VARIOUS TREATISES CLAIMING TO BELONG TO THE PADMA-PURANA .

The popularity of a Puranic work 1 sh indirectly proved by the number of treatises which claim to belong to that work Some of the Puranas became very much popular in the later period and so a number of treatises has been attached to them thereby giving these things a garb of antiquity and sacredness But whatever these writers endeavours may be, the apocryphal and therefore spurious character of these treatises is easily discernible It should, however, be borne in mind that there is also a good number of treatises which claim to be a part of some Puranic works and this claim should be called legitimate as on observation these are found to have been faithfully copied from some chaps of a Puranic work They are merely reprints of some chaps of a Purana This type of work is not included in our discussion for obvious reasons Our interest is limited only to those different works which although claiming to belong to the Padma-p are not really a part of it, as after analysis, it is found that neither the Devanagan recension of the Padma-p nor the Bengal recension of it contains them It should be mentioned here that none of these treatises has been printed or studied as yet But as the number of such treatises is very big, 1 we intend to examine only those which are comparatively important and easily available. Ramadas Gaud in hu H nduloa (pp 208-209) mention the name of 68 treatise as belonging to the PaJmd p But on an actual exam nation of the d fferent catalogues of Sanskrit mss the number s found to be much more than that.

 

(1) BHATTAHARA-CHARITA.

 

The Bhattahara-carita of which a ms. no. G, 0165 has been preserved in the Asiatic Society (Calcutta) should be considered to be a work of immense importance. The varied information contained in the unique work is really valuable.

It is to be noted that this work claims to be a part of the Patjtfa-hhanda of the Padma-p. At the end of the last chap, it has the following colophons —

iti fri-padma-purfine patula-khandc bhapahara-carite caturvidha-purusartha-prasaftganirfipanc pancarirpiatitamo’dhj ayah 5

Such readings as iti irl-padmn-puranc patala-khande bhattahara-caritc etc. arc found to occur in man) of its chap.-colophom, and nowhere docs it claim to Ik a part of any other work or say am thing about its independent character. But how far its claim to be a part of the Patflakhanda can be called legitimate, is a matter of strioui consideration, because the printed editions of the Pedma-p do not incorporate the Bha< taliara-carita or a part thereof anywhere in their texts Morcoscr, in chap. 92 of th t Jtarttdija p w which ghes an analysis of the Padma-p. including an outline of the topics dealt with in the Putfda-khanda, thrre is no indication that the author of the said chap of the 'Naradija-p saw or utilised the Bhatfahara-carita. So, it seems that the Bhapahara-carita did not origin all) belong to the Padrra-p. and this pcmibilit) is supported In the comparnmely late date of the Bhapnhara-carita itself.

If by relying on the- claim of the BhaBaharaeartta we talc this work to Ik a genuine part of the Patfh-lhanda, then we arc to assume tliat it was excluded from the text of the Palfda-khanjja long before the period of composition of the said chap of the Naradiya p and also before the time when the oldest existing mss of the Patala-khanda were copied It is needless to say that this assumption would require to presume that the Bhattahara-canta is an old work coming from a time prior to that of the rise of the present text of the Padma-p.

That the Bhattahara-canta never belonged to the Patala-khanda is also indirectly proved by Gopalabhatta’s Han-bhakU-mlosa winch quotes a large number of vss from the Patala-khanda of the Padma-p but not a single line from the Bhattahara-canta.

Though a spurious and comparatively late work the Bhattahara-canta has very judiciously tried to take the shape of a Purana We know that the first topic to be dealt with in a Purana is creation (Sarga) 4 Likewise this work also, after a few benedictory vss, goes on dcscnbing, although very bnefly the creation and gradual development of the world — from the ongm of Brahma to that of the Gandharvas and Kirpnaras Thus it leaves no stone unturned to prove its own self to be a genuine Purana or at least a part of it.

