INDIA. PART II. bear a son to the Raja, that son shall succeed him in the HISTORY OF Raj." And the vow of Sántanava became noised abroad, and ever from that day he went by the name of Bhishma, or "the dreadful," because of his dreadful vow. And the parents of the damsel gave her in marriage to Raja Sántanu, and her name was Satyavatí; and she bore two sons to the Raja. After this, Raja Sántanu was bowed down Death of Rajah with age, and his soul departed from his body; and he left his two younger sons, and their mother, Satyavatí, under the care of his eldest son, Bhishma. Sántanu. foregoing legend The foregoing legend of Raja Sántanu calls for Review of the but little remark. That an aged Raja should sigh of Raja Santanu. after the pleasures of matrimony, and desire to marry a young and blooming damsel, is an incident by no means unfrequent; but the idea that a son should sacrifice his right to the succession, and devote himself to a life of celibacy, for the sake of gratifying a doting father, can only be ascribed to that exaggerated idea of filial obedience which appears to be peculiar to the Hindús. Henceforth Bhishma, a leadBhishma becomes the patriarch of the family, and the Maha Bháis represented as a model of faithfulness and loyalty; and indeed stands forth as one of the leading characters in the Mahá Bhárata. ing character in rata. Raja Vichitravírya. The third legend, namely, that of Raja Vichitra- 3rd, Legend of vírya, involves two questions of considerable importance, namely, the real extent of the Raj of Bhárata, and the connection of the sage Vyása with the royal * An instance of the injury to which a son is exposed in the effort to gratify an aged father, is to be found in the family history of the late Ameers of Scinde. Meer Roostum was the eldest son of Meer Sohrab, who was the founder of the Talpoora dynasty in Upper Scinde, and died in his eighty-sixth year in 1830. Poor Meer Roostum procured a young wife for his aged father, and the young wife gave birth to the present Ali Moorad, who subsequently deprived Meer Roostum of his Raj, and effected his utter ruin. It was a curious question at the time whether Ali Moorad did not owe a debt of gratitude to Meer Roostum for that intervention without which he could scarcely have been born. INDIA. HISTORY OF house at Hastinápur. Before, however, opening up PART II. these discussions, the legend may be related as follows: Loyalty of Bhishma to half-brothers. When the days of mourning for Raja Sántanu were wards his two fully over, the faithful Bhishma refused to become Raja, and placed the elder of his two half-brothers upon the throne; but the young Raja was haughty and arrogant, and he went to war against the Gandharvas, who dwelt upon the hills, and he was slain by the Raja of the Gandharvas. Then Bhishma placed the younger brother upon the throne, and ruled the Raj until he should be grown; and the name of the young Rája was Vichitra-vírya. Accession of Legend of Bhishma carrying daughters of the In process of time Bhishma and the Rání Satyavatí away the three began to think of procuring wives for Raja Vichitra-vírya, Raja of Benares that he might perpetuate the race of the great Bhárata. Vichitra-virya. And it was told to Bhishma that the Raja of Kási® had to be wives to three daughters, and that the Raja was celebrating a Swayamvara in order that they might choose their own husbands. So Bhishma thought in his heart that the three damsels might become wives to Vichitra-vírya; and he ordered his chariot, and drove to the city of Kási, that he might see them with his own eyes. And Bhishma beheld the damsels, and saw that they were very beautiful; but the city was filled with Rajas from all quarters of the world, who desired to wed them. And Bhishma did not wait for the day of the Swayamvara, nor did he ask the Raja to give his daughters in marriage to Raja Vichitravírya; but he seized the three damsels, and placed them in Bhishma defeats his own chariot, and challenged every Raja present to do him battle. Then the Rajas attacked Bhishma in great wrath; but he was strong in arm, and skilful in the use of weapons; and he fought and conquered them every one, so that there was not another Raja left to come out against him. The Raní Satya- Thus did Bhishma win the daughters of the Raja of Kási, and all the Rajas at Benares. vati resolves to damsels to her marry the three carry them away in triumph to the city of Hastinapur. Now when Bhishma had brought the three damsels into son Vichitra vírya. • Kásí was the ancient name of the city of Benares. INDIA. PART II. est, declines to she is already the city, he took them to the palace, and led them into the HISTORY OF presence of the Rání, and told her how he had carried them away to be wives to Vichitra-vírya. And Satyavatí was much pleased with the beauty of the damsels, and she bestowed great praises upon Bhíshma, and resolved on marrying them to her son, the Raja. But when the day had come Amba, the eldon which the marriage was to be performed, the eldest of be married, as the three, whose name was Ambá, prayed the Rání not to betrothed. marry her to the Raja, saying:-"My father has already betrothed me to the Raja of Salwa, and I entreat you to send me to Salwa, for I cannot marry a second husband." And the Rání replied:-"Two wives will suffice for my son; therefore let Ambá go to the house of her husband." So Bhíshma sent Ambá under a safe-conduct to the Raja of Salwa; and Ambá told the Raja how she had been carried away by Bhishma, and had come to fulfil her betrothal. But the Miserable fate of Raja of Salwa replied:-" You have entered the dwelling of a strange man, and I will not take a woman to be my wife who has seen the face of a strange man." Then Ambá wept very bitterly and said :-" O Raja, no man has wronged me, and Bhishma is the last man who would lay his hand upon a woman, because of his dreadful vow: If, however, you cannot take me to be your wife, I pray you to receive me as your concubine, and suffer me to dwell here under your protection." But the Raja would not listen to her words, but ordered his servants to thrust her out of his city; and she went into the jungle and perished very miserably.