Their message demanding back their possessions receiving no answer, they prepared for war. The rival armies met in the sacred region of Kurukshetra, with numerous allies on both sides. Joined with the Kurus were, among others, the people of Kosala, Videha, Anga, Banga (Bengal), Kalinga on the east, and those of Sindhu, Gandhara, Bahlika (Balk), together with the cakas and Yavanas on the west. The Pandus, on the other hand, were aided by the Panchalas, the Matsyas, part of the Yadavas under Krishna, besides the kings of Kaci (Benares), Chedi, Magadha, and others (v.).
The battle raged for eighteen days, till all the Kurus were destroyed, and only the Pandavas and Krishna with his charioteer escaped alive. The account of it extends over five books (vi.-x.). Then follows a description of the obsequies of the dead (xi.). In the next two books, Bhima, the leader of the Kurus, on his deathbed, instructs Yudhishthira for about 20,000 clokas on the duties of kings and other topics.
The Pandus having been reconciled to the old king Dhritarashtra, Yudhishthira was crowned king in Hastinapura, and inst.i.tuted a great horse-sacrifice (xiv.). Dhritarashtra having remained at Hastinapura for fifteen years, at length retired, with his wife Gandhari, to the jungle, where they perished in a forest conflagration (xv.). Among the Yadavas, who had taken different sides in the great war, an internecine conflict broke out, which resulted in the annihilation of this people. Krishna sadly withdrew to the wilderness, where he was accidentally shot dead by a hunter (xvi.).
The Pandus themselves, at last weary of life, leaving the young prince Pariks.h.i.t, grandson of Arjuna, to rule over Hastinapura, retired to the forest, and dying as they wandered towards Meru, the mountain of the G.o.ds (xvii.), ascended to heaven with their faithful spouse (xviii.).
Here the framework of the great epic, which begins at the commencement of the first book, comes to an end. King Pariks.h.i.t having died of snake-bite, his son Janamejaya inst.i.tuted a great sacrifice to the serpents. At that sacrifice the epic was recited by Vaicampayana, who had learnt it from Vyasa. The latter, we are told, after arranging the four Vedas, composed the Mahabharata, which treats of the excellence of the Pandus, the greatness of Krishna, and the wickedness of the sons of Dhritarashtra.
The supplementary book, the Harivamca, or "Family of Vishnu," is concerned only with Krishna. It contains more than 16,000 clokas, and is divided into three sections. The first of these describes the history of Krishna"s ancestors down to the time of Vishnu"s incarnation in him; the second gives an account of Krishna"s exploits; the third treats of the future corruptions of the Kali, or fourth age of the world.
The episodes of the Mahabharata are numerous and often very extensive, const.i.tuting, as we have seen, about four-fifths of the whole poem. Many of them are interesting for various reasons, and some are distinguished by considerable poetic beauty. One of them, the story of cakuntala (occurring in Book I.), supplied Kalidasa with the subject of his famous play. Episodes are specially plentiful in Book III., being related to while away the time of the exiled Pandus. Here is found the Matsyopakhyana, or "Episode of the fish," being the story of the flood, narrated with more diffuseness than the simple story told in the catapatha Brahmana. The fish here declares itself to be Brahma, Lord of creatures, and not yet Vishnu, as in the Bhagavata Purana. Manu no longer appears as the progenitor of mankind, but as a creator who produces all beings and worlds anew by means of his ascetic power.
Another episode is the history of Rama, interesting in its relation to Valmiki"s Ramayana, which deals with the same subject at much greater length. The myth of the descent of the Ganges from heaven to earth, here narrated, is told in the Ramayana also.
Another legend is that of the sage Ricya-cringa, who having produced rain in the country of Lomapada, king of the Angas, was rewarded with the hand of the princess canta, and performed that sacrifice for King Dacaratha which brought about the birth of Rama. This episode is peculiarly important from a critical point of view, as the legend recurs not only in the Ramayana, but also in the Padma Purana, the Skanda Purana, and a number of other sources.
Of special interest is the story of King Ucinara, son of cibi, who sacrificed his life to save a pigeon from a hawk. It is told again in another part of Book III. about cibi himself, as well as in Book XIII. about Vrishadarbha, son of cibi. Distinctly Buddhistic in origin and character, the story is famous in Pali as well as Sanskrit literature, and spread beyond the limits of India.