Although the chief object of the writer of this work is to give a pen-picture of the Medapatas of Ajmerc (Rajasthana), he was clever enough to introduce some stories from the Mbh in order to give this work the character of a part of a Purana He was aware of the fact that none would pay attention to his work if n dealt only with the Medapatas in whom the people at large were hardly interested So, on fols 124 fF he introduced a Mbh story, viz, that of Panksit and Janamejaya which tells us that once Panksit tied a dead snake round the neck of a sage and for this act he was cursed by the son of the latter In consequence of that curse, the king was killed by the formidable serpent Taksaka Being furious, Janamejaya, son of Panksit made arrangements for destroying the whole race of the snakes by performing a sacrifice The race of the snakes was going out of existence but at last it was saved by Astika.

It is obvious that the famous story of the Mbh has got no bearing on the first half of the work which exclusively deals with the Medapatas. The Atbk. story has been very cleverly introduced with numerous reference to the worship of Krishna, 5 although in other part, which also deals with the Medapatas, such references to Krishna arc hardly observable.

The author while narrating the story of Parlksit and Janamejaya, did not forget his chief object, viz, the delineation of the Medapatas, and hence, after bringing the Medapata-story to a close, he again gave us information about the Medapatas in fols. I91fF till the end of the vsork.

Thus we see that the author of the Bhattahara-carita has left no stone unturned to give his work the air of a genuine Purana so that it might be accepted as a part of the Patalakhanda of the Padma-p.; yet the conclusion seems to be irresistible that it does not at all form a part of the Padma-p. although it claims to be so.

That this Bhattahara-carita is a work of immense importance can be little doubted. It has twofold importance. Primarily, as we have stated above, it throws a flood of light on the hitherto unknown or slightly known Bhatas, (also called Bhattas) and Medapatas, secondarily, it gives the contents of the Bhumi-khanda of the Padma-p in its earlier form As we have discussed the latter m our study of the Bhumi-khanda of the Padma-p, we are concerned here chiefly with the Bhatas and the Medapatas.

There are epigraphic and other reference to prove that ‘Medapata’ is the name of modem Me war 6 Our ms contains two passages which seem to suggest the location of Medapata They are as follows:

asti bharate khandc’smin pavitrah paramottamah /

medapata lti khyato deSarajah suiobhanah / /

aneka-tlrthamtkaraih puskaradyaih samanvitah /

citrakuta-trikutadi giribhih panraksitah / /

sariUsaro-nadakirnah kamapurah krpanvayah /

khanoparama-vapibhir-devakhataih suvistrtah / /

puskaradyaih pavitramSah sarvato’timanoharah /

gramo yatra na sarpvaso gopa-gokula-sundarah / / 7

and rajann-aste tnkutadrir-ekalingasya sevaya /

giri rajanyatarp dhatte nyananda-gunodayaih / /

tatha ca puskaram yasmat natidure pravartatc /

visaye medapatakhye citrakutadimandite / / 8

These clearly point out that Medapata was protected on all sides by the mountains Citrakuta and Tnku{a, Puskara was not very far from there and that there were other sacred places near by Puskara, as we all know, is the modern Sacred place of the same name, situated in Ajmere It is not very difficult to identify the Citrakuta mountain It is certainly the modern Citorgadh in the Udaypur state of Rajasthana.

There ire lmcnpttonal records which connect the Citraluta mountain ssilft \fcdap.1ti TIic follosung lines mas he quoted from the Citorga^lh-pndxsti —

asi) adbhunh ksitidhanb kih eitrakilmrtcn’isinl maqhas'lt’l panpifyanrHnab /shn mcdap'iia-dharanl tirunl HI qa pipe sphulirp muktqntSm update \ih / />

According to k'ihd m x Ra^hj -anh Tnkflta is situated m the sscstem countries of Indn 11 Sometimes it his Ixrn identified \uthjunmr, 3 m kathntvad Morrosrr, thedtsnncr from Citor to Pti«lan rm> he about 150 miles, J Thus we ice that taking ilJ the csidcnces into consideration it is difficult to as oid the conclusion that Mcdaplta of the rm is ihcprrxrnt di\ Mess nr in Rljasthlm.

