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XIV]
Vişņu, Vasudeva and Kṛṣṇa
539
the worlds without any delay 1." In the succeeding chapter (i.e. Maha-bharata, Santi-f -parva, 343) nara and nārāyaṇa are described as being two foremost of sages (rşi) and two ancient deities engaged in the practice of penances, observing high vows and depending upon their own selves and transcending the very sun in energy.
The word bhagavat in the sense of blissful and happy is a very old one and is used in the Rg-Veda, 1. 164. 40; VII. 41. 4; X. 60. 12 and in the Atharva-Veda, II. 10. 2; V. 31. 11, etc. But in the Maha-bhārata and other such early literature it came to denote Viṣṇu or Vasudeva, and the word bhāgavata denoted the religious sect which regarded Viṣņu as Nārāyaṇa or Vasudeva as their supreme god. The Pali canonical work Niddesa refers to various superstitious religious sects, among which it mentions the followers of Vasudeva, Baladeva, Punṇabhadda, Maṇibhadda, Aggi, Nāga, Suparṇa, Yakkha, Asura, Gandhabba, Mahārāja, Canda, Suriya, Inda, Brahma, dog, crow, cow, etc. It is easy to understand why a Buddhist work should regard the worship of Vasudeva as being of a very low type; but at any rate it proves that the worship of Vasudeva was prevalent during the period when the Niddesa was codified. Again, in commenting upon Panini, IV. 3.98 (Vāsudevārjunābhyām vun), Patañjali points out that the word Vasudeva here does not denote the Vasudeva who was the son of Vasudeva of the Kṣattriya race of Vṛṣṇis, since, had it been so, the suffix vun, which is absolutely equivalent to vun, could well be by Panini, IV. 3. 99 (gotra-kṣattriyakhyebhyo bahulam vuñ), by which vun is suffixed to names of Kṣattriya race. Patanjali thus holds that the word Vasudeva is in this rule not used to refer to any Kṣattriya race, but is a name of the Lord (samjñaiṣā tatra bhagavataḥ). If Patanjali's interpretation is to be trusted, for which there is every reason, Vasudeva as God is to be distinguished from the Kṣattriya Vasudeva, the son of Vasudeva of the race of Vrsnis. It was well established in Panini's time that Vasudeva was God, and that His followers were called Vasudevaka, for the formation of which word by the vun suffix Pāṇini had to make the rule (IV. 3. 98). Again, the Ghosundi inscription in Rajputana, which is written in Brahmi, an early form of about 200-150 B.C., contains a reference to the building of a wall round the temple of Vasudeva and Samkarṣaṇa. In the Besnagar inscription of about 100 B.C.
1 Mahā-bhārata, Santi-parva, 342. 124-129. P. C. Roy's translation, Mokşadharma-parva, p. 817. Calcutta.