The story of the abduction of Draupadi forms an episode of her life while she dwelt with the Pandus in the Kamyaka forest. Accidentally seen when alone by King Jayadratha of Sindhu, who was pa.s.sing with a great army, and fell in love with her at first sight, she was forcibly carried off, and only rescued after a terrible fight, in which the Pandus annihilated Jayadratha"s host.
Interesting as an ill.u.s.tration of the mythological ideas of the age is the episode which describes the journey of Arjuna to Indra"s heaven. Here we see the mighty warrior-G.o.d of the Vedas transformed into a glorified king of later times, living a life of ease amid the splendours of his celestial court, where the ear is lulled by strains of music, while the eye is ravished by the graceful dancing and exquisite beauty of heavenly nymphs.
In the story of Savitri we have one of the finest of the many ideal female characters which the older epic poetry of India has created. Savitri, daughter of Acvapati, king of Madra, chooses as her husband Satyavat, the handsome and n.o.ble son of a blind and exiled king, who dwells in a forest hermitage. Though warned by the sage Narada that the prince is fated to live but a single year, she persists in her choice, and after the wedding departs with her husband to his father"s forest retreat. Here she lives happily till she begins to be tortured with anxiety on the approach of the fatal day. When it arrives, she follows her husband on his way to cut wood in the forest. After a time he lies down exhausted. Yama, the G.o.d of death, appears, and taking his soul, departs. As Savitri persistently follows him, Yama grants her various boons, always excepting the life of her husband; but yielding at last to her importunities, he restores the soul to the lifeless body. Satyavat recovers, and lives happily for many years with his faithful Savitri.
One of the oldest and most beautiful stories inserted in the Mahabharata is the Nalopakhyana, or "Episode of Nala." It is one of the least corrupted of the episodes, its great popularity having prevented the transforming hand of an editor from introducing civa and Vishnu, or from effacing the simplicity of the manners it depicts--the prince, for instance, cooks his own food--or from changing the character of Indra, and other old traits. The poem is pervaded by a high tone of morality, manifested above all in the heroic devotion and fidelity of Damayanti, its leading character. It also contains many pa.s.sages distinguished by tender pathos.
The story is told by the wise Brihadacva to the exiled Yudhishthira, in order to console him for the loss of the kingdom he has forfeited at play. Nala, prince of Nishada, chosen from among many compet.i.tors for her hand by Damayanti, princess of Vidarbha, pa.s.ses several years of happy married life with her. Then, possessed by the demon Kali, and indulging in gambling, he loses his kingdom and all his possessions. Wandering half naked in the forest with Damayanti, he abandons her in his frenzy. Very pathetic is the scene describing how he repeatedly returns to the spot where his wife lies asleep on the ground before he finally deserts her. Equally touching are the accounts of her terror on awaking to find herself alone in the forest, and of her lamentations as she roams in search of her husband, and calls out to him--
Hero, valiant, knowing duty, To honour faithful, lord of earth, If thou art within this forest, Then show thee in thy proper form.
Shall I hear the voice of Nala, Sweet as the draught of Amrita, With its deep and gentle accent, Like rumble of the thunder-cloud, Saying "Daughter of Vidarbha!"
To me with clear and blessed sound.
Rich, like Vedas murmured flowing, At once destroying all my grief?
There are graphic descriptions of the beauties and terrors of the tropical forest in which Damayanti wanders. At last she finds her way back to her father"s court at Kundina Many and striking are the similes with which the poet dwells on the grief and wasted form of the princess in her separation from her husband. She is
Like the young moon"s slender crescent Obscured by black clouds in the sky; Like the lotus-flower uprooted, All parched and withered by the sun; Like the pallid night, when Rahu Has swallowed up the darkened moon.
Nala, meanwhile, transformed into a dwarf, has become charioteer to the king of Oudh. Damayanti at last hears news leading her to suspect her husband"s whereabouts. She accordingly holds out hopes of her hand to the king of Oudh, on condition of his driving the distance of 500 miles to Kundina in a single day. Nala, acting as his charioteer, accomplishes the feat, and is rewarded by the king with the secret of the highest skill in dicing. Recognised by his wife in spite of his disguise, he regains his true form. He plays again, and wins back his lost kingdom. Thus after years of adventure, sorrow, and humiliation he is at last reunited with Damayanti, with whom he spends the rest of his days in happiness.
