________________
106
Secondary Tales of the two Great Epics
of the Brāhmaṇical piety...... is a kindly ruler among men, and his presence secures the prosperity of the golden age. In the later legends Parīkshit is propogated variously as a terrestrial king."91 The words Vaisvanara Pariksit' seem to prove, at first sight, that the Vedic passage refers to Agni. But a little thinking reveals that Agni is nowhere else called Parīksit. To call Agni as Parīksit is rather unusual, and the passage seems to make a conscious attempt to identify Parīkşit with Vaiśvānara, the universal friendly form of Fire, by keeping the passage purposefully ambiguous. However, we must mention that the fact of Pariksit being identified with Vaiśvānara agrees well with the fact of his son Janam-ejaya (the men-impeller) shown to threaten the Nāga-tribals with Agni. The agreement not only tilts the balance slightly in favour of Pariksit being Agni only, but even points out another possibility that the same Vaiśvānara who is Parīkşit - 'the dweller around' in times of peace and prosperity may also be at other times Janam-ejaya 'the men-impeller'. Parikșit and Janamejaya may thus be only two aspects of the same Vaiśvānara, just as Vibhāndaka and Rsyaśộnga are very likely two aspects of the same phallic fertility motif.92
Let us recapitulate. Śartanu is mentioned merely as a king in the Rgveda. Dhịtarăstra Vaicitravīrya is not a Kuru-päncāla king; one Dhrtarăstra is the king of Kāśī but he is not a Bhārata. His mention as a Nāga in some ancient Sutra works, the name of his capital 'Hastināpura' including a synonymous term for 'nāga', his wife Gandhāri coming from a country having Takşaśilā as its capital and developing her premature embryos in vessels filled with ghee - these facts lead to a strong probability that Dhstarāștra and his hundred sons are Nāgas. No other major character is mentioned anywhere in our Vedic sources. Aad when we come to Parīkşit and Janamejaya, their historicity and their mythical nature are equally probable. Janamejaya is, again, mentioned as Nāga-priest in the Pañcavimśa Brāhmaṇa. Arbuda, Hastināpura and Taksasilā are the places associated with Nahuşa, Dbộtarāstra and Takşaka, all mentioned as Nāgas in some place or other. Geographically, the area between these three cities covers the kingdom of Matsya, Kuru-jangala, Pañcala, Brahmāvarta, Madra and Gāndhāra 93 all playing important part in the epic. This makes it probable that at one time these areas were inhabited by Nāga people.
On the other hand, the Pandavas are all sons of gods, Draupadi is born from sacrifice, the name of her father 'Drupada' means a sacrificial post, and their protector and benefactor is Kļşņa, who himself has a conflict with Kāliya Nāga to his credit. His constant conflict with Indra as evinced in the Govardhana-mount-episode as well as in the Khandava-burning-episode also is significant since, as we have seen, Indra is closely associated with Nāgas.
A systematic analysis of these details is almost impossible without relating them fully to their Vedic sources, and that is very much beyond the scope of our investi91 ibid, pp.691-2. 92 See ante Ch. II, BK, section 2., p. 44 93 See the map of ancient India, Vedic Index, II.
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
