Book Title: Tribes In Ancient India
Author(s): Bimla Charn Law
Publisher: Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute

Previous | Next

Page 355
________________ THE UTKALAS AND UDRAS 335 his hero Rāmapāla distinguishes Utkala from Kalinga in the eleventh century. A Sonpur grant of Mahāśivagupta Yayāti, of about the same date, also distinguishes Utkaladeśa from Kalinga and Kongoda. The Buddhist literature contains some interesting information about Utkalas or Okkalas. Two merchants, named Tapussa and Bhallika,' were on their way from Ukkala to see the Buddha who was at the foot of the Rājāyatana tree near Uruvelā. They were asked by their relative to offer food to the Blessed One who at first refused to accept it, but he afterwards accepted it and ate it up. The two merchants became his disciples. They were wealthy merchants who also visited Majjhimadeśa from Ukkala with five hundred carts. Two inhabitants of Ukkala, named Vassa and Bhañña, did not believe in causation action on reality (ahetuvādā, akiriyāvādā, and natthikavādā).4 THE UDRAS The earliest mention of the Udras or Odras or Audras as a people is, perhaps, found in the following śloka of the Mānavadharmaśāstra where the Odras are classed as outside the Brahmanical pale (i.e. Mlecchas) along with the Paundrakas, Drāvidas, Kambojas, Yavanas, Sakas, Pāradas, Pahlavas, Cīnas, Kirātas, Daradas and Khaśas. Sanakaistu kriyālopādimāh kshatriyajātayah Vysalatvam gatā loke brāhmanādarśanena cha Paundrakāschauậra Drāviờa Kamboja Yavanāḥ śakāḥ Pāradaḥ Pahlavaśchaināḥ Kirātā Daradāḥ Khaśāḥ. The Apadāna, a work of the Pāli Canon, mentions Oddakā who were the same as Odrā or Udrā.5 Pliny in his Natural History mentions the Oretes as a people of India in whose country stood Mount Maleus which in another passage he locates amongst the Monedes and Suari. Cunningham identifies the last two peoples as the Mundas and Suars, from which he is led to conclude that the Oretes must be the people of Orissa. But it must be remembered that even then we cannot definitely equate the Greek Oretes with the Sanskrit Odra or Uạra or Audradeśa. Epic tradition connects the Udras along with the Pondras, Utkalas, Mekalas, Kalingas and Andhras. According to the 1 Cf. Mahāvastu, III, p. 303, where Ukkalā is mentioned as situated in Uttarāpatha. 2 Vinaya Pitaka, P.T.S., Vol. I, pp. 3-4. - 3 Jataka, Fausböll, I, P. 8o. 4 Anguttara Nikāya, II, p. 3; C. Samyutta Nikaya, III, P. 73; Majjhima Nikaya, III, 78, and Kathāvatthu, I, p. 141. 5 Pt. II, p. 358. 6 Vanaparvan, LI, 1988; Bhīşmaparvan, IX, 365; Dronaparvan, IV, 122.

Loading...

Page Navigation
1 ... 353 354 355 356 357 358 359 360 361 362 363 364 365 366 367 368 369 370 371 372 373 374 375 376 377 378 379 380 381 382 383 384 385 386 387 388 389 390 391 392 393 394 395 396 397 398 399 400 401 402 403 404 405 406 407 408 409 410 411 412 413 414 415 416 417 418 419 420 421 422 423 424 425 426 427 428 429 430 431 432 433 434 435 436 437 438 439 440 441 442 443 444 445 446 447 448 449