CONSTITUTION OF THE PADMA-PURANA IN THE BENGAL RECENSION.

We have already remarked that the present Padma-p, hash come down to us in two distinct recensions: Devanagarl (South Indian) and Bengal (North Indian). In the last chap, the different constituent parts of the Devanagarl recension have been critically examined. In the Bengal mss, however, this Purana is found to consist of five Khandas arranged in the following order — (1) Shrishti, (2) Bhumi, (3) Svarga, (4) Patala and (5) Uttara. No ed. of the Bengal recension has been published. So, we think, a critical study of these Khandas as in the Bengal mss. is absolutely necessary for a correct appraisal of the different constituent parts of the Padma-p. in its Bengal recension. We propose to take up the Shrishti-khanda first

(1) THE SHRISHTI-KHANDA

 

No important and serious difference between the two recensions of tins Khanda is found The only interesting point to note is that all the Bengal mss of the Shrishti-khanda omit the portion of the Dharma-p. which has been added as an appendix to the Devanagarl counterpart of it. The Dharma-p. in its entire gamut has already been studied And let us now pass on to the next Khanda, i e., Bhumithanda.

 

We have examined five of the Bengal text of tbeBhumj khanda These are no 4517, B no 4493, C no 4-123, D no 7o6 and E which » not numbered, belong g to the National Library, Calcutta contains J33 chap?, in 2J3 fob (the number of the it fol is given as 113 through mistake The mistake begins from 121 where instead 121 only 21 has been written) The first three belong to the Asiatic Society (Calcutta) while the fourth one belongs to the Vartglya Sihitya Farisat Catcutta We have mamly followed A and except where tl ere is any special mention the references have been given from A.

We have also studied a fragmentary ms of the Bhiimi khan^a in possession of us It consists only of a few fob beginning from fol 4a and ending in fol 22 Thus it begins with the last part of chap 2 of the printed ed (2 13b) Its last portion tallies with 11 39a and for the vs 39b of the same chap it reads ‘dravySpaharopi pit!

purvam adyaiva tasya ca then comes 'pisacatvarp may! dattam asyaiva hi puratmanah (for 41b) and the last words are 'dravyaharanenapi.

In Marburg (West Germany) \N estdeutsche Bibhothek there is also another ms of the Bengal text of the BhGmi khan^a During our nay there, we have been able to examine it minutely There is however, no serious difference between this and the other mas of the same.

This is corroborated by the evidence of the Bengal mss of the Bhfimi thaptfa which say —

bhugola varnanam paic5t bhumi khaij^am idarp smftam (fol 223b of A, fol 233a of C and fol 234b of D It is to be noted that B does not contain these vss ) Last of all comes the description of terrestrial geography and it has been named Bhumi khanda B See fol 238a of C, fol 234b of D.

VVe will presently show how Sesha and VStsy! yana constituted the earlier set of interlocutor and hearer of the Padmn p Here, the description of bhumi-sarpsth! na begins from fol 208a and \ yasa here says that those topics were previously narrated by Seja to Vitsyayana (raumr v5tsy! yanab shc? arp pura papracchaetc fol 208a) In another place VatsySyana says O holder of the earth, i e, Shesha be pleased to tell us how much 'hie area ol inis earfn is ‘now many fne’neavens are and. what £ hc nether regions, i < , p3t! las are (kiyat pramanam bhu khanijarp svargSi ca kali bhudhara/ p3ti! lm ca kSnlha kjpay! tad vadasva nab// fol 203).

Moreover, the story relating how VSsuki and other n2gas requested the sage V 5tsyS yana to give a description of the earth as he had himself heard from Seja (who has been Identified with Sarpkarshat? a of Vyuha doctrine as given in fol 203) po nU to the fact that shesha was the original speaker It is needless to multiply examples.

 

(2) BHUMI-KHANDA.

 

The Bengal recension of the Bhumi-khanda of the Padma 1 differs in a considerable way from the Devanagarl counterpart of it But this too in its present form cannot be said to contain the earliest version of it. We have tried to show in our discussion about the Devanagari recension of the Bhumi-khanda that the Bhumi-khanda in its earlier form dealt with geography, 2 especially the terrestrial part of it. But curiously enough this is conspicuous by its absence in the Bengal recension also In view of this, it will not be unwise to presume that a considerable portion of the Bhumikhanda of the Bengal recension must have been lost. Still it is difficult to deny that the Bengal recension of the Bhumikhanda, even in its present form, is much earlier than its Devanagari counterpart as all the Bengal mss. of the Bhumikhanda retain Shesha and Vatsyayana, who, as we will see, form an earlier set of hearer and interlocutor.

We have made a thorough study of the mss of the Bengal recension of the Bhumi-khanda of the Padma-p, and are of opinion that some of their portions are entirely new and do not in any way correspond to the Devanagarl recension. It may be said for example that all the printed texts of the Bhumi-khanda, i e., Devanagari recension, end with the horse-sacrifice of King Vena, Ids attainment of heaven, and administration of the world (which was his empire) by his pious son Prthu. But the Bengal mss, do not end in a similar way. There it is said —

tatali sthavara-tirtham Jdrtitani hy-anekaiah /

bhargavenatlm ramena mksatri-karanarp bhuvah / / 4

vasuker-Yajna-samtane £ esa-darianarn-antatah /

vatsyayanena samvadah £ cshas)a panklrtitah / /

bhugola-varnanam paicat bhumi-khandam-idarp Smritam/

‘Afterwards man> immovable sacred places have been high! ) spoken of (and it is also related) how, Paraiurama, the descendant of Bhrgu annihilated the race of all Ksatriya kings (the line Vasuke etc. being not clear). The talk between Shesha and Vats) a> ana has been set forth, followed by the description of the terrestrial geography. It is named Bhumikhanda. 6 ’

 

4 The Paralurlinft episode hai been d-alt with in C from T 203a 204 But il has been introduced in a Vrry unnatural manner Tie story is much shorter than tn A and it u clear that some vs, from it seem to be musing for it begin abruptly unlike what we expect in a well-connected story It begins with the stealing away c/tl c Klma-dhemt (Honu-dhrmj) from the hermitage He beginning is as follows:

YtjQur-vgrlha rupena purl yatra sthito bhavat /

tatra mini mahlU lgas-tv-agmj|oma phalatp labhet / /

samudra mida-sarjunatto tudylnandad athJrcanam /

pramalhya cliramlt tasmld-dh nma-dhenos-tato ballt / /

j ah Ira vatasaip krofanU babhaftja [ca]rnahldrum3n /

sno{»S)g? tiya ca rlmlya udljcafta] pit! svayam //

glrp ca rorudaUm drilvi kopo rlroaqi m(i)amivdat f r 203 a But other urn. deal with the same epuodc tn quite an elaborate manner In D it has begun from f 2QCb and continues up to f 2Ha The corrripooding lines of D may be quoted:

ta yuddha-tnada-sammatto nlbhy-anandid athlrcanam /

ju} Iva (A reads jalJra) vatsarp bahhaftja ca „ mahldrumln / /

lgatlya ca tlmlya udlcasu pttl srayatn/nc etc A comparison between their two £ Ttjps ^ 'fas. revrali how full of m»ukes tletw C.

is and hence no weight 3 ould be given to it a regards tl u TaraiurlmJi epuode It appears that 511 are txutung from B in its itory of Padmapurana.

 A. f 223b, G f 238a, D f 2lb B does not possess these vss It that all the Bengal ms except B end with a running bnef summary of the whole Bhumt khan B ends with the following vs prathamairi SHU

khan hi dvulyam bhutm khankam /

gopradana saliasrasya phabrp prapnoti manavab//

All the it, Id padma purine bhunu khan padma purinatp samiptam (f IM- All other three, n„ have another chap more after tins.and D name. «‘h chap anukrama vamana while m C the last chap is namrf purina inalumS P It, evident that the end of B is rather abrupt and although tlrlha, i e, tmmovable sacred places, no such befitting descr.puon Let us put in deuds It omits vs, 141, 25a of chap 123 (of the printed ed) ChapJM (of the printed ed ) ha. not been made a separate one in the ms M 26 ’ cha P not found in, t and instead or these vss the following «» found leva gate deva-deveia its

cintya muhur muhuh f etat te sarvam

SkhyJtaip jafigamarp tirtham uttamam / /

sthlvaraiji te pravaUjykmi trbU^kamanS nrpa/

vasmhasya dillpasya satpvSda [4-e5]

of wh ich 1 as been But the glorification of the immovable sacred places a I ^ u rr made m the conversation between Vaaitfba and Dili pa, quested to pay a careful attention, is musing in te ms 2, 36b of chap 125 (of It is to be noted that C has an interesting end Vss irom the printed ed " do not occur in this ms Instead of these the following vs, occur kalau yuge gatlb svargam savedih.Jhga-sasvarJh 1

yab ko> sattvam Spannah 4rutvi saipbhSva tatparafc I /

Irotum icchati dharmitmi saputro bhsryayl saha /

jravane ca mahliraddhl purvaip tasya prajiyate / /

Irlvyamipasya tasylp. roahlvighnaS ca^saipcaret (

After 42b of the prmted ed the 1, 11 “ J"? j icr onc These are as follow, natural and these might have been retained from the earlier tato (hi) paritejSt tu bhagavin vSdarSyapah /

ilokanirp pafica paftciiat sabasram "

pflrayimSsa lokinSrp h.tiya paramarthatab /I ^ but „ dofJ

It contains the vs 48a of the last chap of the P rin ' cd < )t g0 „ on in not contain references to the other three ap rionfications of Vljnu which have been some vss (fourteen in number) J Itewd introduced rather untimely It prescribes tapdula and one dogdhikS MaMmiyl, Candda, and K, etra nJy.kS with tila and ta^uia gibhl should be contributed as dakp9%

It is interesting to note that the lines trti) am

sarga-Uiandam ca patalam tu caturthakam / /

paficamarp cottaram hliandam sarva-papapranalanam / 481, 49a)

Bengal recension of the Bhiimi-hhanda of the Padma-p. and are of opinion that some of their portions are entirely new and do not in any way correspond to the Devanagari recension. It may be said for example that all the printed texts of the Bhumi-hhanda, i.e, Devanagari recension, end with the horse-sacrifice of King Vena, his attainment ofhca\cn, and administration of the world (which was his empire) by his pious son Prthu. But the Bengal mss do not end in a similar way. There it is said —

tatah sthavara-tirthani kirtitani hj-anekaiah /

bhargavenatha ramena mhsatri-haranarp bhuvah / j

vasuher-Yajna-sarptane £ csa-darianam-antatah /

vatsyayanena samvadah Scsasya pankirtitah / /

bhugola-vamanam paScat bhumi-khandam-idani Smritam/

‘Afterwards many immovable sacred places have been highly spoken of (and it is also related) how, Paraiurarm, the descendant of Bhrgu annihilated the race of all Ksatriya kings (the line Vasuke etc. being not clear). The talk between Shesha and Vats) ayana has been set forth, followed by the description of the terrestrial geography. It is named Bhumikhanda. 6

It is interesting to note that the lines

trtiyam sarga-khandam ca patalam tu caturthakam / /

pancamam cottararp khandam sarva-papapranaSanam /

(chap 125 vss. 48b-49a)

are not found in an> of the Bengal mss. of the Bhumi-hhanda, proving thereby the ignorance of the Bengalees about the three latter Khandas of the Padma-p. They, however, were unanimous in placing the Srjti-khanda as the opening one of the Padma-p as it contained the vs. 48a (pratha mam Shrishtikhandarp hi bhOmi-hhandam dvitlyakam) of the same chap, of the printed ed.

