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HISTORY OF heavier, it was called by that name, which signifies the

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4 This mythical estimate of the comparative value of the Maha Bhárata and the Vedas is of some importance; inasmuch as it indicates an attempt to exhibit the Brahmanical doctrines involved in the Mahá Bhárata as overriding the earlier religious belief which appears in the Vedas.

END OF THE MAHÁ BHÁRATA.

PART III.

EPISODES IN THE MAHÁ BHÁRATA.

CHAPTER I.

LEGENDS OF KRISHNA.

INDIA. PART III.

General character of the

Mahá Bhárata.

THE episodes in the Mahá Bhárata are very HISTORY OF numerous, and, indeed, form the bulk of the poem, but very few appear to possess any real historical value. They chiefly consist of mythical fables in- episodes in the tended to exalt the pretensions of the Brahmans, or to enforce the rules of Bráhmanism, or caste. Accordingly they generally refer to miracles performed by certain Brahmanical sages; to the rigour of their austerities; to their occasional adventures with celestial nymphs or other women, which led to the birth of heroes or heroines who were famous in tradition; to the mastery of the passions, which enabled certain ascetics to resist the most powerful female allurements; or, at the best, they are extravagant stories of the devotion of a wife or the obedience of a son or a pupil. Accordingly, by far the greater por

INDIA.

Absence of

historical value.

the legends

referring to Krishna.

HISTORY OF tion are utterly devoid of historical significance, and PART III. may be passed over as unmeaning myths, belonging to an age long posterior to the Vedic period, and tacked on to the main tradition of the Mahá Bhárata for the purpose of imbuing the masses with Importance of Brahmanical ideas. There is, however, one group of legends, namely, those which refer to the life of Krishna, which cannot be passed over in silence. Many, as will already have been seen, are interwoven with the story of the great war; but in addition to those already indicated, there are a series relating to the birth and adventures of Krishna before his pretended connection with the Pandavas, which are of twofold significance; first, as authentic traditions of the tribe of cowherds, known as Yádavas, who succeeded in establishing a Raj in the peninsula of Guzerat; and, secondly, as religious myths intended to represent Krishna, the hero of the Yádavas, as an incarnation of the Supreme Being known as Vishnu. In addition to these legends beside Krishna legends there are three stories which are valuable both on account of their intrinsic merits, and as belonging to three different epochs in Hindú history. The latter, however, will be treated hereafter. For the present the attention may be confined to the life of Krishna.

Their significance, historical and religious.

Three other

important

those connected with Krishna.

Historical character of Krishna as a

hero.

The historical character of Krishna as a hero may be briefly indicated. He appears to have belonged to a tribe well known in Hindú history as The Yadavas. that of the Yádavas, or descendants of Yadu. These Yádavas were a nomade race, who grazed cattle and made butter, and occasionally migrated to different places accompanied by their cows and wagThe time and circumstances under which

gons.

INDIA.

ment in the

of Mathura.

they first entered Hindústan are alike unknown. HISTORY OF At the birth of Krishna they appear to have settled PART III. in the neighbourhood of the city of Mathurá, the Their encampmodern Muttra, on the banks of the river Jum- neighbourhood ná, and about a hundred and twenty miles to the south of the site of the ancient city of Hastinápur. Had such been their geographical position in the time of the great war of Bhárata there would have been less reason to doubt the connection of Krishna with the Pandavas; although as cowherds they were regarded with great contempt by the Kshatriyas, and were supposed to belong to the inferior caste of Vaisyas. But at the time when Krishna is Migration of the said to have first come into contact with the Pán- Mathura to davas, he and his tribe had already migrated to Dwáraká, on the western coast of the peninsula of Guzerat, which is at least seven hundred miles from Hastinapur as the crow flies. Accordingly, it seems Improbability of impossible that such relations as those said to have tions between subsisted between Krishna and the Pándavas could Dwaraka and really have existed; and this suspicion is confirmed Hastinapur. by the mythical character of every event which apparently connects the Yádava Chieftains of Dwáraká with the royal house at Hastinapur.1

Yadavas from

Dwáraká.

intimate rela

the Yadavas of

theáPándavas of

acter of Krish

The personal character of Krishna will be found Personal charclearly indicated in the legends. He was originally

1 The Rajas of Vijaya-nagur, who in the fifteenth century of the Christian era maintained a supremacy over the whole of the country south of the Krishna river, and thus possessed the last great Hindú empire which was established in India, claimed to be descendants of the Yádava tribe; and it is a curious fact that it was from one of the decayed Chieftains of this fallen dynasty that the East India Company obtained in the first half of the seventeenth century the grant of land on the coast of Coromandel, on which stands the modern city of Madras. The original grant engraved on a gold plate appears to have been preserved for more than a century; but was finally lost in 1746, when Madras was captured by the French under Labourdonnais.

na.

INDIA.

PART III.

A cowherd famous for his pranks and

amours.

HISTORY OF a mere cowherd, stealing butter and performing other similar pranks when a boy, and rendering himself famous for his amours when he attained the years of manhood. About this time Krishna and his companions left their encampment at a rural village named Vrindávana, and paid a visit to the city of Mathurá, where they appear to have conducted themselves like boors and cowherds as they were. The time however appears to have been a Takes a part in critical one. Kansa, the Raja of Mathurá, was a Raja Kansa and usurper, and seems to have been unpopular with his slays the tyrant. subjects; and a tumult arose during a festival in which he was slain by Krishna. Henceforth Krishna ble the birth of is represented as a hero, and efforts were made to ennoble his birth by representing him to have been in reality the son of a chieftain of the tribe. How far these efforts were mythical may be gathered from the legends themselves.

a popular move

ment against

Subsequent

efforts to enno

Krishna.

Religious character of Krishna.

tion of Krishna

both to Siva and Indra.

The religious character of Krishna will be discussed hereafter. It will be sufficient to remark Implied opposi- that he appears to have been opposed alike to the worship of Siva and the worship of Indra. The first opposition appears natural enough, for as Krishna was represented as an incarnation of Vishnu, he was of course opposed to the god Siva; the worshippers of Vishnu and those of Siva being in strong antagonism for many centuries. But the opposition to Indra is remarkable, because Krishna induced the Yádavas to worship the mountain Govarddhana in the place of Indra; an incident which would imply a conflict between a low Fetische worship and the Connection of Worship of the Vedic deities. It will however be seen hereafter that Krishna was associated not only with Fetichism, but also with Buddhism; a circumstance

Krishna with Fetische worship and Buddhism.

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