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________________ Traditions of the Vaisali Region 193 and his wife Haimini (daughter of Rutha), who again was changed for the infant son of Bodba, the leading brahmana of Visala-grama, 1--the last infant being consigned to the famale deity "Jata-barini.' When still a mere youth, Ananda became the sixth Manu (the 'Caksusa' Manu); by his wife *Vidarbha', daughter of King Ugra, he had a son called Uru, whose immediate descendants were the famous Anga, Vena and Ptthu. In the same lineage of the first Manu, within the first few generations from him. are placed the famous Rsabha (one of the very first 'Jina's of Jajna tradition) and his son Bharata. The former was ruler over what was then known as 'Hima-varsa', the country just to the south of what was then called "Hima' Mountains ('Hamahva'). This region he made over to his son Bharata and retired in old age as an ascetic, wandering, but with head-quarters in the ancient asrama of the Pulaba' brahmanas (of the same group as the Pulastya=ʻraksasa' and 'yaksa', Kratu, Agastya and Vasistha brahmanas) at sala-grama on the Gandaki (above Vaisali where the river emerges from the Himalayas). Bharata gave his name to this Hima-varsa, and after him it was called Bharata-varsa. He too, in due course, retired like his father before him to the same asrama, making over this region to his son Sumati. Other cousins of Rsabha and Bharata - Nabhi, Agnidhra, and others,-ruled over regions or 'varsa's called Nabhivarsa, Ilavsta-varsa, Kimpurusa -varsa, Hari-varsa, etc., mostly in the different Himalayan and traps-Himalayan tracts. This Bharata was also a great rsi or sage, and is alleged to have been the originator of the first, scientific treatment of the dramatic art, music and dancing (Natyasastra). Legends about a very ancient cult struggle of Saiva-Vaisnava character between the worshippers of Aja-Ekapada (Rudra in elephant form) and of Kurma (tortoise incarnation of Visnu) are located in the Vaisali region, at the junction of the Gandaki and the Ganga, which is therefore called Hari-Hara-Ksetra or Gajendra-Moksa Ksetra, within Visala-Ksetra. Three 1. It seems both were raja's of Vaisali. (Cf. many 'raja's of Vaisali in later ages). In early literature capital cities were designated grama's, e.g., Ayodhya. The legends about the Svarocisa Manu and the Raivata Manu of the same dynasty connect them with Varanasi then called Varunaspada or Varanasi-pada (and a kingdom extending from Upper Gangetic Himalayas to Kamarupa and Deccan), and with *Vikramasila' respectively. The sub-Himalayan Mauleyas whose princess was married into the Manu family, might be the pro totype of the subsequent Mauryas. 25 2.
| SR No. | 012088 |
| Book Title | Vaishali Abhinandan Granth |
| Original Sutra Author | N/A |
| Author | Yogendra Mishra |
| Publisher | Research Institute of Prakrit Jainology and Ahimsa |
| Publication Year | 1985 |
| Total Pages | 592 |
| Language | Hindi, English |
| Classification | Smruti_Granth |
| File Size | 17 MB |