 

4 The Parafurlroa episode has been dealt with in G from f 203a 2(H Hut it ha been introduced in ^ery Uftfiattifal manner The ttory u much shorter than tn A > d il is clear that some vw. from it seem to be musing, for it begins abruptly unlike what we expect in a well-connected story 11 begins with the stealing away of the hlmjdhrnu (Homa-< lhenu} from the hermitage T1 e beginning is as follow

vj^nr-variha mpeija puri yatra > thitol> havat/

Utra inSta piahlbhSgas-tv agni? (oma phalarp labhet//

amudra mda uipmaito nadySnandad aihSrcanam/

pramathya cliramSl tjumSdWJ oma-dhrnos-tato fcalli//

jahlra satasarp kro^antl babhafija fcaJmafiidrumJo /

no(si}gatkya a rlmSy tidl(cina) pits tvayam//

girp ca rorudatl/p dnt' kopo tlmaxp m(s)amlvdat /

 

But other m«- deal with the same rpnodc in quite an elaborate manner In I) it has begun from f 20Cb and continue up to f 2 Ms The corresponding lines of I) may be quoted a yuddh-macLi'atp r na t u> nihhy-anndd atMreanam/

jul Iva (A reads JafJra) vatsam Ircrfantyl Labhafl^a a 9 mah / /

AgxcXyi ea rlmkya tdirMa p»a »vayirn/eie ttc A companion between then? two group of v«- reveals how Tull of mntakrt U e m. C.

ia and hence no wnjf t should he given to it si regard iKi fitalurlnu rpuodr It appear i)u» 33 vn. are rnuun; born B in id »tncy of Parashurama.

 

A.f 223b, C f 238a, D f 234b B does not possess these vss It may be noted that all the Bengal mss except B end with a running brief summary of the whole of the Chums Lhantfa B ends with the following vs —

prathamaip srshp khantfarp hi dvitlyam bhumi khapt^akam J

gopradlna sahasrasya phalam prapnoti mAnavab / /

Jti in padma purApc bhumi khande padma purApam samAptam (f 153a) All the other three mss have another chap more after this and D names its last chap anukrama varpana while m G the last chap is named purana maluma vamana It is evident that the end of B is rather abrupt and although it promises to state sthSvara tlrtha, i e, immovable sacred places no such befitting description is found Let us put in details It omits vss I4b-25a of chap 123 (of the printed ed ) Chap 124 (of the printed ed } has not been made a separate one in the ms Vss 14 a 26 of chap 124 are not found in it and instead of these vss the following vss are found

kva gato deva-deveia iti emtya muhur muhub /

etat tc sarvam akhyStarp jaftgamarp tirtham uttamam f (

sthSvaratp te pravakshyami irnu? v-ekamanA nrpa }

vaaijthasya dihpasya sarpvAda [t c5] bhavat purA / /

But the glorification of the immovable sacred places, a mention of which has been made in the conversation between Vasijtha and DiHpa, anil to which the king is re quested to pay a careful attention, is missing in the ms.

It is to be noted that G has an interesting end Vss from 2lb-36b of chap |25 (of the printed ed ) do not occur in this ms Instead of these the following vss occur

kalau yugc gatAb svargarp savedAb sahga-sasvarAb /

yab ko’pi sattvam Apannab irutvA sambhAva-tatparab / /

irotum icchati dharmitmA saputro bhAryayA saha /

iravaije ca mahAiraddhA purvam tasya prajayate / /

£ rivyamApasya tasyApt mahAvighnai ca sarpearet /

f 233b.

The ms reads 42a of the same chap of the printed ed dvAtrirpiati sahasrSnAip (f 233b) instead of dvavnjdati-sahasrAnarp as found in the printed ed After 42b of the printed ed the ms has three additional lines which are most natural and these might have been retained from the earlier one. These are as follows

tato (hi) panicst tu bhagavan vadarAyanah /

ilokAnAqi pafica paftcaiat tahasrAiji dayaparab / /

purayAmAsa lokSnlip hitAya paramArthatab / f 233b.

It contains the vs 48a of the last chap of the printed ed (see f 234a) but it does not contain references to the other three Khapd a sh of the Padma p Then it goes on in some vss (fourteen m number) describing the glorifications of Vijnu which have been introduced rather untupety It prescribes homa to Vighneia, SiradS, Sureivarl, Jltavedo, MahAmiyA, Gaptjlda, and K? etra nAyikA with ti)a and ta^dul an d one dogdhikA gAbhl should be contributed as dakppA.

The peculiar feature of the Bengal mss. is that they distinguish between two hinds of tlrthas 6 of which the first they call jangama tirtha while the other is sthavara tirtha. Father, mother, spiritual preceptor and even the son also ha%e been regarded as tirthas and highest respect has been attributed to them. They arc not immotablc beings They can go and walk hither and thither. So they are termed as jangama tirtha. A father is an abode of sanctity to his children. Thus it is obvious that a particular jangama tirtha is perishable in the ordinary sense of the term. But the sthavara tirtha is imperishable These arc sacred rivers and mountains, holy places etc. These cannot move from one place to another. Thus by the term sthavara tirtha the permanent and important sacred places of the earth arc meant. Some important and wellknown sacred places as contained in the ms. of Bengal are alphabetically arranged and noted below.

The lake of Agastya, Agni-pura, the river Apaga, the mountain Arbuda, ASva-tirtha, Avanti, A^odhya, Badari, Bohuda, the lake Bhadrakama, Bhadravati, Bliartfsthona, the abode of Bhima, Bhogavati, Brahma-tlrtha, Brahmavarta, Campa, Camparanya — the abode of Mitra and Varuna, the ri\ erCarmanvathDadhrci-tirtha, Daksina'Sindhu, )cva-hrada, Dcvika, Dhara, Dharmaran^a, Dvaravatl, Jauri-Sikhara, GirMunja, GodSvari, Gokarna, 7 the hermitage of Gotama, Kalanjara, Kalika-samgama, the rivers Kalpana and Viiala — which are the dwelling places of Narayana Himself who always remains there near at hand and where Brahma and other gods, the sages, the ascetics, the Adityas, the Vasus and the Rudras worship Janardana, 8 Kamakhya (it is interesting to note that it has been regarded as a place associated with glorifications of Rudra Reference to aaktiworship is wanting there), Kanakhala, KancI, the hermitage of Kanva, Kanya-tirtha, Kapala-mocana, Kapila-tlrtha, the river Karatoya, K.ahshvara-tlrtha, the lake of Kauhka, the river KauSiki, Kaven, Kokamukha, Kosala, Koti-tlrtha, Kubjamaraka, Kumara, Kumbhakarnairama, Kundinapura, Kuruksetra, Kuru-tirtha, Lauhrtya, Mahakala, the mountain Mahendra, Mandakini, Mammati, Mathura, Maya, Medhavi-tirtha, Munjavat, Naga-tlrtha, Naimisa-kunja, Nanditu, the river Narmada, Pancanada, Pahcavati, PhalakI, Prabhasa, Prayaga, Prthudaka, Puskara, Puspavatl, RSjagrha 9 where Vishnu worshipped Rudra for the latter’s favour, Rama hrada 10, Rama-tirtha situated on the banks of the river Gomati, Renuka-tirtha, Rsabha, Rsikulya, Rudrakoti, Sapta-sarasvati-tirtha, the confluence of the river Sarasvati and the Sea, §a£ a-sthali, the confluence of the river Smdhu and the Sea, Sindhuttama, Sita-vana, the confluence of the river Sona and the Sea, Soma-tirtha, the mountain Shri, Smgaverapura, Sugandha, Surya-pura, Svarga dvara, Tnkuta, the Tiver Vaitaram, Varadana where Vishnu was granted boon by Durvasas, Varaha-tirtha, the hermitage of Vasistha, Vasudhara, Vena, Vimala, Vinasana 11, Vmdhya-tirtha, Vxraja, Vishnu-grha, Vitasta in Kashmir.

Let us now focus our attention on determining the date of this Khanda. On scrutiny we find that in the mss. an attempt has been made not to recognise Buddha as an incamation or God-head not to speak of eulogising him. In all the printed editions there is a vs. where Buddha has been deified and highly spoken of. 12 But in all the mss. this vs. is conspicuous by absence. Again on an examination of these mss. we find that there is an all-out effort to wipe out the influence of Jainism also. In chap. 36 of the printed editions wc see that a follower of Jina faith 18 comes to the court of Vena and preaches his own religion denouncing all others which include Vaishnavism also But in Bengal mss. such denouncement of Krishna-worship and adherence to Vaishnavism are also conspicuous by absence. Thus some vss. glorifying Vasudeva or Krishna (they have been taken as one; no difference being made between the two) which are not found in the printed editions, i.e., Devanagari recension, find place in the Bengal mss. There are quite a good number of such vss and we mention below a few of them:

vasudevabhidhanam hi sarvaSraya-pradayakam /

evam stotram maha-p unyam vasudevakhyamuttamam / /

In chap 36.14b, the Bengal mss. read ‘buddhi-rupam 1 instead of ‘jina-rupam. In the same chap, it is written ‘having spoken ill of other religions 14 ' but according to the Bengal recension the reading is ‘having thought of other religions 15 '. Thus the trace of blaming other religions (Vaishnavism also is included among the other religions as the speaker was a follower of Jainism) has been wiped out. It is needless to multiply such examples. 11 Here the river Sarasvatl flow being umeen over the surface of Meni Cf

anurhiil mem pntfie yatra y5ti tarasvatl » hutSya huta bhoktre ca, havTrupJya te namab /

buddhay budha-rt/p^ya iad3 btiddblya fe namab//

Bhumi-khap^a 31 43

» For a description of thal follower ee chap 36 vm. 4-6

11 vimndya dharmai^i aakalam 36 59a u viantya dharmaip saValam date]

 

This tends to prove that the ms was written during a period when there was a flow of different sectarian waves which built and modified the society in Bengal and at the same time there was a tremendous upsurge of the Vedic and Brahmamc dharma — the followers of which wanted to protect the society from the heretic belief A detailed discussion is, we believe, necessary in this respect.

The fact cannot be denied that the society of Bengal during the 5th, 6th and 7th centuries was in the firm grip of different sects and sectaries of which mention may be made of Pa^upata Shaivism, Jainism and Buddhism Let us take up the existence and supremacy of these sects and sectaries one by one.

The Mathura Pillar Inscription of Candragupta points out the fact that the lmgas of UpanuteSvara and Kapilesvara were erected by Uditacarya, descendant of Kusika 16 Dr D R Bhandarkar writes “Upamita and Kapila being descendants of Kusika must have been experts in PaSupata yoga 17 ” From Yuan Chwang’s travels we come to know that £ ashanka, King of Bengal, was an ardent follower of Shaivism The learned Chinese traveller relates the abortive attempt of King SaSanka to have the image of Buddha sitting under the Bodhi tree removed and replaced by one of Shiva 10 Moreover, SaSanka’s coins as preserved in the library of the British Museum have on one side Shiva mmbate reclining on Bull (Nandi) with hand uplifted holding an uncertain object 19 Thus it is obvious that SaSanka belonged to the Shaiva sect Bhaskaravarman, his contemporary king of Kamarupa, was also a staunch supporter of Shaivism The Nidhanpur copper plate of Bhaskaravarman begins with a salutation to Shiva 20 There is another piece of evidence to prove Bhaskaravarman’s adherence to Shaivism. In Banabhatta's Harsacarita there is explicit mention of his loyalty and attachment to Shiva's feet and none other. Thus it is obvious that there was the prevalence of Samsm in Bengal in 6th and 7th centuries A.D. From the evidence of the Bhagalpur copper-plate of NarSyanapala it is hard to avoid the conclusion that this Shaivism of Bengal was of the FaSupata sect. The following lines from that plate are quoted below in support of our contention —

maharajadhiraja-Shri-narayanapala-devena svayamkarita-sahasrayatanasya tatra pratisthapitasya bhagavatah Shivabhattarahasya paSupata ac^rya-parisada^-ca Yatharham puja-bali-caru-satra-navakarmady-artliam sayanasana-glana-pratyaya-bhaisajya-pariskarady-artham.. bhagavantam £ iva-bhattarakam-uddaya sasanikrtya pradattah, 21

It is also known that Maharaja Vainyagupta is represented as an ardent devotee of Mahadeva (Mahadeva-padanudhyata) in Gunaighar grant, 22 Along with this Paiupata Shaivism, Jainism also rose to a height of prominence It would not be judicious to deny that from a comparatively early period. Jainism took a stronghold in Bengal, The Paharpur copper-plate grant of the Gupta era 159 (478-479 AD.) deserves consideration in this connection. According to its editor, K. N. Dikshit, “the grant., records that a Brahmana and his wife deposited 3 dinaras.., for the maintenance of worship with sandal, incense, flowers, lamps etc. of the divine arhats at the vihara of Vata-Gohali which was presided over by the disciples and the disciples of the disciples of the Nigrantha preceptor Guhanandin, belonging to the Pahca-stupa section (ntkaya) of Benares 23 ” Yuan Chwang while travelhng through Pundravardhana has remarked that “the followers of the various sects lived pell mell, the Digambara Nigranthas being very numerous 24 ” While the learned traveller was travelling m Samatata, he says that " the various sects lived pell-mell, and the Digambara Nigranthas were very numerous 25 ” There is no doubt that Nigrantha was the earlier name of Jainism and the Jamas were formerly known as Nigranthas 26 Thus, we find that in the 6th and 7th centuries along with PaSupata Shaivism, there was a stronghold of Jainism-in the society of Bengal also.

