may be treated as palpable fictions of a comparatively recent origin; but still they are well worthy of preservation, as they furnish striking illustrations of the current ideas which prevail amongst a people who are ignorant, credulous, and superstitious, but who are by no means wanting in the imaginative faculty. Value of the fictions con horse. Twelve legends connected with the horse. The so-called adventures of the horse are twelve in number, but literally they are twelve legends, or series of legends, connected with the countries into which the horse is said to have wandered. The identification of the countries in question is in many cases impossible, and if possible would be of little value, as will be clearly indicated hereafter. The heads of these twelve legends are as follows: 1st, The Prince with a thousand wives, whose HISTORY OF sister was married to Agni, the god of fire. 2nd, The disobedient wife who was transformed by her husband into a rock on account of her contumacy. 3rd, The Prince who was thrown by his father into a cauldron of hot oil, but preserved by prayer. 4th, The transformation of the horse into a mare and a lion. 5th, Adventures of Arjuna in a country of Amazons. 6th, Adventures in a country where men, women, and animals grew upon trees; where the people had blanket ears; and where human sacrifices were of fered. 7th, Arjuna slain and beheaded by his own son in the city of Munnipore, but restored to life by the application of a jewel brought from the city of serpents in the under world. 8th, The Raja who offered to cut himself in half in order to deliver the son of a Bráhman who had been seized by a lion. 9th, The fortunate life of Raja Chandrahasna. 10th, The Rishi who had dwelt for many Brahmas in an island of the Ocean beyond the Himálayas. 11th, The son of Jayadratha and Duhsalá miraculously restored to life by Krishna. 12th, Triumphant return of Arjuna with the horse and the conquered Rajas to the city of Hastinápur. The narrative of the loosening of the horse, and of the twelve adventures which followed, may now be related as follows: INDIA. PART II. |