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THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY
[SEPTEMBER, 1914.
father Nagama Naik had at first no son to inherit his vast estates and to perpetuate the memory of his family, in spite of the many propitiatory offerings and the practice of hard vows with which he implored the favour of the gods ; that he went on pilgrimage to Benares, where by the liberality of his donations, the magnificence of his charities, and the vigour of his penance, 4c he obtained, by the grace of the god Viśvanátha, the blessing of a son, later on the founder of the Madura Naik dynasty, whom he christened after the god whose gift he was. The exact date of Visvanatha's birth is unknown; but it may be surmised that it was sometime about 1500. A child of penance and prayer, Visvanatha foreshadowed his coming greatness even in his youth. He underwent an excellent military and literary training under his father, and developed into a fine scholar and a finer athlete; and by the time he was sixteen," he was admired for the beauty of his person and his natural as well as acquired knowledge, and was in every respect accomplished.” When about twenty years of age, he was introduced by his father to the imperial presence and into the imperial service. A romantic and picturesque story is narrated in the indigenous Chronicles in connection with his advent into the emperor's service. In accordance with the custom of those days, we are told, the emperor brought, as a result of the chase, a wild buffalo from the neighbouring woods, to be offered on the tenth day of the Navaratri festival.7, as & sacrifice to Durga. the guardian deity of Vijayanagar, the celebrated Bhuvanesvari of Vidyâragya's devotion and worship. It was widely believed that the efficacy and fruitfulness of the sacrifice depended on the head of the beast's being severed from the body at a single stroke. The superstition of the day held that if the victim had to be struck twice, a disaster was in store for the empire. Now it happened that the buffalo which was led to the sacrificial altar had such long, strong and irregular horns that it became a serious problem how to cut its head off at one stroke. The Emperor, courtiers and people were in despair, when young Visvanatha, we are told, came to the rescue. He was, we are further informed, induced by the goddess herself, in a vision, to offer himself as the executioner, provided he was given a particular sword in the king's armoury. When the youth made his appearance before the anxious Emperor and offered his service, he was not believed to be earnest, but the fervent solicitude of the young hero, his earnest offer to sacrifice his life in case of failure. made Krishna-Déva agree to try him. And the emperor had no reason to be sorry for his decision. To his unbounded joy and enthusiasm, the young soldier performed his task with remarkable success. As a reward for his service, Krishna Deva declared him a public benefactor, a saviour of the State from a catastrophe, and promised him before long, inasmuch as he deserved a crown and kingdom, the dignity of royalty. At the same time he distinguished the favourite's merit by appointing him to the command of a section of the army. As a general, Visvanatha's career was a brilliant one. He distinguished himself with such glory in the subjugation of certain enemies 18 of the empire in the north, that the emperor raised him to a high rank, and bestowed on him all honours and privileges as well as the ensigns and trophies which his valour had taken from the conquered chiefs.
(To be continued) 46 The Hist. Carn. Governors gives details. It points out how Nagama and his wife bathed daily in the Ganges, ate everyday only three handfuls of rice, and waited on the god Visvanatha day and nicht in the temple. They did so for forty days, when the god appeared to them in a vision, expressed his satisfaction at their perance, promised to give them a sight of his person the next day in the Ganges, and declared that their object would be fulfilled. The next day the pious couple, whilo bathing in the Ganges. felt a piece of stone coming into contact with their knees. They went to another ghat, but here also the same thing happened, and once again in a third spot. They now found that it was an emerald linga. Realising at once that it was the god's fulfilment of his promise, Någama returned to his country. About & year afterwards Visvanatha was born. The Mirt. M88. give a slightly different version. Soo also the various Polygar Memoirs, where there is ample reference to this story.
47 The Navaratri was the most important festival in the Vijayanagar Empire. Both the imperial and the provincial rulers celebrated it with great splendour. See Sewell's Forg. Empe,86, 175 and 376, and Madr. Manu III, 285. For stray accounts of the worship of Bhuvanéévari see Rais catal. II 427-55.
It is not known who these wure. The Hist. Carn. Governors says they were feudal chieftains in the north, who withheld the tribute to be paid by them. One of the Mirtanjiya MSS says they were the kings of Anga, Vanga, Kaliiga, Kasmira, Népåla, eto This is of course absurd. Taylor suggests that they were the princes of Kondavidu, Warangal, Cuttack and the Bahmani Sultans. See O. H. MSS. II, 143 and appendix 1.