We will presently show how the mv ilmunds in references to the ssorslnp of Sis i Hus pros-cs tint the inhahi tarns of Mcdip" qi sserr generally tfic dcsotrd s»or«hippm of Sisi Tlir mscnptional rsidrnccs also cnrrofiortcc tht< The object of the Cifnrgtdh inscription 1 li t> rrrffd the crrction of i trmplc of G< xl ^isi at Cjtnkufi The < l jret of the Citorgatjh inscription of the Cauluks-a kumlripSH 1 abo u to record i utu of the Gaulukyi king kum'lrspkl u Mount Citrakuta, the modern Citorgadh and some donations which on that occasion were made by the king in favour of a temple of the god SamiddheSvara (Shiva) on the summit of the mountain 16 Thus the conclusion is now almost irresistible that Medapata of the ms is Medapata of the inscriptions, there being no difference between the two Thus Medapata of the ms is the presentday Mewar in Rajasthani.

At the very outset, the title of the work recorded in our ms appears confusing Although its name is Bhattaharacanta, yet it does not deal with the Bhattaharas but with the Medapatas The questions naturally arise, “Why is the anomaly? Who are these Medapatas? Arc they different from the Bhattaharas ■ > n Wc shall hive to take the help of the ms itself to find the answers It distinctly says that the Bhattaharas are the Medapatas 17 So the author has done nothing wrong in describing the Medapatas while the name of the ms is Bhattahara-carita.

From the evidence furnished by the ms itself it appears that the Bhattas or Bhatas (as has been mentioned in some places in the ms ), though included in the Medapata race, formed the higher section of people 18 The reason for their superiority is not known, but one thing has definitely been asserted It is that the Bhatas were regarded as brahmins There arc numerous references to prove their brahminhood

But it has also been said in this work that there was prevalence of the Sudra caste also among them 20 Those who did not observe the social and religious customs prevailing among them 21 were regarded as outcastes and Sudras, and it has been ordained that the Sudras could attain the respectable position of Bhatjas by serving the feet of the brahmins like servants, and that by means of service to the brahmins they could become pure in heart The following lines of the ms. are quoted in support of our statement: —

But the most interesting point to note is that the Mcdapiitas (including the Bhatas) claim themselves to be Nagara brahmins. It has been specifically mentioned that they were called by the people as ‘Nagara’ 23 Wiilc going to gi\c an explanation of their name ‘Nagara the ms says that those Bhattaharas (i.e M Medap5tas) should be named Negara as they were protected by the Nagas, 21 In another place, the explanation of their name has been given in the following way, 'These, superior to Medapatas (i.e., Bhatas) were known as the Nagaras as they were devoted to Shiva. 15 But how far their evidence of the racial affinity with the Nagara brahmins would be tenable is really not known. Only from a few references from one ms., it would be hardly justified to connect the Medapatas with the Nagara brahmins. D. R. Bhandarkar has tried to give the reason of the name Nagara and suggested that it may be derived from the place-name 'Nagar or Nagarkot, the old name of Kangda, situated in the Swalakh hills in the Punjab. 26 Thus we see that the explanation of the name Nagara differs. Not only this, but none of the available inscriptions also which throw’s light on the Medapatas even hints at the point that they were regarded at least to some extent as Nagara brahmins.

It is a settled fact that the Nagara brahmins belonged to Vaijvapa gotra 27 but throughout the ms. not even a single reference to this gotra is found The name of the tutelary deity of the Nagaras is the Linga called HatakeSvara 28 But no such reference to HatakeSvara Shiva is found in the ms.

Moreover, the surnames 29 of the Nagara brahmins which arc the most important signs to recognise them, have not been given in the ms. Thus taking all these points into consider ation, it seems difficult to avoid the conclusion that no great weight should be given on the Medapatas claim to be the Nagara brahmins as found in the ms.