Though several supernatural and miraculous features like those which occur in fairy tales are found in the episode of Nala, they are not sufficient to mar the spirit of true poetry which pervades the story as a whole.
THE PURANAS.
Closely connected with the Mahabharata is a distinct cla.s.s of eighteen epic works, didactic in character and sectarian in purpose, going by the name of Purana. The term purana is already found in the Brahmanas designating cosmogonic inquiries generally. It is also used in the Mahabharata somewhat vaguely to express "ancient legendary lore,"
implying didactic as well as narrative matter, and pointing to an old collection of epic stories. One pa.s.sage of the epic (I. v. 1) describes purana as containing stories of the G.o.ds and genealogies of the sages. In Book XVIII., as well as in the Harivamca, mention is even made of eighteen Puranas, which, however, have not been preserved; for those known to us are all, on the whole, later than the Mahabharata, and for the most part derive their legends of ancient days from the great epic itself. Nevertheless they contain much that is old; and it is not always possible to a.s.sume that the pa.s.sages they have in common with the Mahabharata and Manu have been borrowed from those works. They are connected by many threads with the old law-books (smritis) and the Vedas, representing probably a development of older works of the same cla.s.s. In that part of their contents which is peculiar to them, the Puranas agree so closely, being often verbally identical for pages, that they must be derived from some older collection as a common source. Most of them are introduced in exactly the same way as the Mahabharata, Ugracravas, the son of Lomaharshana, being represented as relating their contents to caunaka on the occasion of a sacrifice in the Naimisha forest. The object of most of these legendary compilations is to recommend the sectarian cult of Vishnu, though some of them favour the worship of civa.
Besides cosmogony, they deal with mythical descriptions of the earth, the doctrine of the cosmic ages, the exploits of ancient G.o.ds, saints, and heroes, accounts of the Avatars of Vishnu, the genealogies of the Solar and Lunar race of kings, and enumerations of the thousand names of Vishnu or of civa. They also contain rules about the worship of the G.o.ds by means of prayers, fastings, votive offerings, festivals, and pilgrimages.
The Garuda, as well as the late and unimportant Agni Purana, practically const.i.tute abstracts of the Mahabharata and the Harivamca.
The Vayu, which appears to be one of the oldest, coincides in part of its matter with the Mahabharata, but is more closely connected with the Harivamca, the pa.s.sage which deals with the creation of the world often agreeing verbatim with the corresponding part of the latter poem.
The relationship of the Matsya Purana to the great epic and its supplementary book as sources is similarly intimate. It is introduced with the story of Manu and the Fish (Matsya). The Kurma, besides giving an account of the various Avatars of Vishnu (of which the tortoise or kurma is one), of the genealogies of G.o.ds and kings, as well as other matters, contains an extensive account of the world in accordance with the accepted cosmological notions of the Mahabharata and of the Puranas in general. The world is here represented as consisting of seven concentric islands separated by different oceans. The central island, with Mount Meru in the middle, is Jambu-dvipa, of which Bharata-varsha, the "kingdom of the Bharatas," or India, is the main division.
The Markandeya, which expressly recognises the priority of the Mahabharata, is so called because it is related by the sage Markandeya to explain difficulties suggested by the epic, such as, How could Krishna become a man? Its leading feature is narrative and it is the least sectarian of the Puranas.
The extensive Padma Purana, which contains a great many stones agreeing with those of the Mahabharata, is, on the other hand, strongly Vishnuite in tone. Yet this, as well as the Markandeya, expressly states the doctrine of the Tri-murti or Trinity, that Brahma, Vishnu, and civa are only one being. This doctrine, already to be found in the Harivamca, is not so prominent in post-Vedic literature as is commonly supposed. It is interesting to note that the story of Rama, as told in the Padma Purana, follows not only the Ramayana but also Kalidasa"s account in the Raghuvamca, with which it often agrees literally. Again, the story of cakuntala is related, not in accordance with the Mahabharata, but with Kalidasa"s drama.
The Brahma-vaivarta Purana is also strongly sectarian in favour of Vishnu in the form of Krishna. It is to be noted that both here and in the Padma Purana an important part is played by Krishna"s mistress Radha, who is unknown to the Harivamca, the Vishnu, and even the Bhagavata Purana.