It is also well-known that the law of Buddha was flourishing in Bengal from a comparatively early period Fa Hien travelled through India at the beginning of the 5th century A D He had seen a number of monasteries and stupas in Bengal According to Yuan Chwang, Buddhist monasteries belonging both to Hinayana and Mahayana sects abounded in Bengal From It-sing’s travels also we come to know of the prevalence of Buddhism in Bengal 27 Different schools of Hinayana, Mahayana, Sarvastivada (including Sammatiya) existed side by side during the 6th and 7th centuries AD In later days during the Pala period Buddhism gamed a momentum as the Palas were staunch Buddhists.

From all that has been said above it may appear even to a casual observer that there was a conglomeration of culture of PaSupata Shaivism, Jainism and Buddhism during the 6th and 7th centuries A D in Bengal. Bengal had drifted far indeed from the Vedic tenets due to the influence of these different sects Sections of common people became indifferent to the Vedic rules and injunctions They prided on their religious tenets which were outside the Vedic fold As such chaos and disorder in practice of religion and social customs followed. These chaotic conditions and unedifying practices connected with them resulted in social degeneration and cultural decadence.

At this crucial moment came fonvard the FurSnalaras who were mostly Vedic brahmins who accepted the gauntlet thrown by this new trend of thought. They took the Puranas as the channels of propagating their own views. They redacted the Puranas, changed these to suit their own purpose. There is little doubt in the fact that the influx of Vedic culture in Bengal gained momentum during the 6th and 7th centuries. The Tippcrah coppcr-plate refers to the settlement of Brahmanas versed in the four Vedas even in the easternmost part of Bengal. 8 The Nidhanpur coppcrplate of Bhaskaravarman speaks of the settlement of 205 Brahmanas of different Vedas, viz., Vajasaneyl, Chundogya, Vahvrcya, Carahya, Taittiriya in Sylhct. This Vedic culture was modified as the Brahmanical religion was a prominent factor during the reign of the Palas also. The Mungh> r Plate of Devapala records a grant oHand to bhatta-pravara VlhekaratamiSra who was shining in different Vedic lores. 30 The Badal Pillar Inscription speaks of KcdaramiSra as proficient in the meaning and interpretation of the Vedas. 31 From the Bangadh coppcr-platc of MahlpSla I, wc know that a piece of land was given to Krshnadit)asharm5, son of Madhusudana and grandson of belonging to Paraiara-gotra and S ak t ri-Vfii js f h a -Par fda ra -pr a va r a, This Krishnadityasarma has been described as a brahmacarin expert m the Yajur-veda, specialised in the Vajasaneyi branch of it, adept m Mimamsa, Vyakarana and Tarka 32 Thus the influx and fusion ofVedic and Brahmamcal religions bemg proved, an all out effort to purge those unwanted heretic elements from those writings stands, as we have seen, significant in the Bengal recension of the Bhumikhanda of the Padma p These social and religious reformers knew that if they could present a horrible and painful picture of the nether regions (where man has to go for his evil doings), they would perhaps be able to some extent to prevent the people from committing sins Thus the Bengal mss have four additional vss from vs 188 chap 66 of the printed editions There it is said ‘Terrible is the wrath and pathos of the serpents The evil doers are tied by rope and bitten Very quick are the birth and death of the insects and others The reptiles have to undergo manifold troubles The beasts and birds acutely suffer from hunger in summer, winter and rams Very frequently, the animals (mrga) feeling great hunger pain, remain afraid People going there are often tied down and bitten and they have to conquer hunger and thirst etc Fear was created due to the piercing of the nose There is constant friction with water 33 These dreadful pictures of the nether region presented by this text surely had an effect on the chaotic manners and customs then prevalent in society.

We have already shown how the society of Bengal was affected by PaSupata Shaivism Jainism and Buddhism during the sixth and seventh centuries A D The protest and retaliation of the Vedic and Brahmamc upholders of Dharma also gamed momentum during that period It has also been shown how this Bhumi-khanda of the Bengal recension bears ample evidence of it So, we may venture an opinion that the Bengal recension of the Bhumi khanda of the Padma-p should be dated during that period, i e, sixth and seventh centuries A D.

 

(3) THE SVARGA-KHANDA.

 

The interest of scholars in the Svarga-khanda of the Padma-p was first created by Vihan Lai Sarkar, who in his Sakuntala rahasya, a little book written in Bengali m 1896, tried to prove that the Sakuntala episode of this Khanda was the source of Kalidasa’s famous drama Abhijnanasakuntala A few years later Prof M Wmtemitz expressed his inclination for the same view m his Geschiehte der indischtn Literaiur, voJ I p 454 and vol III p 215, but said in a note.

" It will not be possible to decide the question of the source of the Sakuntala drama finally, as long as we do not possess a reliable text of the Padma-purana, and as long as it is not possible to make a thorough comparison of the two texts, in which one would have to consider also the question whether the author of the Purana may not have made use of Kalidasa’s drama” (Eng Tr).

In accordance with Prof Wintermtz’s suggestions, Prof Haradatta Sarma began, in 1923, his critical study of the stones of Sakuntal^ and Rama Dagarathi as occurnng respectively in Kalidasa’s Abhtjriana sakuntala and Raghu Vamsha err rfur trmr IrsiTcl and rik? Srsqga-iduenda «r nd khanda of the Padma p on the other, and in 1925 brought out his booklet entitled 1 Padma purana and Kalidasa 9 in which he tried to establish by a critical comparison of the texts that Kalidasa utilized the Padma p as his source As this view, though differing from that of H H. Wilson, 1 has attained wide circulation and given to the Svarga-khanda a garb of considerable antiquity, we shall examine this Khanda below and try to determine its position in the history of Puramc literature.

 

1 Wilson, Essays — Analytical, Critical and Philological, vo| III p 40 “ the first five chapters of the work (i e, Svarga-khanda) are appropriated to the narrative of Sakuntala and Dushyanta m which the drama of Kilidasa is evidently the authority that has been followed tl In his History of Sanskrit Literature p 140, S K De also says " The Pad/na j purana version is perhaps a recast of KlUdasas story, and there is no reason to think that Kalidasa derived his material from the Purana or from some earlier version of it "

It is to be noted that these opinions of Wilson and De are mere suggestions without any evidence adduced in their support.

1 Our present analysis of this KhansU is chiefly based on the Dacca University ms no 1625 This ms is complete in 86 folios and is written m Bengali script on millmade paper dated 1810 A D It was procured from Sun in the district of Birbhurn, and it consists of 40 chaps.

There are also other mss of this Khanda, viz, (0 Asiatic Society (Calcutta) mss nos 4416 and 4416A, for description of which sec Shastn Cat, vot V pp! 98(no 3462) and 202 (no 3470) These two mss, which look fresh and are complete, are written on country made paper in Bengali characters of the nineteenth century 00 Bodleian Library (Oxford) ms Cod no 114, for description of which sec Theodor Aufrecht, Catalogus Codicum Alanuscnptontm Sanscnticorum Bibliothecae BodUianae P 13, no 52

(mi) National Library (Calcutta) ms, which is not numbered.

(w) Vangiya Sihitya Parisat (Calcutta) ms no 757 See Chintaharan Chakravarti.

Descriptive Cal. of the Sanskrit Mss in the Farigfya SaAitya Part fat, Calcutta p 74

(») Westdeutsche Bibhothck (Marburg West Germany) ms 3174 no 87 See Walter Schubring and Klaus L Janert, Indische Handschnflen, Teil I p 39

(w) Two mss m possession of us Of these two mss f the former is much damaged and has lost its fust two folios containing vss 1-45 or chap I, and the latter, which is complete in 105 folios ends with the lines yatnena hkhitam gr a nth am yaS-corayati minavah / mlta ca Sdkarl tasya piti tasya ca gardabhah f f 4rlb astu lekhake pSthake ca /

Following the final colophon, there has been a wrong numbering of its folios from fol 22, which, before correction by a later hand, was numbered 20

It should be mentioned here that all the mss menboned above are written m Bengali script of the nineteenth century A D and present a text which consists of 40 chaps (one ms. in possession of us, however, consists of 38 chaps.) and agrees to great extent with that of the Dacca University ms There are, of course, some lines here and there or one or two chaps, in the different mss which are not found m the Dacca Univeniw ms For instance, one ms in possession of us, has in fol 33b the following three additional lines.

 

Though remaining unrecognized in the Devanagarl recension of the Padma-p. the Svarga-khanda 2 of the Bengal recension is a distinct text of varied interest. It begins with a few introductory vss., in which it is stated that terrestrial geography (bhugolam, bhumeh samsthanam) was dealt with in the immediately preceding Khanda (viz., Bhumikhanda), that this matter was originally spoken out by Shesha-naga to the sage Vatsyayana, and that the interlocution between Shesha and Vatsyayana was reported by Vyasa to Suta’s father, from whom Suta must have heard it. The mention of Shesha-naga and Vatsyayana as interlocutors in the Psitala-khanda as preserved in the Bengal mss as well as in all the printed editions (which represent the Devanagari version), Vatsyayana’s reference to the contents of the preceding Khan das in which Shesha is said to have spoken to him on the creation and destruction of the universe, terrestrial and celestial geography, details of luminaries, and other matters, and the fact that in the present texts of the Shrishti and the Bhumi-khanda (as found in the Devanagari mss. and the printed editions) there is no mention of Shesha-naga and Vatsyayana, tend to show that the Svargakhanda of the Bengal recension of the Padma-p. preserves an earlier tradition about the interlocutors of the Padma-p. that has been eliminated from the present Shrishti and Bhumikhanda. It can, therefore, be expected that in the Svargakhanda, which preserves the older sets of interlocutors, there are chaps, from an older form of the work. As a matter of fact, a careful study of the Svarga-khanda shows that there are two main stages through which the text of this Khanda has come down to us In the first stage it was a non-Vaishnava work belonging probably'to the Agnihotrins of the Tajur-veda who praised Surya and Agni and identified the latter with Rudra. It is remarkable that in chap. 8, which describes the regions (loka) of Bhanumat (i.e, the Sun), Mahendra and Agni, the muttering of Gayatri and the performance of sacrifices have been praised, spcdnl attention hat l> ecn given 1o thr Firr-god, and a story of R mini's birth at Agni VaiivXnara lias l> ccn narrated, but there is no mention of Vhnu except in a single lmr towards the end, in vvJiirJj Rmlra hat l> rrn adiiwJ b) Brahma to worship Vbmi (tapasA \ifnum-arAdh)a viharasva }atha-suUmm). Vam in the description of the Sun and the praise of Glivatri Jn this chap,, the name Aditya (and not Vmtu) occurs. Outs shoeing the original imnmnit) of this Khanka from Vannava influence The alienee of Vabnavn influence is aho to Ik! found in some of (he other chaps, (such as chap U); and in chap, 0 there is a storv which stairs that in a prrunus Kalps, Brahma practised severe austerities by muUrring the Rudr.vsuLta for man> thousands of sears stub the object of having Mahadrva as his son and that the latter fulfilled his wishes in thr VAraha Kalpi. It can lie little doubted that tins storv aims at giving to Mahadeva a jxmtion superior to that of Brahmt, the highest deity of thr original frt»m whom Rudra is sud in the r<! rv»f, and the tt/rtof to lmr f> ccn fx> m in the Varaha Kalpa...