 

From a scrutinising annh-sis of the ms. much can lie said about the religious inclinations of the Medaputas. Thr\ were, a we base noticed earlier, the staunch supporters of Salvism. Quite a good number of timrs Shiva has l»ecr) descrilied as the Lord of the Mcilapatas They arr said to have been prospering under the protection of Shiva. 1 He was a constant well-doer of thcm. w Thes offered Him worship with Hauers and s.tmlabp.ufrs. 53 It has alio Wen held thu I/ml Shiva or FAalii'ign was worshipped c\ cn In the a nrrs ion of the MedapStas and the llhatas. 1

But however strong the supporters of Sab ism the Medap»|as may be, it svilt be a height of foils if we prnmnr that they vs ere satisfied with this particular ireunan motive of them. The ms. aboundt in refrrenres to the worship of Kai)." iyanl, Ambihit, Vindh)a-\lsinT, Annapurna, MShrivan 4 etc. which seem to point to the element of atUi at connected with Shiva Thus, although the Shaiva clement predominates, the Sakti was nevertheless not so insignificant It was the custom among them to worship the golden image of Uma-maheshvari, the omnipotent and omniscient female entity of Shiva 38 The image of Katyayim with her four arms carrying the bow and arrow's, the sword, the scimitar, and the thunderbolt respectively was very much respected by them 37 and they regarded Her as the Saviour of the Bhata race and they used to worship her alwa> s 38 It has been said that one, coming to Bhatahirapura — the city of the Bhattaharas, first pa> s his respect to Katyayani — the mother of the earth 39 She w'ould often appear before a devoted disciple and would grant him boon 40 The Vindhya vasmi aspect of that primeval Sakti was worshipped for good fortune happiness, prosperity and welfare of the Medapatas She could remove the distress and misfortune of many people. 41 Much happiness or welfare was due to Her 42 She has been regarded as the ‘kalyana-koti janam’ 43, i c, the mother of crores of auspicious deeds.

 

The MedapStas were conversant with many' vratas 4 It has been said that as Shiva is the sole creator of the Bhata race, He should be wonhipped by the people with the observance or the Sivnrjtri-vnita. He should be given a special worship on each Sunday at noon when the sun shines very brightly. 45 Dhundhi-ksetra-pati should be worshipped in Pancam!. In the month of Magha and Caitra also He should be worshipped. 44 In autumn one should adhere to Bhava. 47 In the Caturthi of the month of Agraluyana, the Mahupuja ofKuty uyan! and Shiva (varadditnh) should be celebrated. Especially at the timeof the rising of the moon this \ rata from its start to finish should be observed fry the Mcdapfiias, engaged in japa and homa A detailed description of the Naga-pancaim-vrata as observed by tbc Bhatas is given. It has been remarked, “Those w ho arc great in the Bhattahara clan, should observe Naga-paiicaml as this was their family rite. In Naga-pancamI, men and women should worship the Nagas in a manner of great celebration Images of Shesha and other nine Nagas should be built; and sandal-paste, incense, flowers and others should be offered (to them). Life should be infused into those great lords of flic N5gas.

...In the great festival of the worship of Naga by the merchants, craftsmen and twicc-bom, the brahmins should be fed and handsome charity should be made (to them).

....In Paftcami The Bha{tas should churn cow’s milk and give those as offerings and later on should take themselves those things 4 ”

Sometimes they offered worship to two great gods, viz., Kuvcra and ViSvakarman also. It has been said that they should worship these two gods considering them to be their family-deities. 49 Having built a golden image of Kuvera and having the same consecrated by the brahmins, the merchants who formed a section of the Medapata people, should worship that image in company with the whole of their family, by offering much wealth to the deity. 60 ViSvakarman also should be worshipped with sandal-paste, fragrant incense and similar other things. 51 The worshippers must be pure in heart while offering worship to ViSvakarman. Naivedya, fruits and betel leaves should be offered to the God. 53 These two gods in return bestow favour on their worshippers and grant them much wealth. 63

From a close study of the ms. much can be saidregarding the profession and social customs of the Medapatas.

It seems that the majority of them were skilled labourers in the art of construction of houses That they were conversant with that science is proved by numerous references in the ms itself 1 and it is quite reasonable to hotel that the) carnet! their livelihood b) means or tint from some oilier passages it is evident tint some among them had to protect die earth and it is highl) probable tint the) were enrolled in the local troops or in the pioneer force as horn c-gu a rd< w It « also notrworth) that some of them tried their best to be conversant with the art of trade 54 and imitation.