The Vishnu Purana, which very often agrees with the Mahabharata in its subject-matter, corresponds most closely to the Indian definition of a Purana, as treating of the five topics of primary creation, secondary creation, genealogies of G.o.ds and patriarchs, reigns of various Ma.n.u.s, and the history of the old dynasties of kings.
The Bhagavata Purana, which consists of about 18,000 clokas, derives its name from being dedicated to the glorification of Bhagavata or Vishnu. It is later than the Vishnu, which it presupposes, probably dating from the thirteenth century. It exercises a more powerful influence in India than any other Purana. The most popular part is the tenth book, which narrates in detail the history of Krishna, and has been translated into perhaps every one of the vernacular languages of India.
Other Vishnuite Puranas of a late date are the Brahma, the Naradiya, the Vamana, and the Varaha, the latter two called after the Dwarf and the Boar incarnations of Vishnu.
Those which specially favour the cult of civa are the Skanda, the civa, the Linga, and the Bhavishya or Bhavishyat Puranas. The latter two contain little narrative matter, being rather ritual in character. A Bhavishyat Purana is already mentioned in the Apastamba Dharma Sutra.
Besides these eighteen Puranas there is also an equal number of secondary works of the same cla.s.s called Upa-puranas, in which the epic matter has become entirely subordinate to the ritual element.
THE RAMAYANA.
Though there is, as we shall see, good reason for supposing that the original part of the Ramayana a.s.sumed shape at a time when the Mahabharata was still in a state of flux, we have deferred describing it on account of its connection with the subsequent development of epic poetry in Sanskrit literature.
In its present form the Ramayana consists of about 24,000 clokas, and is divided into seven books. It has been preserved in three distinct recensions, the West Indian (A), the Bengal (B), and the Bombay (C). About one-third of the clokas in each recension occurs in neither of the other two. The Bombay recension has in most cases preserved the oldest form of the text; for, as the other two arose in the centres of cla.s.sical Sanskrit literature, where the Gauda and the Vaidarbha styles of composition respectively flourished, the irregularities of the epic language have been removed in them. The Ramayana was here treated as a regular kavya or artificial epic, a fate which the Mahabharata escaped because it early lost its original character, and came to be regarded as a didactic work. These two later recensions must not, however, be looked upon as mere revisions of the Bombay text. The variations of all three are of such a kind that they can for the most part be accounted for only by the fluctuations of oral tradition among the professional reciters of the epic, at the time when the three recensions a.s.sumed definite shape in different parts of the country by being committed to writing. After having been thus fixed, the fate of each of these recensions was of course similar to that of any other text. They appear to go back to comparatively early times. For quotations from the Ramayana occurring in works that belong to the eighth and ninth centuries A.D. show that a recension allied to the present C, and probably another allied to the present A, existed at that period. Moreover, Kshemendra"s poetical abstract of the epic, the Ramayana-kathasara-manjari, which follows the contents of the original step by step, proves that its author used A, and perhaps B also, in the middle of the eleventh century. Bhoja, the composer of another epitome, the Ramayana-champu, probably used C in the same century.
The careful investigations of Professor Jacobi have shown that the Ramayana originally consisted of five books only (ii.-vi.). The seventh is undoubtedly a later addition, for the conclusion of the sixth was evidently at one time the end of the whole poem. Again, the first book has several pa.s.sages which conflict with statements in the later books. It further contains two tables of contents (in cantos i. and iii.) which were clearly made at different times; for one of them takes no notice of the first and last books, and must, therefore, have been made before these were added. What was obviously a part of the commencement of the original poem has been separated from its continuation at the opening of Book II., and now forms the beginning of the fifth canto of Book I. Some cantos have also been interpolated in the genuine books. As Professor Jacobi shows, all these additions to the original body of the epic have been for the most part so loosely attached that the junctures are easy to recognise. They are, however, pervaded by the same spirit as the older part. There is, therefore, no reason for the supposition that they are due to a Brahman revision intended to transform a poem originally meant for the warrior caste. They seem rather to owe their origin simply to the desire of professional rhapsodists to meet the demands of the popular taste. We are told in the Ramayana itself that the poem was either recited by professional minstrels or sung to the accompaniment of a stringed instrument, being handed down orally, in the first place by Rama"s two sons Kuca and Lava. These names are nothing more than the inventions of popular etymology meant to explain the Sanskrit word kucilava, "bard" or "actor." The new parts were incorporated before the three recensions which have come down to us arose, but a considerable time must have elapsed between the composition of the original poem and that of the additions. For the tribal hero of the former has in the latter been transformed into a national hero, the moral ideal of the people; and the human hero (like Krishna in the Mahabharata) of the five genuine books (excepting a few interpolations) has in the first and last become deified and identified with the G.o.d Vishnu, his divine nature in these additions being always present to the minds of their authors. Here, too, Valmiki, the composer of the Ramayana, appears as a contemporary of Rama, and is already regarded as a seer. A long interval of time must have been necessary for such transformations as these.
