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SEPTEMBER, 1928)
THE HOME OF THE UPANISADS
171
We do not dispute that initially there were no Brahmans in Magadha or Videha; but neither can it be disputed that subsequentiy plenty of Brahmans came that way and settled down there. Cannot these Brahmans have favoured the growth of Upanişadic Brahmavidya ? The high praise bestowed upon Kuru-Pañoala and its people does not preclude this possibility.
(6) We may turn now to the texts of the Śruti which express a contempt for the land of Videha-Magadha and its people.
In the Atharva Veda (v. 22. 14), the fever is wished away to the Mâgadhaa, among other peoples. But this may mean only that it is wished away out of the land of the Aryans or out of the land to which the author of this text belonged-out of the territory known to them at the time, of which Magadha formed the eastern boundary. That this is a very possible meaning, is proved by the mention of Gândhara also in the same passage, which formed the north-west boundary of the same territory (Oldenberg, Buddha, p. 399), and also by the mention of other places like Anga, etc. So the passage need not be understood as implying a hatred for the land and people of Magadha. Again, if it is to be understood as a curse for Magadha at all, may we not take it to mean a curse not for the colonists of the place but the aborigines? There is no evidence to support us in thinking that it referred to the Brahman colonists; and yet these are just the people whom we are inclined to credit with the production of the Upanişads. But after all, does the passage mean any curse at all? Are we sure that the author was not wishing only to cure the disease, but was seeking to curse others with it
The same remark applies to Atharva Veda (xv.2.1-4), Sukla Yajus (xxx, 5. 22), Latydyana Srauta Sutra (viii. 5) etc. If the Magadha is dedicated to the 'Atikruşta,' or if he is connected with the Vrâtya, that in itself does not prove much. The disparagement of the Magadha does not prove that the land of Videha-Magadha could not have been the home of the Upanişads. For, in the first place, it is not clear who exactly was meant by the term M&gadha. In later times, the term was used to mean a minstrel. The name is usually derived from the name of the country (Magadha). But instances are not rare where a country derives its name from that of the inhabitants that Magadha was not such a country, would be too dogmatic an assertion. So, the passages referred to above might imply disparagement of a class of men, who ultimately gave their name to a province. In that case, the disparage. ment is not of the land of Videha-Magadha, but of a certain sect of men who perhaps lived a half nomad life, and who, when they settled down, gave their name to the country.
In the second place, the country of Videha-Magadha had its original inhabitants, it seems, when it was conquered and colonised by the Arvan immigrants. These inhabitants may have been the people subsequently known as the Magadhas, or may have been a different race. And later on, even respectable Brahmans came to dwell there. It is difficult therefore to say that the contempt expressed in the above-mentioned passages was intended for the Brahman colonists and not for the aboriginal inhabitants.
That even respectable Brahmans dwelt there, that the Brahman colonists of Magadha were entitled to the same sort of respect as Brahmans of other provinces that even their opinions were considered in connection with ceremonial practices, is proved by the case of Madhyama Prátibodhi-putra (Samkhayana Aranyaka, vii. 13; the Poona edition reads
Prati-yodhi-putra' instead of Pratibodhi-putra,' and gives the number of the passage as vii. 14, and not vii. 13, as given by Macdonell, V.I. under Magadha. Cf. also Weber, History of Indian Literature, p. 112n.).
This case Oldenberg regards as proving the fact that dwelling in Magadha was rather unusual for a Brahman (Buddha, p. 400n.). Oldenberg's ground for so thinking is that the native place of the man has been specifically mentioned, which would not be thought necessary, if Brahmans were usually found in Magadha. But is that really so? Is not a man's
