Secondary Tales of the Two Great Epics

Author(s): Rajendra I Nanavati
Publisher: L D Indology Ahmedabad

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Secondary Tales of the tho Great Epics
but Indra, in the litany, is addressed as 'Harivas' (lord of the bay steeds) and a very peculiar story is narrated in the MBh in the name of Viśvāmitra in which the sage asks from his pupil Gālava the fee of eight hundred horses. 145 (6) Even at the cost of appearing a little ridiculous, it may be pointed out that the very name of the litany"Subrahmanya' 'highly worthy of Brahman'--- seems to be exemplified in the steady pursuit of Viśvāmitra to obtain the status of a brahma-sage in the face of a number of obstacles created by gods, particularly Indra. There is a strong probability, in the light of what we have seen above, that the Subrahmanya litany and even perhaps the ceremony are very significantly related to the Viśvāmitra-story-cycle. But, of course, to study that relation is not within our office.
With the Ahalyā-story, our group of entourage tales ends. We must repeat the caution here which we have given while discussing the Rsyaśộnga tale. As the above analysis and discussion show, neither Ahalyä, nor Kausika, nor Gautama is definitely historical. Even in the Brahmanas, the references to Ahalyā seem to be purely mythical. And even if Kausika and Gautama were historical, their contemporaneity is not supported by the Brāhmaṇas. How much more reliable can their contemporaneity with Rāma or Daśaratha be? It is clear that the attempts of Pargiter and Pradhan 146 at synchronisation of various sages and kings rest on very slippery and unreliable data of the epics-purānas and are misleading.
The tour of the sage and the princes is clearly divided into two parts. Their first major halt is Siddhāśrama, where Viśvāmitra performs the sacrifice and Rāma with Lakşmaņa protects it. The next part of the journey is a sort of pleasure-trip. And it should be noted that all the major tales are narrated in this second part of their journey. Again, a very conscious attempt has been made to connect all major tales with either the hero or his preceptor Viśvāmitra. The tale of the hundred daughters of Kušanābha is justified on the ground that Kusinäbha is the grandfather of Viśvāmitra, The whole group of tales in Sargas 31 to 33 reveals Viśvāmitra's genealogy as under :
Kusa
Kušanābha
Cūlī (m. Somada)
Brahamdatta - 100 daughters
Gadhi
Satyavati = (R. Kausiki)
VISVAMITRA (m. Rcīka) Sargas 34 to 36 describe the various tales connected with the river Gangi, the tale of whose descent by Bhagiratha, an ancestor of Rama himself, occupies Sargas 37 to 43.
145 Udy P. 104-117. 146 See above fn. 135,