 

by Smriti-writcrs and others from the Shrishti, Pat A la and Uttara-kharida. This fact is to be explained by saying that the Svarga-khanda originally dealt only with terrestrial geography and myths and legends, and did not contain any chap, on Smriti-mattcr.

The second stage of the Svarga-kharida was due to the activities of the Bhagavata Vaishnavas, who introduced the story of Bharata and described him as a Mahabhagavata (i.c., a great devotee of the Bhagavat). According to this story, Bharata, son of Dusyanta and Sakuntala, ruled his kingdom with great success and performed many sacrifices in honour of various gods. He practised severe austerities for the pleasure of Hari, and at last the latter was pleased to send an attendant, Sunanda by name, to take Bharata to Vaikuntha. As soon as Sunanda reached Bharata there came messengers from Jndra, Surya, Candra, Kuvcra, Shiva, Varuna, Yama and others to take Bharata to their own regions. Though repeatedly requested by these messengers to accompany them to their respective places, Bharata sent away all of them except Sunanda, whom he requested to speak on the heavenly regions — their position, extents, inhabitants etc. Consequently, Sunanda spoke, in chaps. 6-14, about the position and dimensions of the planets, the names, position, distance and inliabitants of the different Lokas (viz., Bhiir-loka, Bhuvar-loka etc. as well as Vaikuntha-Ioka, Shiva-loka, Guhyaka-loka, Gandharva-loka, Vidyadhara-Ioka, Apsaro-loka, and many others), and so on, and incorporated into Ins speech, as wc have already seen, fragments from an earlier form of the Svargakhanda'

Besides the chaps, mentioned above, there arc also many others which were added to the Svarga-khand 3 during its Vaishnava recast. These arc especially the chaps, or sections dealing with Smpi-matters, which bear unmistakable stamps of late dates. On the other hand, a few cliaps. of the earlier Svarga-khanda mint have been eliminated during this recast. Tbit is evidenced by certain references contained in the Svarga-khapd 3 and in the Patala-khanda For instance, in chap 24 \S. 3 of the Svarga-khanda Shesha says to Vatsyayana

yayater nahusasyapi caritam kirtitam tava / /

I have described to you the conduct of Yayati and Nahusa also.

In Patala-khanda, chap 1 vss 6-7, Vatsyayana refers to the contents of the Svarga-khanda saying, tatraneka-mahapapa-hara rama-katha krta / /

tasya virasya ramasya hayamedha-katha Sruta /

samksepato maya tvattah / /

There (l e, in the Svarga-khanda) you have narrated the Rama-story which destroys manifold great sins I have heard from you m brief the story of the horse-sacrifice of that hero, Rama.

But it is specially remarkable that the Svarga-khanda contains no chap or section on any of these topics.

We have already referred to the Sakuntala episode as occurring m Svarga-khanda chaps 1-6 This episode is a part or the story of Bharata, which, as we shall see below, is of a very late origin and was put into the Svarga-khanda at the time of its revision by the Vaishnavas So it is not correct to say that Kalidasa borrowed this episode from the Svarga-khanda It is the Svarga-khanda which is undoubtedly the borrower It became almost a custom with the Puramc writers to utilize the contents of, or plagiarize extracts or vss from, the writings of great poets of old For instance, the compiler of the Vishnu-dharmottara has used Kalidasa’s Vikramorvaiiya and Raghu-Vamsha\ the Shiva-p has utilized the ideas and language of Kalidasa’s Kumara sambkava 1 and Raghu vamia h i and the Shiva-p as preserved in the Bengal mss, has m its Uttara-hhanda {chaps 13-18) the story of the birth of Skanda which is clearly based on that of Kalidasa’s Kumara-sambkava There are also evidences to show that the authors of many other Puranas borrowed ideas and expressions even from Bharavi’s Ktrdiarjumja 6, Magha’s Sisupala-vadka and so on It is not at all probable that powerful writers like Kalidasa, Bharavi and Magha used so many Puranas as their respective sources; on the other hand, it admits oflittle doubt that these Puranas found the writings of the established poets very helpful to them. The latter possibility gains ground when we see that all these Puranas are works of comparatively late origin and could not ha\e been utilized by the above-mentioned writers. An investigation into the date of the present Svarga-khanda and the various sources utilized in it, will show that this w ork also does not form any exception to the general practice of the Puranas and that it derived materials from Kalidasa’s works and not vice versa.

That the Svarga-khanda in its present form is a very late work, can be proved by various evidences, internal and external. It mentions the Sdma-ieda H i A(harva-{iras 9 y Aranjaka-Jastras l0, Itihasa 11 (i.e., Mbh.), Bkdsja 12 (i.c., Patanjali’s Mahabhasya) etc. and seems to refer to the Mami-smTli} and the J^Qiya-idsira of Bharata 14. It knows and names the twelve zodiacal signs (ra£ i ) 15 which do not appear to have been known in India down to the time of the Yajnavalkya-Smriti u. On several occasions it speaks on the new order of Naksatras from Aiunl to Rrsati 1 an order sshteh was unknown to the: isHjzirrti an i the latent Ix> ohs of the A/M hut came to hr accepted at an established fact in all parts of India during the tine of Varahimihira, The famous astronomer orthe sixth ccnturv A I) fly us me nf the word \3ra (meaning weekdas) in vs. 10 of chip 7 this Khandt clear! ) betray its knowledge of the names of s\erk'hvs f the earliest dated tnnxti »n of one of which was traced b\ J F. I lert in the Fran Inscription r> r 18 J A 1) 11 Tulast, whose mention in Sanskrit literature as a sacral plant connected with Vahnavism is rather Utr, Jm been glorified in this Khanda on two ncca siom, in one of which this plant Ins hern deified and placet! in the same rank with prominent goddesses like Mvitri, IliitilS, Mriulakunl anti harass atp # and in the other it has Ix-tn calla! a form of Vismi Rfidhl Ins lx-m mentioned t nee \tn chap 21 vi SGonfol G5l») ami said to ha\e hern tUairr to Kpm dun his awn life The Ssli^rSmi stone has tcn prana] on tnrnl nuaiiom 1 as a medium of Vnnuworship am! «ncr nnl to Ik identical with Vi»nu himself. I ur liter, In ih reference to the \irw that Vasmlrsa was Ixirn to IVsJiCai as Kapdv this Kln^h seems to point \i\ 4 cm p! U 21-33 in which thr stars ofVtsmi’s birth In D^sahfm as KaptU hts l> een nutated at length It rccogtmrt the jwtf nuance of lantnc ritrs and ceremonies rsen h\ hal 'nnt, frooihs the lantnc methyl m Vtsuti won 4. p”, im hides d - lantm % antra digram' among the mediums of worship 25, introduces Tan trie elements (such as bhuta-iuddhi, nyasa etc.) into the method of Vishnu-worship 26, and knows the Pasandi (or Agamic) Shaivas who are said to have initiated people to Tantric Shaivism, to have, transgressed all bounds of the Vedic Dharma, and to have drunk wine 27. By its mention of Shiva’s curse that His residence (purl) at Benares would be replaced by a new one in the Kali age 23, this Khanda seems to betray its knowledge of the destruction of the Shiva-temple of Benares by Muslim invaders.

In chap. 16, as wc shall see hereinafter, it gives the story of Bhagiratha’s birth with certain innovations which we know from the testimony of other works to be undoubtedly of late origin. Thus, the present Svarga-khanda cannot be dated earlier than the fourteenth century A.D, and this late date of this part of Padma-p. seems to be supported by the fact that not a single Smrd-w ritcr 9 early or late, is found to refer to or draw upon this Khanda although it contains a number of chaps, on Smriti-topics. The lack of Magian influence in the story of Saipjna as contained in chap. 11 (vss. 831T., on fols. 28a-30a) need not be taken to go against the above date of this Khanda, because this story has been taken verbatim from the Skanda-p. khanda 1.1 7. G8/T.).

The late date, to which we have assigned the present Svarga-khanda, does not, however, mean that no part of the Padma-p. entitled Svarga-khanda existed before that date. We have already said that the present Svarga-khanda has passed through two main stages, that some extracts and vss. and the interlocution between Wnaga and Vatsva yana have been retained in the present Svarga-khanda from the earlier form of this work, and that its second stage was dim to the activities of the Bhagavata-Vaishnavas, who subjected this Khanda to a destructive recast resulting in it. nnd character. We have also ntentS ^ K“h the recenstom of the PaJma-f. the Tatala-lhanda begins an interlocution between Shesha and Val sy 5 y ana and refers to the interlocutors and contents of the nrecvl? ^, including the Svarga-khanda. Now, ' T prl^C^" khanda has been repeatedly drawn upon by GoDal-thJ T in his Hari-bhakU-mlasa -» So, there can be no doubUh Svarga-khanda existed much earlier than the century A.D. (after which, as we have stated aboTf Khanda passed through its second stage). ’ imsh

A careful examination of the Svarga-khanda shows that it is more a compilation than an original work It h derived a large number of chaps, and isolated vss frn? Mbh 30 > ^- 31. Manu-SmritP 2, Skanda-p (KaS-khanda)« et

 

The story of Sakuntafa, as given in Svarga-khanda, chaps. 1-6, is nothing but a reproduction of the MbL story modified with the ideas and language of Kalidasa’s famous drama Abhijnana-Sakuntala - As this story' has maximum agreement with the language and details of the SakuntaJa story of the Mbh we cannot agree with M. Winternitz, H. H Wilson and others when they say that this story', as occurring in the Svarga-khanda, follows more, or is a recast of that given in Kalidasa’s drama. As regards the description of the Guhyakaloka and the stories of Fingaksa (a brahmin), Samjna (wife of Surya), Dhruva (son of king Uttanapada) and Divodasa (king of Kail) of the Svarga-khanda it is evident that they are more or less reproductions of those given in the Kasikhanda of the Skanda-p the peculiarity being that the compiler of the Svarga-khanda has tried to efface the Shaiva stamp out of these For instance, Hie story of Divodasa of the Kahkhanda ( 1. 8), which is a very long one in comparison with that of the Svarga-khanda, contains high praise of Kail and of Shiva-lihgas established there by different persons, but in the Svarga-khanda the compiler has effaced the Shaiva stamp to a very great extent and also introduced innovations at places. As these changes are not many and vital, it must be admitted that the author, or rather compiler, of this Khanda has contributed little to its making.

The Svarga-khanda, in its present form, is undoubtedly a work of Bengal. All the mss of this Khanda available so far are written in Bengali script and have been discovered in Bengal Among the rivers to be summoned during bath, this Khanda includes the names of the Padmavati, Svarnarekha and Kausiki 34. Of these three rivers the first, generally' called Padma originated in Bengal at a comparatively late period from a channel connecting the waters of the Ganges with those of the Yamuna and the Brahmaputra and is found mentioned and glorified in the works of Bengal and Kamarupa only, 35 the second, better known as Suvarnarekha, is a small river in the westein part of the Midnapur district of Bengal, and the third, popularly called Ko^i, a tributary formerly to the Karatoya and later on to the Ganges, once marked the boundary between Bengal and Mithila The mention of these rivers and their glorification as highly sacred like the Ganga, Yamuna, Godavari and Sarasvati, show that the Svarga khanda could not be written by any one other than an inhabitant of Bengal Further, the etymological explanation of the name Bhagiratha and the peculiar story of Bhagiratha’s birth, as contained in chap 16 of the Svarga khanda, arc found only m the works of Bengal This story is as follows.