There were some kuladhannas of the Bhatas which had to be observed bv them Thev whole hetrtcdls fillowttl The Cistru and uclras stated h) the latter Thev did nni even think of changing their Dharma and would not mix with the people of oilier religions Hie) were satisfied with their own wives so no question of aduUrrv arose The\ had to avoid idleness in times of work Thev hid to worship thnr preceptors celebrate the five > ajtm including the DevayajiU respect the fret of their parents and perform their Shmla with flowers ind bhdes of huh (darbha) 11 Much Jtrrti Iris been laid on 'itiflo satLlrafd If a near and dear one of ordinary status arrives (pnjc slmlnva bhive pt vuppripte nya-dlutmam f J he xhtml I be treated hie a respectable guest Hie host should clench embrace him, male him seated and himself wash his frrt Hr should place on the head the water touched by the greatest of the Dvijas with his feet. 58 He should decorate his guest with the sandalpaste, fried rice and with similar other things. He should even rub the feet of his guest. 59 In short, he should look after the guest’s snana, paridhana and bhojana.® 0 If a Medapata arrives, all those things mentioned above should be observed by the Bhatas, for, this is their compulsory custom. 61

There was a system among them that they took money from the bridegrooms by giving away their daughter in marriage. 62 But to give away a daughter to a foreigner belonging to a different clan presumably for earning money thereby was forbidden.® 3

A detailed description of the marriage ceremony of tile Medapatas has been given in the ms. An interesting feature of it is that the people who will follow thebridegroom when the latter starts for the bride’s place should consist or men only and no lady should be allowed to take part in this procession 61 It expressly sap, ‘The procession with no female member is an act productive of auspidousness.® 5 ’

The ceremonies which have been dealt with at length arc almost like those of the present day.®® A major difference is that it lavs down a special Vidlu that after the 'nandlmuKha ceremony, the ncwlv-mamcd couple should come near the 'mandapa-vedf winch is befitted with the images of nava-graha and worship VaradeSvara (Parvatl and Shiva), Brahma and other deities and the brahmins, and the acaryas, with excellent ornaments and with scents, nuts and betel leaves 7 etc. Another characteristic point is that it has been said that the time of the feeding of the assembled guests in connection with a marriage ceremony is midday. 68 It is really very difficult to ascertain why such a particular time has been fixed for that purpose.

It is interesting to note that Kaulmya guna was known to the Bhattas as some of them w ere regarded as ‘kulinaV That there were divisions of gotra and pravara among the Bhattas and Medapatas is proved by the following lines of the ms.

It throws a flood of light on the 24 main gotras 70 (cf. ‘catura§iti-gotrebhyai-catummSati-gotrinam f. 34a), the number of which at one period exceeded at least 2300. 71 Among the tw entyfour gotras which have been specifically mentioned by the writer, the following 18 arc well known to all and require no further introduction. These are as follow’s:

1. Atreya, 2. ParaSara, 3. Katyayana, 4. Garga, 5. Sandilya, 6. Kausika, 7. Vatsa, 8. Vatsya, 9 Bharadvaja, 10. Gargya, 11. Gautama, 12. Kalyapa, 13. Mandavya, 14. Kaundinya, 15. Atri, 16. Galava, 17. Bhargava, 18. Upamanyu. The following five names appear to be wrong. They are according to the text 1. KuSaka, 2. Muhila, 3. Vishnuvardhana, 4. Maunasa and 5. Radhau. But as the ms. is full of gross mistakes, we should do justice if we take for these the following five respectively which arc mentioned in the book named Principles of Pravara and Gotra, 72 They are 1, KuSika, 73 2. Mudgala, 74 3. Vishnuvrddhi, 75 or Vishnuvrddha, 76 4. Mautsya, 77 5. Radhavi. 78 It is a pity that an authoritative work like Principles of Pravara and Gotra does not contain the last gotra, viz., Candratrcya, It can be safely concluded that there was a gotra of this name, as we know that the Candellas of historic lame belonged to this Candratrcya gotra. 79

 

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