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SEPTEMBER, 1907.].
HINDUISM IN THW HIMALAYAS.
253
HINDUISM IN THE HIMALAYAS.
BY H. A. ROSE, I.C.S. (Concluded from Vol. XXXVI. p. 43.)
IV. - The Legend of Mahast Deota. Mahasa, doubtless a corruption of Maha-Siva, is the god who gives his name to the Mahasů Hill near Simla and other places in the Simla hills. In the legend that follows he appears in qnadruplu form as four brothers, just as Bana Sur had four sons.36
When Krishna disappeared at the end of the Dwapar Yug, the Pandavas followed him. On their road to Ba tri-kasharam they crossed the Tons, and Raja Yudhishthir, struck with the beauty of the place, ordered Biswa Karma to build a temple there. Here the Pandavas, with Draupadi, halted 9 days. They named the place Hanol, and thence journeyed by the Gangotri and Jamnotri ravines, through Kedâr, to Badri Näth, where they disappeared, and the Kali Yng began.
At its commencement demons wandered over the Uttara Khanda, devouring the people and plundering towns and villages. The greatest of the demons was Kirmar, who had Beshi, Sengi, and a host of minor demons under him at Maindarth, on the Tons, whence they ravaged towns and villages, until the people sought refuge in cliffs, caves, and ravines. The demons devoured every one who came in their way. Once the seven sons of Hûna Brahman, who practised penance in the Deoban forest, went to bathe in the Tons river and encountered Kirmar, who devoured them all.
As they did not return for some time, their mother set out in search for them, but when she reached the river without getting any clue to her sons, she sat down on its bank and began to weep bitterly. Meanwhile, Kirmar, passing by, was struck with her beauty and asked why she wept, Kirtaka turned to him and said her seven sons had gone to bathe in the river and had not returned home. Hearing this, Kirmar said, "I am fascinated by thy beanty. If thou wilt accede to my heart's desire, I will extinguish the fire of my heart and will be grateful to thee and try to help thee in this difficulty. I am a bravo man, descended from Rawan. I have won the kingdom of these hills through the strength of my own arm."
The chaste wife was terrified at these words and they increased her grief. In her distress she began to pray, saying, " O Lord, the giver of all boons, everything rests with thee."
Doha (couplet). Puttar dukh dukhid bhai.
Par-bal abald dj, . Satti ko sat ját hai:
Rakho, Ishwar, "laj. I was distressed at the loss of my song. To-day I am a wonan in another's power, A chaste woman whose chastity is like to be lost:
O God, keep my chastity! After this she took her way home, and by the power of God the demon's sight was affected, so that Kirtaka became invisible to him as she passed. She then told the story to her husband, saying with clasped hands that Durg& Devi would be pleased with her devotion and destroy the demons, for she alone was endowed with the power of averting such evil. The demons had corrupted religion, outraged chastity, and taken men's lives.
On hearing this, her husband said they would go and worship Hat-kott Ishwart Mata. So Hûna went to the goddess with his wife. He first offered her flowers, and then prayed to Hateshwari Durga with the eight hands. While he prayed he unsheathed a dagger
38 Temple's Legends of the Panjab, III, pp. 864 et seqq.