Dihpa, the illustrious king of the solar race, died sonless Being eager for a male issue his two widowed wives approached their family priest Vasistha in his hermitage and requested him to see that the line of Sagara might continue Vasistha plunged into a deep meditation and then assured the queens saying.

The line of Manu will not come to an end, O fine eyed ladies I foresee that a great son will be born to you, O auspicious ones So, I shall make the best efforts for your sake. 36

VaSistha then performed a Putresti sacrifice and prepared a kind of highly powerful food called Caru, which he gave to the queens with the advice that one of them w as to take that Caru and the other was to have sexual union with her, be having like a male 37 The queens did so, and in course of time the elder of them gave birth to a boneless son who was no better than a lump of flesh, as is usual in the case of union of females Being born from the union of only the organs of generation (bhaga) of females, this son was named Bhagiratha 38. He began to grow, up and learnt all the Vedas in his boyhood; but, having no bones in his body, he had an ugly look and crooked limbs One day, when going to his teacher's house for Vedic study, Bhagiratha met the sage Astavakra on the way and bowed down to him. Although Bhaglratha's hmbs were deformed and unsteady and his words faltering by nature, the sage rushed into a fury and said:

If thou hast bowed down to me by showing the crookedness (of the body) with the intention of ridiculing me, then thou shalt be reduced to ashes by my words, and not otherwise. If (on the other hand), this crooked figure has been natural to thee, then ma> cst thou attain a beautiful appearance and become strong immediately 39.

As soon as the sage uttered these words, Bhagiratha turned strong, heroic and beautiful like Cupid.

It is to be noted that it is only in Kfttivasa’s Ram.

 

…to ensure the birth of a son to the widowed wives of Dihpn, nor does it mate any mention of the sage Astfvakra or of his meeting with Bhaglratha On the other hand, it is said that Brahma brought about the sexual union of the widowed queens Candra and Mill with the active help of Madana and that Bhagiratha was born with a norma] body and not as a boneless lump of flesh As regards Bhagiratha’s name this story also says bhage hhage saqtbhog je tithe upagata brahma dev thuilen nam bhagirath 41 Edited by Satish Chandra Roy and published by the Dacca University in 1339 dihper dui strlye jam sab tattva duyaner saipyogc jannuJS bhagirath For this vs, mss Ka, Kha and Gha (used in this cd ) read dui strlr bhage bhage karde janmila samtati bhagirath nam tir.

For this second vs see also Ganga govinda Sarman s ed (p 99) which was published in 1321 BS According to Satvsh Chandra Roy, Bhavananda’s ffanwnji^a was composed m Sylhet or Ttpperah sometime between the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries A D 4 Mukundaram Chakravartin's KavikaAkana^aridi pp 776-777 According to this story given by Mukundaram it was the sage Durvasas who blessed one of the two widowed queens of Ddipa to have a son and advised her to unite sexually with the other wife of Dilipa This story agrees with that of the Svarga khan^a in introducing the sage A|t5vakra and m giving the etymological explanation of Bhagiratha’s name (dui bhage janmilen nam bhagirath) See also Adbhutacharya’s Ram, Adi kSnda, of which the story is very similar to that of ms Kha used by Dr N K Bhattashah in. hu ed of Kfttivisa a Ram » Adi kanda According to Dr Bhattashah Adbbutacarya (abas Nuyananda) was born m 1547 AD and lived during the reign of Akbar, the Mughal emperor of D t\\n See Dr Bhattashah’s introduction (pp xlvu xlvm) to his ed of the Adi Linda of KfttivSja’s Ram In the unique ms of the Vajtffha Ram (written in Sanskrit) which was procured from the district of Bubhum and » now preserved in the Dacca University mss Library (ms no 249), the story of Bhagiratha’s birth from the Union of his mothers has been given.

 

Bhavananda’s HariVamsha n and some other comparatively late works or Bengal 42 that we find this story of Bhagiratha’s birth, which thus appears to have originated in this province and attained great popularity here at a comparatively late period The use of the root Vas’ in the sense of sitting in Svarga-khanda 13.35 is notable in this connection.

We have already said that the present form of the Svarga-khanda is due to a revision of this part by the Vishnuworshippers, who were undoubtedly Bhagavatas as indicated by a number of passages contained in it. Tor instance, in chap. I vs. 11 (on fob lb) and chap. 5 vs. 74 (on fol. lib) Bharata (alias Sarvadamana) is called a Mahabhagavata for his devotion to Vishnu; so also is Dhruva, son of king Uttanapada and a great devotee of Vishnu, in chap, 12 vs, 83 (on fol. 33a); in chap, 7 vs, 20 (on fol. 14a) Narada is said to have been respected by the Bhagavatas in the region of Vishnu (.. ♦ vijnu-loke man\o bhagavataih sada); and in chaps. 12 and 13 the twelve-syllabled Bhagavata mantra of Vasudeva, viz,, om namo bhagavate vashudevaya has been referred to in twovss 43 and actually given in one 44. According to these Vaishnavas, Vishnu, also called Vasudeva on many occasions 43, is the highest god 44 and is the same as Narayana 4? . He has four hands, looks blue like a full-blown blue lotus, and wears yellow clothes 45. He effects the creation, preservation and destruction of the universe even by a mere movement of his brow 49. He is the same as yajna-purusa 50 and is the inner soul of the universe 51 and in his supreme state he is beyond pradhana-purma and is identical with the supreme brahma (paramam brahma) 52 It is said that the Vaishnavas do not desire the attainment of any region other than that of Vishnu 53 and that by selflessly singing the praise of this god one can easily attain final liberation 54.

Though extolling Vishnu as the highest deity the Vaishnava redactors of the Svarga-khanda were not at all antagonistic to Shiva but bore a compromising attitude towards this deity. They were of opinion that by singing the praise of both Hari and Hara one can attain final release or at least the proximity of these two deities 55. These Vaishnavas, however, subordinated Shiva to Vishnu when they said that people hating no devotion for Hari but devoutly worshipping oiva, attained the state of PiSacas 6, that a songster, who fails to attain the highest state of existence by singing songs, becomes an attendant of Rudra and lives happily with him 57, and that the Bhutas, Fisacas and other attendants of Rudra who had little merit, became the devotees of Mahe£ a BS. This attitude of the Vaishnavas was caused by their intention to influence the Shaivas, as also the Shaktas who have been mentioned on two occasions 50, with their own faith and practice (including fast on the Ekada£ i tithi, of which much has been said in several places).

As regards the language of the Svarga-khanda it may be said that like many other Puranas this Khanda also, being meant for the general public, contains some un-Paninian forms and usages For instance, it uses the word ‘dagdha as a noun (for ‘dagdlu’) in 18, 16 (on fol, 48a) — dagdham praptam puram sarvam yatha-ruci tatha kuru; the word ‘jara’ (which is a noun) has been used as an adjective (meaning ‘old’) in 5 53 (on fol. 11a) — tatra Kacy-jara nari brahman! balam-adbhutam/lalayantl nrpam viksya etc. There is irregular Sandhi in ‘paSyatetmanah ( — patyate+atmanah) in 4.7 (on fob 8b) — yada tu mukham-adarse vikrtam pafyatetmanah; the Bahuvrihi compound formed of ‘vi 5 and ‘manas’ is ‘vimana, 8 a feminine word ending in ‘a and being declined as ‘lata" (see 4 32) — sva-grhayaiva tarn netum vimanam-upacakrame; Lit has been used with a nominative in the first person, e g., in 10.26 — chidranvesl garbham-etam cakartaham sva-sadhakah; the Krdanta word ‘usya’ has been derived from the root ‘vas > 6 with the Krt affix ‘lyap 8, e.g, 13 35 — usya rajasane ramye palayasva vasumdharam; and so on As most of these forms and usages occur in those vss of the Svarga-khanda which have been derived from, or influenced by, the Mbh. they have little value in determining the age of this part of the Padma-p, 61

 

(4) THE PATALA-KHANDA.

 

Tor various reasons the Patals-khanda of the Bengal recension deserves careful attention. A few chaps, at its beginning throw a flood of light on some obscure points of the Ram, It is needless to state, these are missing in all the five printed editions of the Padma-p, We have consulted four mss. of the Patala-khanda of the Padma-p. 1 of the Bengal recension and have noticed that each one of it contains those chaps, which are not found in the Devanagari, j.c., printed editions Before giving a brief summary of these chaps, which have not been printed so far, it should be pointed out that in the Patala-khanda of the Bengal recension there are practically' four groups of chaps., of which the first (chaps. 1-28) stands pre-eminent This group is not found in the printed editions. It deals with the seven nether worlds, the story of Ravana, the story of burning Tripura (i c., three cities), the legends of the kings of the solar dynasty. The third group comprising chaps. 97-99 is also not found in the printed editions. This furnishes a genealogical list of the kings who occupied the throne after Rama. The second and the fourth groups, comprising chaps. 29-96 and 100-112 respectively tally more or less with chaps. 1-68 and 100-113 respectively of the Ams. ed. This grouping is clearly manifest in the page numbering of one of the mss. which we have consulted. There we find an extra numbering of the pages (beginning from I) is given after p. 20G where the Ramastory comes to an end and the Krishna-Iegend begins.

We have already mentioned the importance of group I which docs not occur in the printed editions. Hence we think it necessary to furnish a brief survey of this group.

It consists of tucntycight chaps, of which the first chap, speaks of the seven nether worlds (i.c., Pat alas). These are named as Atala, Vitala, Sutala, Talatala, Mahatala, Rasatala and Patala. They arc situated one below the other at a distance of an ayuta yojana. These seven nether regions arc inhabited by the Daityas, Danavas and Kadraveyas. Houses in these regions arc designed and constructed by Maya. They arc known as underground heavens (vilasvargah). In them, there is an absence of old age, decay or fatigue owing to the application of some heavenly tonic (dwyausadhirasayana). The inhabitants even defy death. They are afraid of the SudarSana Cakra 4 alone.

In Atala which is situated just under the earth at a distance of an ayuta yojana lives Maya’s son, who is Mahamaya and who is adept in practising nmetysix kinds of maya.

 

Of these four mu one belongs to the Asiatic Society (no. C 4416 \) Wc should call it Ai [For description of tbu ms, see Shostn Cat, vol v pp 202 203) The second of the Dace University rn« Library mt no 1623 ft hat been named B.

The third one or C bet in the National Library. Calcutta ft has full from I to 244 In all there are B3 chap, in it.

The ms- of the Pltlla kbapd which we possess is % fragmentary one We should call « D It poav-we only fortysix Wins, brginiun; with f 22la and ending in f 2GGa (chaps 99112) Endoitly the beginning ti to be treated as fast Its end is ftauiif to that of the other Bengal m» In the colophon of the last chap we find id tH padma purity plLlla k ha ode anukrama-va rrunarp nlma frlr-astu lekhake pi (hake ca From thw and from the brgmmngof tfcelasf duft, i 112 (which Is as follows tfitt uvlea IfOUtlnukramam vipra IhafvJjijrylxya mahl phalam)

vrt come to know the arrangement of the sol ject matter draft with In tie TTrlU-U^anda.

 

 

1 The colophon of the 7lit chap winch ends m f 207a is as fallow!

ill frl padma purine p5t5la khan lc p5r5yana rnlhJUmye cka-aptainamo‘dhyJyah Samiptarp eedaip rSirUyantm Shri rJVmacandrlya rumi^ ^rl raghunMhiya (namah).

