________________ THE NAGAS AND THE NAGALOKA XVII 17. Saurastra Girinagara Srivarma Arivarma Candapradyota 18. Sindhu Simhapura In marriage & trade alli ance with Magadha ( see above). At war with Saurastra (7,4). Marriage alliance with Kanakapura (8,4,7). 8. 2, 3. 19. Ujjaini Ujjaini Jayasena Pandiraja 20. Pandya Madura (Southern Mathura) 21. Kiskindha- Meghapura malaya 22. Toyavali Bhumitilaka island Meghavahana Sriraksa Marriage alliance with Kanakapura (8,7,4ff ). Revolt of Pavanavega, nephew of the king, and Nagak.'s help (8,12,12ff). Raksa Dantipura Maharaksa Candragupta 23. Andhra Vijayandhara 24. Tribhuvana. Tri. tilaka Marriage alliance with Kanakapura (9, 1, 7ff). A dependency of Dantipura, in marriage alliance with Kanakapura (9, 1, 13). 9 The Nagas and the Nagaloka. The hero of the work, while yet a child, is said to have fallen into a well where it was received by a Naga who adopted him, gave him the name of Nagakumara and educated him, The Nagas have played a very important part in the folklore, superstition and poetry of India from very early times down to the present day. It is generally believed in scholarly circles that there is nothing but fiction behind the Naga-stories. A few attempts have recently been made to lift the Nagas from the limbo of myth to the region of history, but the material available on the point is so vast and yet so complicated and disjointed that a prolonged study and research in collecting, sifting and connecting the parts in to a whole is necessary before any definite and generally acceptable conclusions can be reached I shall here merely mention some of the important allusions to the Nagas in ancient records and the conclusions that have been or may be drawn from them. Nagas in the Mahabharata-Nagas are not mentioned in the Vedas or in the pre-Buddhistic Upanishads (BI p. 223 ). The chain of allusions starts with the Mahabharata which contains numerous references to them. Arjuna, during his self-imposed banishment of twelve years, is said to have been taken away to Nagaloka by Ulupi, the daughter of a Naga king. Nala is said to have saved Karkotaka Naga from a nre and the latter made him irrecognizable and advised him to go to king aetuparna. Nagas are said to have infested the Khandava forest and Kesna and Arjuna applied themselves to extirpate them with fire. Krsna's adventure with the Kaliya Naga in the Jamuna is well known. Taksaka Naga is said to have bitten Pariksita to death and the latter's son Janamejaya started a Naga sacrifice to wipe out their race. The Mahabharata, attributes to them a high degree of III P.P.AC. Gunratnasuri M.S. Jun Gun Aaradhak Trust
