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138
AN EARLY HISTORY OF ORISSA
wanting in ancient Indian literature. Brāhmaṇa writers created all sorts of doubts in the Kshatriya origin of the Nandas, may be because they were believers in the Jaina faith and had connections with Jaina ministers and patriarchs. The Maurya dynasty, to which Asoka--the Great Maurya belonged, too, was not spared, may be because most of the rulers of that dynasty did not have faith in Brahmanism and preached against all sorts of sacrifices. Even Brāhmaṇas living in the Kalinga country were 'condemned in the most severe language. All this goes to prove indirectly the prevalence of Jainism in Kalinga.
But this condemnation on the part of the Brāhmaṇas, it appears, was not unanimous. The Mahābhārata contains references, side by side showering praises upon the people of Kalinga. The country has been described as consisting of many sacred places of pilgrimage. Our heroes of the Mahābhārata war are very frequently spoken of visiting Kalinga on pilgrimage tours. Probably, the tour was not thought to be complete without a bath in the river Vaitarại there. The detailed description of Yudhishțhira’s visit to Kalinga on pilgrimage is most noteworthy in this connection.
The Kalinga country, though included in the list of non-Aryan or Mlechchha countries, was credited with an Aryan origin. It is said to have been founded after prince Kalinga, the son of king Bali from queen Sudeshṇā, begotten by the great șishi Dirghatamas.3 The Baudhāyana Dharma
1. M. M. Harprasad Sastri was of opinion that the downfall of the Maurya empire was mostly due to the stoppage of sacrifice of animals by Asoka, which was certainly directed against the Brāhmaṇas as a class (JASB, 1910, pp, 259f).
2. See supra, Ch. III, pp. 101–2. 3. See supra, Ch. III, pp. 81-2.
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