Thus it is obvious that here the Ram story conics to an end It is interesting to note lhat although from the next folio pagination is given as 207. 203, 200 etc, the pages following have a separate marking too, i.e, these have been marked with 1, 2, 3 eic The next chap after the Rim story is numbered I and not 72 as it should have been The colophon of the chap in question may be quoted in Ihii connection It runs thus iti < rl padma pur5ge pitlb khantfe prathamo dhy3yah (f 5 or f 211)

4 vayab kaiSoram-evSlra vasatSrp myatarp dvija /

na ca mftyu bhayaqt te? 5m vja 5 cakrlt ludarfanSt / {

bhindanti ye ca marySdJrp balonnaddhJ mah5»ur5b /

praviiya bbagavae-cakratp 15n hinasti Budartanab f f tasmin pravi^e dharmajfie vi? Ou-cakre sudariane f garbhi asura n5r1i? 5rp sravanti ca patanti ca f j

 

Some of these mayas are still extant among some persons. When he is yawning, the harlots (punricalls), amorous (kaminis) and wanton women (svairinls) who are as beautiful as heavenly nymphs (apsaras) come out of his mouth. These females approach people who, after heavenly enjoyment, attain the vila-svarga by the remnant of their merit.

In Vitala which is situated under Atala sports Hara, known as Bhagavan HatakeSvara with His female consort (Bhavani), His attendants (bhuta-gana) and friends (parsadas). Here there is a big river named Hataki which originated from the energy (retas) of Bhava and Bhavani.

The Fire-god drank of it and then spat out its water raised by Vayu and from it originated the bright gold named Hataka 5.

In Sutala lives Bali who is famous for his charity. He is made to live there by Bhagavan adi-purusa in the form ofVamana who serves there as the gate-keeper. Here enters Ravana with a view to conquering Bali’s empire.

The second chap, begins with the story of Ravana’s receipt of boon from the creator and his defeating the gods including Indra. He enters into Sutala with an army for defeating Bali Leaving his army outside, Ravana enters the city alone, reaches Bali’s palace and meets Narayana at the gate. He declares himself as Ravana, the vanquisher of Kuvera, Yama and others and wants to defeat Bali. Narayana refuses to fight with him then and keeps silent after warning him saying —

‘I O Ravana, being born in the solar dynasty will kill you. 6 ’

Ravana does not pay heed to Narayana’s words. He enters Bali’s house. The moment he enters the third chamber, the grooms (suta, baji-raksin and aiva-raksaka) of Bali challenge him He defies them also, and the result is that he is tied hand and foot by these grooms and placed in the stable Bali is informed In the meantime Ravana is feeling the pinches of hunger and thirst He requests the maidservants (ditsi) ofBalitosave Im life by giving him water and a morsel of food These female attendants of Bali come out of curiosity to sec a strange animal with ten heads, twenty hands and twenty eyes They say, ‘O ten faced one, you have been a devotee of Samkara and have worshipped him whole heartedly Dance m the same manner as you dance before Samkara, we would give you food and nectar like drink 7 Out of greed for food, Ravana, though tied with many chains, dances m the stable like a frog m a pool The maid servants enjoy the scene merrily with loud laughter and then put ten balls of rice into his ten mouths.

Prahasta, the general of Ravana, hears or his master's plight and comes to fight with an army Vamana sees the enemy ready for war and says:

(uvaca vacanam) yuddham nadhuna vidadhamy-aham /

yata yuyam paravrtta na moksyatha daSananam / /

surya-vamie daSaratho Bhavishyati mahipatih /

tasyaharp samBhavishyami tanayo rama nama dhrk / /

nihamsyami vah sarvan vanaraih saha samyakaih / 8

(i e, ) He said ‘I will not now fight with } ou, you go away, Ravana (ten faced one) would not be released In days to come there will be born a king named DaSaratha in the solar dynasty I will be born as his son named Rama I with the help of the monkey force will kill all of you 9 But Prahasta does not pay heed to Vamana’s words, on the other hand he goes to kill the latter with his club Vamana, however, simply touches Prahasta with the tip of his toe with the conse quence that Prahasta falls with all his army at a distance of thousand yojanas and has his limbs broken He rises up and tyaktavidhi, 1 e, one who has cast the rules of yajfia to the winds However, after Iksvaku’s death, Vikuhsi ascends the throne and rules the kingdom.

Chaps from 5 to 10 are not of much importance Chap 11 delineates Ajas marriage ceremony with Indu mati Aja with Ins newly married wife, returns to his capital 10 the gates of which are adorned with flags, bananas, betel nuts and pitchers (full of water and decorated with branches of mango tree) But the sudden demise of Indurrtati wrings down the curtain over all the celebrations It is caused by the touch of Mandara garland of Narada who is going to play his lute before Mahadeva at Goharna on the southern shore of the sea 11 Aja laments bitterly Vasistha sends his disciple Sutapas to console Aja Sutapas narrates the story of Hariru, an Apsaras, who being sent by Indra to disturb the austerities of the sage Trnavindu, is cursed by him to be born on earth as Indumati, to have Aja as husband, and to be relieved of her human body after seeing a garland of heavenly flowers Vasistha advises Aja through Sutapas to perform sacrifices to be able to attain heaven Aja does accordingly and later on retires to the forest and gives up his life at the confluence of the Sarayu and the Ganges 12

Chap 12 deals with some parts of the story of Dasa ratha It so happens that drought and famine visit his kingdom When Disaratha is trying to find out the cause, a daivajna yati comes On enquiry, DaSaratha learns that this famine and hardship are due to the influence of the planet Sam who is displeased with Dasaratha 13 Hearing this Dasaratha drives his chanot, goes to the Naksatra-mandala, and there aims an arrow at Sanaish cara who is about to seize Rohm! Sanais cara looks angrily at DaSaratha, with the result that DasarathVs chariot is thrown away at a distance of a thousand yojanas Jatayu, son of Garuda, sees this, comes in haste, and supports the chariot on lus back DaSaratha enquires of the latter’s identity and Jatayu apprises him of it Jatayu says that he and his elder brother Sampati are challenging each other m soaring up Sampati surpasses Jatayu and enters the Surya mandala but falls down with his wings burnt Jatayu is still trying to find out where his elder brother falls and finding Daiaratha fall from the sky, Jatayu takes Inm to be his brother Thus the two, i e, DaSaratha and Jatayu, are befriended DaSaratha again goes to pierce Sanaii cara with the Brahmastra Sanai i cara is pleased with DaSaratha’s courage and asks him to choose a boon Dasaratha requests him not to seize Rohm! to which he agrees, ultimately speaks in praises of San us cara and returns to lus capital when a daughter named Santa is born to him The reference to this point deserves special mention for tins will perhaps solve a long-disputed problem of the Ram Hence the following relevant lines are quoted from the ms atha santiibhavan-namna kanya tasya rmhatmanah /

tam-asau pradadau sakliye romapadaya bhubhiyc //

anapatyaya dharmajnah sa tarn kanyam akalpayat /

dadau sa rsyaSrogaya tain kanyaip sumanoharam / /

vibhandakasya putraya hannyam yo’bhyajayata / j n

Chaps 13 and 14 deal with RonrvpSda-DaSaratha Santa-K shya£ rnga episode This episode has been discussed at length m our Appendix In the concluding part of chap 14, the story of DaSaratha’s piercing the son of the blind Smdhu mum has been dealt with.

Chap 15 begins with the oppression of the gods by Havana They eulogise Han 15, who appears before them and asks them to incarnate their parts among monkeys and bears 16 He agrees to be born as the son of Dasaratha and kill Ravana Brahma asks a gandharvi named Dundubhitogo to the earth to see that Vishnuas Dasarathigoes after his marriage (krtodvaho) to the forest with his brother and wife.

Dundubln is born as Manthara who becomes Kaikeyi’s maid servant Sakra and other gods procreate so ns in females of monkeys and bears In the meantime the Putresti sacrifice of Dasaratha is complete and the queens take the sacrificial Caru, as the result of which four sons are born to them, who arc none else but Vishnu in four parts When Rama is five years of age, he is playing with Lakshmana m the garden, where he pierces a deer with his flowery bow with which he is accustomed to play A fierce Raksasa takes the form of a deer and wants to kill Rama Rama understands it and kills him with a flowery arrow The Raksasa dies after assuming its real form Dasaratha is informed of the incident and he comes and sees the Raksasa.

All the sacraments (samskaras) are performed Rama and his three brothers master the science of archery (dhanur-veda).

At the outset of chap 16, we find that Manca and other night-rangers have been creating disturbances in Visvamitra’s hermitage At the request of some sages Visvamitra approa ches DaSaratha and asks him to send Rama The king sends Rama with Lakshmana After reaching the forest, Viivamitra teaches the Vidyas called Jaya and Vijaya to both Rama and Lakshmana On his way to Visvamitra’s hermitage, Rama comes to the penance grove of Gautama and revives Ahalya, tlie wife of Gautama who has cursed his wife and turned her into a slab of stone Rama kills the demoness Tadaka also When he reaches the hermitage of ViSvamitra, the sacrifice is begun, Manca and others arrive, but all are killed except " Manca, ivho is thrown by Rama simpiy with an ordinary arrow far away to the shore of the ocean.

ViSvamitra then asks Rama and Lakshmana to go to the city of Janaka 17. Out of curiosity, Rama and Lakshmana go with Visvamitra to the sacrificial place of Janaka, who accords a cordial welcome to them. Visvamitra tells him who these two are and what their mission is, Janaka mentions how even the kings have failed in stringing the aija-dhanuh and referring to Rama’s tender age and soft body, advises him not to try therefore 18. ViSvamitra protests by recounting Rama’s exploits in his hermitage.

Now, Janaka showing the bow proclaims:

ayonija surupa ca sita nama suta mama /

tat-pani-grahanayaitad dhanur-afeim pamkjtam / /

ya ctad dhanur-akrsya vfrah sajyam karisyati /

tasyaiva bhavita bharja sita nama sut7i mama / / l#

(My beautiful daughter Sita is not born of a human mother. I have put this divine bow as a stake for her marriage. The hero who will be able to fit an arrow into this bow will receive the hands of my daughter Sita.)

Rama takes up that bow with his left hand only, strings it and not only sets an arrow to it but also draws it to the end of his car and finally breaks it. Janaka brings DaSaratha and his other sons by messengers and gives away his four. daughters in marriage with the four sons of the king of Ayodhya. After the marriage ceremony, all of them start for Ayodhya. But there arrives Paraiurama who encounters Rama. Ultimately Paraiurama has his pride humbled at the hands of Rama who bars his entry into the heaven 50. Daiaratha becomes satisfied and returns to the capital with all.

In the beginning of chap. 17 we find that there is an arrangement for Rama’s coronation, Manthara tries to incite Kaikeyi who is at first glad to hear the news. Ultimately Rama has to go to the forest. Bharata meets him on the way.

Rama gives his footwears to Bharata saying —

grahisyasi na rajyam ced grhana mama paduke /

rajasane nidhayaite prajah palaya dharmatah j / 21

Bharata returns to Nandigrama. Rama enters into a deeper forest. Once Aindri Kaka pecks at Slta'sbreast and Lakshmana pierces one e> e of the crow by means of an arrow. In the Dandaka forest, Rama and Lakshmana kill the demon Viradha. While Rama, Sita and Lakshmana arc living in the Paiicavatl by the Godavari, Ravanavaraja, i.e, Ravana’s sister SurpanakhS, approaches Rama in a beautiful form desiring to have him as husband. Rama cleverly sends her to Lakshmana who is stated to be unmarried but the latter refuses her on the ground that she has approached his elder brother first She again goes to Rama like a river approaching both the banks (nadlvobhaya-tiraga). Seeing this Sitalaughs at her 2. This enrages the RaksasI who assumes her real form and intends to eat up Maithili Her terrific roar attracts Lakshmana who cuts off her nose and ears with his sharp sceptre. She rises up to the sky, saying tistha tistha, goes to Janasthana and meets Khara and Dusana who fight with Rama and Lakshmana but lose their lives. Surpanakha goes to Lankfi and reports the matter to Ravana, who wants to have Manca’s help in this matter. He starts from Lanka, comes to Marica but finds that the latter has taken to mendicancy out of fear of Rama.

Ravana’s talk with Marica is narrated in chap. 18. Marica says that Rama has thrown him away to Gokarna by a single arrow 21. Before SIta is kidnapped by Ravana, she has reproached Lakshmana for not going to help Rama when he is pursuing Marica in the shape of a golden deer, Lakshmana then curses Sit a in the following way —

Satru-hastam prapsyasi tvam-acirad-eva mudhadhlh// 25

(O fool, you will immediately be taken by the enemy.)