ꞌ Ambá. Vichitra-virya. Meantime the marriage ceremonies of Raja Vichitra-vírya Marriage of were performed in the palace at Hastinápur, and the two younger daughters of the Raja of Kási became his wives. And Vichitra-vírya took great delight in his wives, and his days passed away in much joy; but after a while he sickened Death of Viand withered away until he died; and he left no child behind without issue. him, nor had either of his two wives any hope of becoming • The story of Ambá is overlaid with a mass of mythical matter, which has been eliminated from the above text as mere unmeaning fabrication. Thus she is said to have met with the mythical hero Parasu Ráma, who vainly tried to avenge her cause, but whose real home was more than a thousand miles from Hastinapur, on the Mahendra mountain near the coast of Coromandel. chitra-vírya HISTORY OF a mother. And the two widows were filled with sorrow, and INDIA. PART II. Ancient custom of raising up seed to a deceased kinsman. Bhishma's refusal. the Rání Satyavatí wept very bitterly, for her two sons were dead, and neither of them had left a son to perpetuate the race of Bhárata. you, Now the custom was that when a man died and left no son, his brother or near kinsman took his widows, and raised up seed to the dead man. So after some days the Rání Satyavatí said to Bhishma :-"Take the Raja's widows, I pray and raise up sons that shall be to him as his own sons. But Bhishma replied:-" How can I do this thing? Have I not vowed a vow that I would never become the father of Vyása, the sage, children by any woman?" So Satyavatí called upon a kinsman of her own to do her bidding; and his name was Vyása. Now this Vyása was a great Bráhman sage who dwelt in the jungle; and his form was terrible to behold on account of Vyása becomes his many austerities. And Vyása proceeded to the palace Dhritarashtra, at Hastinápur, and fulfilled the wishes of the Rání; but his requested to interfere. the father of the blind; Pán du, the pale; and Vidura, the presence filled the widows with terror. The first widow slave-born. Review of the foregoing legend of Raja Vichitravírya. No allusion to Sati in connection with his mother or wives. shut her eyes when she beheld him, and she gave birth to a son who was blind, and who was named Dhritarashtra ; and the second widow was so white with fear that she gave birth to a son who was pale, and who was named Pándu. Then Satyavatí requested Vyása to become the father of a thirdson, who should be without blemish; and the first widow would not go to him, but arrayed her maid-servant in garments of her own, and sent her to the sage in her stead; and the servant gave birth to a third son who was named Vidura. Thus were born three sons to the royal house at Hastinapur; namely, Dhritarashtra, the blind; Pándu, the pale; and Vidura, the slave-born. The foregoing legend of Raja Vichitra-vírya is one which demands a careful consideration. The opening portion of the story is simple and natural. The old Raja Sántanu was dead, and his youthful Rání appears to have lived many years after him as a matron and Queen mother; and it may be remarked that neither in her case, nor in that of her INDIA. PART II. daughters-in-law, is there any reference to the rite of HISTORY OF Satí, or that of the widow burning herself alive with the body of her deceased husband. Meantime Bhishma, in faithful adherence to his vow, had placed the sons of Satyavatí in succession upon the throne of Hastinápur. The first was slain in a war with a neighbouring tribe of Hill men; and the survivor, although only a boy, was acknowledged to be Raja, whilst Bhishma as guardian managed the affairs of the Raj. At length the young Raja Importance of approached the age of manhood, and it became dû households. necessary to provide him with a wife or wives; a question which is always considered of the highest importance in Hindú households, where the marriages of sons or daughters are arranged by parents or guardians, without any reference to the inclinations of the parties concerned, who indeed are generally so young as to have no inclinations at all. marriage in Hin racter of the le tra-virya were the Raja of Be The tradition of the marriage of Vichitra-vírya Suspicious cha to the daughters of the Raja of Kási is, however, gend, that the It would seem from the story that the daughters of very obscure. Kásí could have been at no great distance from nares." Hastinapur; for Bhishma drove there in his chariot, and drove back again in the same chariot with three young damsels. nares from Has But Kási is the ancient name of Distance of BeBenares, and Benares is five hundred miles from tinápur. Hastinapur as the crow flies. Moreover, in the Vedic age the Aryans could have advanced but a comparatively small way into the north-west quarter of India; and there is reason to believe that Hastinapur was an Aryan outpost in that direction; for it will be seen hereafter that when a branch of the family migrated southward from Hastinapur to the neighbourhood of Delhi, they |