As to the place of its origin, there is good reason for believing that the Ramayana arose in Kosala, the country ruled by the race of Ikshvaku in Ayodhya (Oudh). For we are told in the seventh book (canto 45) that the hermitage of Valmiki lay on the south bank of the Ganges; the poet must further have been connected with the royal house of Ayodhya, as the banished Sita took refuge in his hermitage, where her twin sons were born, brought up, and later learnt the epic from his lips; and lastly, the statement is made in the first book (canto 5) that the Ramayana arose in the family of the Ikshvakus. In Ayodhya, then, there must have been current among the court bards (suta) a number of epic tales narrating the fortunes of the Ikshvaku hero Rama. Such legends, we may a.s.sume, Valmiki worked up into a single h.o.m.ogeneous production, which, as the earliest epic of importance conforming to the rules of poetics, justly received the name of adi-kavya, or "first artificial poem," from its author"s successors. This work was then learnt by professional rhapsodists (kucilava) and recited by them in public as they wandered about the country.
The original part of the Ramayana appears to have been completed at a time when the epic kernel of the Mahabharata had not as yet a.s.sumed definite shape. For while the heroes of the latter are not mentioned in the Ramayana, the story of Rama is often referred to in the longer epic. Again, in a pa.s.sage of Book VII. of the Mahabharata, which cannot be regarded as a later addition, two lines are quoted as Valmiki"s that occur unaltered in Book VI. of the Ramayana. The poem of Valmiki must, therefore, have been generally known as an old work before the Mahabharata a.s.sumed a coherent form. In Book III. (cantos 277-291) of the latter epic, moreover, there is a Ramopakhyana or "Episode of Rama," which seems to be based on the Ramayana as it contains several verses agreeing more or less with Valmiki"s lines, and its author presupposes on the part of his audience a knowledge of the Ramayana as represented by the Bombay recension.
A further question of importance in determining the age of the Ramayana is its relation to Buddhistic literature. Now, the story of Rama is found in a somewhat altered form in one of the Pali Birth-Stories, the Dacaratha Jataka. As this version confines itself to the first part of Rama"s adventures, his sojourn in the forest, it might at first sight seem to be the older of the two. There is, however, at least an indication that the second part of the story, the expedition to Lanka, was also known to the author of the Jataka; for while Valmiki"s poem concludes with the reunion of Rama and Sita, the Jataka is made to end with the marriage of the couple after the manner of fairy tales, there being at the same time traces that they were wedded all along in the original source of the legend. Moreover, a verse from the old part of the Ramayana (vi. 128) actually occurs in a Pali form embedded in the prose of this Jataka.
It might, indeed, be inferred from the greater freedom with which they handle the cloka metre that the canonical Buddhistic writings are older than the Ramayana, in which the cloka is of the cla.s.sical Sanskrit type. But, as a matter of fact, these Pali works on the whole observe the laws of the cla.s.sical cloka, their metrical irregularities being most probably caused by the recent application of Pali to literary purposes as well as by the inferior preservation of Pali works. On the other hand, Buddhistic literature early made use of the Arya metre, which, though so popular in cla.s.sical Sanskrit poetry, is not yet to be found in the Sanskrit epics.
The only mention of Buddha in the Ramayana occurs in a pa.s.sage which is evidently interpolated. Hence the balance of the evidence in relation to Buddhism seems to favour the pre-Buddhistic origin of the genuine Ramayana.