The chaps following go on describing the Ram story till we come to the last chap. (chap. 28) from which we know that Rama on the completion of his mission as avatara (God-head) on his celestial chariot goes to heaven with his wife and three brothers, and a host of raksasas and vanaras and his subjects.

Thus we see that the contents of the group I which are not found in the Devanagarl recension primarily deal with the Ram story It is true that there are portions where the Valmlki-Rdm, has not been faithfully followed But that does not bespeak the originality of the contributor. Dr. Bulckc has referred to a number of variants of the Ram story at different places at different times. 26 Our compiler, it is obvious, has followed one of such versions. Moreover, it appears to us that on many occasions he has followed Kalidasa’s Raghu-uamSa. Vss. from the Raghu-iamia have been freely used while in some places the compiler has retained the phraseology of Kalidasa The following corn parison will show how much he, of this group, is indebted to Kalidasa’s Raghu-Vamsha.

(N B In the ms wc find that Narada tells Kuvcra all about Raghu’s forthcoming expedition against him and advises to give Raghu the required money in order to satisfy him f 17a)

sutam brahmc muhurte dharmajna tena namna hy-ajobhavat vidarbhadhipatcr-dutah samagatya nyavedayat duto’harp bhojanlmno vai vidarbhadhipatcr-nrpa presitas-tena bhupala putranarp najanaya vat s\as\ tas^anavadyangl namna ccndumatl Subha s\a> am\araih pi tup tanvl grahisyati manoramam raglms tu tad-upaSrutja Slaghyatp van a' [NB The episode of the elephant (i c, the son of the lord of Gandharvas, 'vho was cursed b> the sage Mataipga, in consequence of which, lus body was transferred into that of an elephant) has been narrated more elaborately m the ms f 18a]

[Indebtedness to Patala-khanda f. 18a sa viddhamatras-tujjhitva nagarupam ^ ]

(N.B. According to the ms. PriyadarSana gave the arrow named Prasvapana (not saipmohana) to Aja. The whole of the contents of the sastha sarga of the Raghu-vamia has been described very briefly in a few words, f. 19a)

 (N.B. According to the ms DaSaratha, hearing the sad news of his mother’s sudden death, approaches his father and consoles him. He performs his mother’s Sraddha ceremony afterwards.

But such incidents are not found in the Raghu-Vamsha where Aj a himself performs sraddha of Indumati on the tenth day.

(N.B. The story of Indumati’s birth and death as told by the disciple of Vasistha Raghu-Vamsha - VIII. 33

 [Uttara Uuptfais equally dealt with in the ms, and in the Raghu-iamiaJ)

It is needless to multiply examples.

 

(5) THE UTTARA-KHANDA.

 

The Bengal recension of the Uttara-khanda of the Vadma-p. as presented by the Bengal mss deserves careful attention as the mss. ofTcr some interesting data. The mss arc, as usual, widely different from their Dcvnnfigarf counterparts. All the Khantfas of the Padma-p. of Bengal recension differ cither widely or to some extent from the Devanftgarl recension anti the Uttzm-Uianda stands no exception to tfiit. We have already noticed in our discussion on the Uttarakhanda of the DevanSgarl recension how the Bengal mss. of this Khanda are comparatively short in size and do not contain much of the materials of the DcvanJigarl rcccmion. We have examined six Bengal mss. 1 The maximum number of chaps, contained by them is 174 2 whereas the Anss. ed. of it has 282 chaps.

It is not easy to account for the shortness of the Bengal mss. Two plausible reasons may be suggested. Either the original Uttara-khanda which was in its beginning not so voluminous as the printed or available Uttara-khanda, evolved from the mss. of Bengal, i e., it originated in Bengal and later tracts dealing with so called Mahatmyas were added to it by different people in different parts of India, or it might not have had its origin in Bengal but in other parts of India (it is difficult to state correctly the provenance of the Uttara-khanda) and the Bengal mss. for more reasons than one omitted a great many chaps, from the original and introduced some new chaps, (which are found m those mss. only) in it.

 

1 mss no G 4416 and 4493 belong mg to the Asiatic Society (Catcutta), ms no 1429 (kha) of the Vangiya Slhitya lamat, Calcutta, ms co 1624 of the Dacca University, ms no Cod 111 of the Bodleian Library, Oxford, and also the ms belonging to the National Library, Calcutta The ms of the Padma p of the National Library, Calcutta consists of two vols — the first vo! contains Spli khai? d» Bhumi khanda and Svarga khatjda while Patila khaod» Uttara khapda, Bhigavata mahatmya and Knya yoga.sara are contained in the second vol The Uttara khanda there contains 306 pages (The page anomaly begins from p 146, where instead of 146, the page number is marked as 116 and the wrong number continues up to the end ) There are 173 chaps in it The colophon of the last chap is as follows:

lty Hdt padma purSne uttara khande phala-irutir-nama trisaptaty adhikadatatamo’dhylyah SamSptam idamuttara-kharidam padma puranarp ca itah param knya.yoga saram bhavishyati Here we have referred to the firjtmi (G 4416 belonging to the Asiatic Society, Calcutta) unless otherwise stated 1 See mss of the Bodleian Library and Dacca University 1 See chap 114 fT on f 266b ff

 

There are grounds to believe that the Bengal recension has not been preserved faithfully in the present-day mss. Even in the Bengal recension, quite a lot of variations are noticed from which it can be safely said that it underwent changes from stage to stage. We are referring to the Karttika-mahatmya of the mrs. 3 It should be noted that it is not similar to that found in the printed ed., i e, Devanagari recension In the printed ed. the Karttikamuhatmya li-ui been narrated in connection will some stop which constitutes the major part of the book and it has a direct Itnk with the sections both preceding anti follow > nq it, while the KSrttika mih’tmp of the rcm « uholK independent and lias no connection with amthtnq comtnq liclorc or after it It w unattached to an) other part and hanqs loose From this the spunousnest of its eh metre can be easily detected and the conjecture that tt lias Ix-en added later to this hhanda is not baseless Abrupt references to persons not introduced before as speakers or hearers are not rare In it The introduction of Kpni md Sat> ahh'im5 mchap 131 (f 300b 303b) is one of this type In chap 131 we meet with the name of Ilfifgu as hearer tlthouqh he w-is not introduced prcviousls It has Ivrn statetl in chap 93 that Ihinatl wants to hear from Shiva van nil Vaijmva m’lh'ttmv'is, ic the glorification tftafLinq the names of Han and His attendants the rfltcienc) of th we names, glorification of the Krt) 3 voga-sira, the Ganqc the Tutasl eulogy of the sacred places that cant on the earth ctr and Shiva replies to hrr accordmql>, but that Shiva and P mill vs ere not the original set of the narrator and interlocutor respective! ) can be shown fre m tf e foJJnvinj, cbservatiom one of its passages rum thin brahma ksatrpa vi\ fudrS iUram'i antyajj Ja)ah {

gnvinda srvylt-cetl-etc hhaVti hanjana mune//

Tlir vsord mune si ovsi that it vat addressed to a sire ae!

noi to Durgi Ttiat the saqc referred to n this passage other ilnn Mrada ii pTived It) the f 1 lowing vs —

ulalatp tflrdhva pund r ^h)arp ttudhva<! t liars hi n3rada / (

So it is aim «t certain that th- hraTrr wti nor iVrvad Imt Nirada T! tt men-’nt terra ter! i t» pjmr d at bief avnten have Iwen imiturierf! fir it prc-erir shape.

 

We have noticed earlier that there exists a gulf of difference between the Uttara-khanda of the Devanagari recension and the same belonging to the Bengal recension Most of the chaps in the former are not found m the latter The difference is shown by the chart given below (The ms begins from chap 220 of the Devanagari ed )

ms printed ed ms printed ed Chaps 1-3 — 220 221 Chaps 24-40 =251-261

Then some twenty chaps of the printed ed are not found in the ms Chaps 4-14 =242-249 Chaps 15-23 =250

NB Chap 15 of the ms differs widely from its Devanagari counterpart Its contents > are not found in the printed ed Chaps 1-20 do not wholly agree with the Devanagari cd Chaps 60-75 =272-280

A few vss of chaps 74 and 75 are seen in the printed ed Chaps 76-78 =281-282

Printed ed does not contain a few vss of chaps 76 and 77 and about sixty vss of chap 78 Chaps 41-49 =262-267

N B Chaps 41-43 have extra matter which is not found m the Devanagari ed Chap 49 also contains additional nineteen vss which are conspicuous bv their absence in the printed ed Chaps 50-59 =268-271

There are about 57 vss in chap 58 which do not occur in the printed ed Chaps 79-97 =171-189

N B Here chaps 90, 92 and 96 contain some vss that are not found in the printed ed Chap 98 =72 {vss 85 ff)

N B Continuing from the major portion of chap 98 right up to chap 140 (i e, 42 chaps in all A brief summary of these will be given later), tins part is unique and it does not correspond to any chap of the printed 142 furAn wa study ms, printed ed. ms. printed td. Chaps. 141-161 -98-118 Chaps. 1C2-173 (to the end) do not occur in the printed cd.

 

Let us proceed to present a summary of the chaps. 98- HO uhich do not occur in the DevanSgari recension. 77us would enable us to understand the importance, if any, of the Bengal recension.

Chap- 98 deals mainly with the glorification of the Tulasi, Gahga and incidentally describes the efficacy of taking the holy names of Kfjna. Here Parvatl wants to know what bondage is and what salvation is, what distinguishes religion from non-religion, what is VairJg> n, Yama, Ni)ama, Sauca, Aiauca, Titiksha etc., and Shiva answers accordingly. Moreover, some social customs have l> crn narrated and a description of the universe, the characteristic feature of Sniffi-work and the like, delineation of the Manvantaras and the birth of Brahma arc found therein.

Chap. 99 deals with the characteristics and qualifications of a devoted Vahnava. Here a full description has been given showing how and where (Ire decoration of sandalpaste should I/e applied in the different parts of the bod).

Chap. 100 also deals with Kfsna-bhakia-m3hJUm> a f i.c-, eulogistic glorification of the devotees of Kpna. The ideal manners and customs of a devoted Vaishnava have Iktii praised. It has! > ecn ordained that in ever)tiling there exists Kf'na.

According to the colophon of chap. 101 the main theme rrntrrs round die eulogy of Kr? na w. It describes different kinds of Vaishnavas ami its known associate.

Chaps. 102-103 describe the tin caused b> not muttering ihe name of Kpfna {rtfmSparSdha-katharu). In din connection a reference la a few low-raifn is given and if hat been ordained that even these classes of people also are purged of serious type of sins if they recite the name of Krishna.

The colophon of the next chap, says that this chap, deals with the prohibition of killing animals 11. Various aspects of the female consort of Shiva and worship of the village gods (grama-devata) have been referred to. Chap. 105 also more or less deals with the same topic.

It is interesting to quote the colophon of chap. 106 which is as follows:

sadaShiva-narada-samvade Krishna-bhakti-vivarana-kathane Sankha-cakrordhva-pundra-dharanadtrsnadvadasa-nama-grahana-mahatmyam 12...

Firstly it eulogises the glorification of the worship of or the attendance on the preceptors (guru-seva-mahatmya and guru-puja-mahatmya) and goes on discussing the greatness (Mahatmya) of the Tulasl plant which is primarily important for Krishna-worship. Then it says something about pundratilaka-vidhi, i.e, rules of (the application of) the sandal pastes. The names of the twelve parts of the sacred body of a Vaishnava have been mentioned. Three kinds of worship, viz, sattvikl, rajas! and tSmasi have been distinguished.

Chap. 107 mainly deals with the various forms of Krishna-worship (sodaiopacara, daSopacara etc. etc.) which is current even today It also mentions some articles which should not be offered at the time of worshipping Krishna, Surya and Ganapati.

Chap 108 elaborately describes the manner of muttering of mystic syllables (japa). Among all types of j‘apa, manasa-japa has been given the highest place. The names of some places have been given where japa is not allowed Towards the end it deals with different kinds of snana (bathing 13 ) and various types of garlands (mala 14 )

Chap. 109 discusses the aSauca-prakarana as Narada asks:

bhavet kena prakarena kath^atatp tat sadahva // (fol 257a)

 

Shiva replies accordingly and tells about what constitutes the exact aSauca period of the Brahmanas, VaiSyas etc The dail obligatory rites of the learned twice-born people have been stated It also gives a list of the place names where one should not pass urine.

Chap 110 first of all describes the normal daily duties of a man He after leaving his bed should take the names of guru (preceptor), sapta cirajivm (seven immortals), panca-kanya (five divine ladies), and others Secondly, a MahaLakshmi stava in fifteen vss and a Sarasvati stava m 25 vss have been introduced.

Chap 111 deals mainly with the names of some holy places, rivers and mountains and also ten avataras ofVi^nu and the famous persons whose names should be taken by one after leaving one’s bed Shiva mentions the 108 names of Krishna In chap 112 the greatness of the foot prints of Kr^na has been depicted 15 and the different pada-cihnas of Krishna have been analysed.

Chap 113 elaborately describes the different kinds of snana (m all there are sixteen kinds snanam infant’ f 265a).

Chap 114 in its entirety deals with the glorification of the month of Karttika and in chap 115 in that connection the rules of applying clay on one’s body have been stated (mrttika lepana vidhi) and some vratas to be performed in the month of Kartuka for satisfying Vishnu-damodara have been narrated Some social laws and orders have also been irdamcd.

Chap 116 deals with the religious efficacy of the early norning bath (pratah-snana) in the month of KSrttika Jjo srhap 117 which also is associated with the ^lon, cation of that month we find prescriptions regulating our x> d It also names some trees the leaves of which should not be taken for food and enumerates others the leaves of which may be taken for the same purpose finally it speaks highly of the Karttika vratas.

The Karttika-mahatmya is continued m chap 118 also where especially it has been said that the worship of Krishna with lotus in the month of Karttika is a necessity.

Chap 119 is concerned with the glorification of lighting a lamp in this month (i e, dipa-dana-mahatrnya)

By means of a story the pious results of the lighting of lamps in this month have been shown in chap 120

While glorifying the aka§a-dipa-dana (celebrating the month of Karttika with a lamp in the sky), chap 121 narrates the story of the king of Vidarbha and how he acquired immense wealth by offering a lamp m the sky in Karttika.

Chap 122 says something m eulogy of Yama and prescribes the worship of Lakshmi.

Chap 123 expressly says that even the worship of a Vishnu-bhakta, i e, devoted Vaishnava leads one to the heaven.

Chap 124 deals with the glorifications of cow-worship (go-puja mahatmya).

In chap 125, Narada enquires which of the vows (vratas) is the greatest and Brahma accordingly speaks to him all about Yama dvitiya to be held on the second lunar day in the bright half of the month of Karttika It is to be observed for securing protection from accidental or untimely death 16

The worship of Brahma, Vishnu, Rudra and Sarasvati also have been ordained.

Chap 126 eulogises the month of Karttika m general without presenting an analytical description or study of any particular vrata, at the end it inculcates the Aivatthamahatmya.

Chap? form 12? Co 131 ofetfJ wtk the gioitrfiestron of Dhatri, Salagrama£ ila (in two chaps), Sankha and Tulasi respectively.

Bhisma-panca-vidhi has been glorified in chap 132 where it has been said that king Atithi or solar dynasty in Ayodhya with Ins queen Candrabhavmi observed that vrata 17 and attained the region of Vishnu (usnu loka) thereby.

In chaps 133-134 Satyabhama wants to know what pious deeds performed resulted in her union with Kr^na Kr? na replies accordingly and gives her an account of her pious life m her previous births.

Chap 135 deals with the story of demon Sanhha — how he defeated Indn and other gods, captured the throne or heaven, earned aw ay by force the Vedas and took refuge inside the sea Vishnu being eulogised by other gods, assumed the shape of a Safari and rescued the Vedis.

Chap 136 deals with the origin of Pray ign and V adankaSrama 18.

Chap 137 describes the rules and regulations of worship and awaking (puja j^garana vidln).

Chap 138 treats of the different ntes of bathing (snana vidln).

Chap 139 also deals with jagirana and nijamv Vidhi.

In chap 140 the rules and regulations relating to the observance or Orja iukl i caturdasi have been discussed Their procedure has been noted and some wipornnee Ins been attested for it.

Chap 162 is concerned with the birth story of RSdha Here Narada asks Shiva —

‘kathyaturpi me tmhadeva ndhajanma knth r i prabho/

katharp jata \araroha Krishn'i-kuntiisu s\ \arv/ J

kasmm masc mJnu kasyutp p'lksc k \ sa ca rldlnkii J (f 233a)

and Shiva replies accordingly.

Chap 163 deals only with several names of RadhS and enumerates the names of sects who should not be allowed to associate themselves with the birth-celebration of Radha 19.

Chap 164 mentions the names of many deified lords, including Krishna with some of his incarnations and certain female deities to whom worship should be offered.

Chap 165 denounces all the sects other than the Vaishnava.

Chap 166 glorifies Vmdavana in eulogistic terms.

Chap 167 deals with the hundred names of Annapurna and notes the merit achieved b) a man m taking these names 20.

Chap 168 describes the glorification of the month of Vaisakha and m this connection prescribes the worship of Madhava.

Chap 169 discusses a few social laws and orders.

Chap 170 also deals with the V< usaUia mafiatmya.

In chap 171 the Vaishnava religion has been spoken of as the best and its supremacy is proved by a story.

Chap 172, i e, the last but one chap, deals with a brief summary of the contents of all the chaps (This is a special characteristic of the Bengal mss All of them m a chap describe the summary of the whole of the work).

Chap 173 (le, the last one) is concerned with the results obtainable from this purana (phala Sruti).

We have already remarked that this Khanda of the Bengal recension cannot be said to have been composed at an early date On the contrary there are evidences to show that it is a very recent work It frequently refers to the Mbh 21.

Gita 22 and Bhagavata, zz mentions purana, upapurana, agamatantra-iastra, pahcaritra-satphilJS, y3mnla etc., 51 mentioni R3dha, the female consort of Kyjna and is acquainted with the combined mantra of the two, i.e., Radhi and K^na”. It frequently eulogises the sacred Tulasl plant 5 and betrays Joiowledge of die paf»c5yatana-puj; i, i.e., the worship of the five deities of which Ganapati has been referred to as the central deity of the G.inapatya sect 7 sshtch, it is admitted, came into being at a comparatively late period 28 It knows the Ramanuja sect and mentions it 29.

That it cannot be dated much earlier can further be proved from an interesting story narrated here We give it below in details.

In ancient days in Dravida in the region of the Southern sea, there ruled a king named Citrasena (according to the printed text the name of the king was Citra — Uttara khanda 250 lb) He was very powerful and was skilled in the use of £ ashtra and astra His treasury was filled with money and jewels plundered and collected from the defeated countries He had a very good physique and possessed a pleasing appearance He sported with thousands of beautiful ladies in pleasure gardens 30 He was a pious king, performed many sacrifices, gave a vast amount of wealth as Daksma and chanty and received a number of guests every day 81 The king paid equal respect to the Trinity, 1 e, Brahma, Vishnu, and Mahesa 32 As days passed by, some Pasandms came to him and tried to influence him with the ideologies of the Agamic Shaivas They dwelt on the glorification of their creed and denounced the other sectarian ideologies in the following way to the king All the bondages of life are removed from one who is imtilted m the Sana diksa which can be accepted by all irrespective of caste and creed There is no necessity for chanty, for observance of vratas, for reciting from the Vedas or for performance of sacrifice Only by besmearing one's body with holy ashes of Shiva, one becomes a permanent attendant of Shiva and rests in bhss with Him no matter whether he holds in his head matted lochs or tuft of hair at its bachor is clean shaven A man, whether he is blind, a hunch-back, an idiot, a fool or even a Sudra, isable to come into the fold of Samsm which is open to all VSlmtki was formerly a thief but later on became the foremost of the dvyas, Visvamitra, a Ksatnya by caste, attained Brahmanism by means of penance So no distinction should be made among Shiva worshippers Shaiva philosophy is the greatest of all philosophies in the world The followers of Sitium have to observe certain rules and regulations They do not worship any r other god except Shiva They do not even bow dovs n to a Vaishnava image, not to speak of worshipping it Whenever they come across an image of Vishnu they commit offence to Shiva and through tins fault they are led to the Raurava Naraka after their death One who is afraid ofdangers in this world and wants to be relieved of them should not tolerate even the utterance of thenamcof Vishnu A devotee of Swa, if he wants to delight his Lord, should kill a Vaishnavi at any time anywhere on the earth 53 One who docs it is sure to get a place in Kailasa after death To follow this rule means bringing happiness to oneself 51.

With these words the Posan^lms were able to deceive the king who being pleased gave them villages, elephants, horses, gold and jewels, and followed their advice 11c at once renounced the Vcdic rites, began to blame the brahmins Smritis and Vedas The sirred firL inside his firc-clnmbcr hrrjxmz rxiinct m course of lime His officers also followed the same direction They kept malted locks on tlieir heads and besmeared their bodies with the sacred ashes Censure of Vishnu became prevalent m his kingdom The king proclaimed that one who would rend or utter the name of Vishnu in his country would be punished b) death The dc\oted Vaishnavas among his subjects being afraid, migrated from his kingdom to other countries Some of his Dr i\ida subjects began to keep long matted hair and besmear their bodies with holy ashes The> gave up their Vcdic rites, did no longer accord welcome to the guests, or paid heed to vratas, penance or chanty and began to follow evil wajs 35 There was no sacrificial mantra ever sounded m the country, no svaha or svadha was heard Nobod) worshipping Vishnu was found The king as well as Ins subjects freely cast aspersions on the name of Vishnu All the Vishnu temples were demolished and all the Vaishnava idols were thrown away to the waters of the sea 36 In tins way the king was dissuaded from the right path of Dharma and along with his subjects became cruel, pitiless and ruthless Henceforth adharma gamed a permanent footing m his kingdom on account of which the clouds did no more pour, hence the towns and villages did not prosper and the Dravida people had to depend entirely on waters from the rivers The brahmins, their means of maintenance of live lihood being lost adopted the tree planting business 37 They lost their usual respect Nobody paid any tax or revenue to the king who was unmindful of the customary rites, sacrificial fire and social or moral law and order He w r as like Kali incarnate.

Now this king after his death had to undergo severe punishments. 39

There is a tradition about Kulottunga Cola II, the famous emperor of the Cola dynasty, that he, being a staunch supporter of Shaivism gave some spasmodic outburst of anti Vabnava feeling. He was a ‘fanatic £ aiva who wanted to upset the time-honoured disposition of the images of Shiva and Yhnu. 1 ’ From this it is difficult to a\oid the conclusion that the author came later than the king whose activities he had either seen or heart! and utilising its kernel hr went on fabricating the story of glorification of Vitim by presenting a sorrowful picture of the adherents cf Shaivisin in their afterlife. Kulottuhga Cola 1 ascended the throne in 1070 A.I). and Kulottuhga II in 1133 A.D.

The date of the composition of the Bengal recension of the Uttara-khanda in the present form can lie pushed further. A careful reading of the ms. will show that the influence of the tt.ldhS-vallabhins is not rare in dm work”. Thryarrqmte a modem sect, founded In one Harivatpta in about 15ft5 A.D U. Tims it can be safely said that the Uttara-khap^s svas compoied about die 2nd half of dir seventeenth century. Ratn^karakandall's SahaiTa-r, -i3-ri! i£ > -tii —.\ssatnne rendrring of n small trad of the Uttara-khanda — has fir its source the DcvanSgari recension of the and tint the Bengal counterpart.

 

Chapter IV.

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