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22
TULSI-PRAJNA, April-June, 1992
सुकल्पादिसुता ह्यष्टौ समा द्वादश ते नृपाः । महापद्मस्य पर्याये भविष्यन्ति नृपाः क्रमात् ।। उद्धरिष्यति तान् सर्वान् कौटिल्यो वै द्विरष्टभिः ।
भुक्त्वा महीं वर्षशतं ततो मौर्यान् गमिष्यति ।। and the Bhāgavata version edited by him reads the following :
महानन्दि सुतो राजन् शूद्रागर्भोद्भवो बली । महापद्मपतिः कश्चिन्नन्दः क्षत्रविनाशकृत् ।। ततो नृपा भविष्यन्ति शूद्रप्रायास्त्वधामिकाः । स एकच्छत्रां पृथिवी मनुल्लंधित शासनः ।। शासिष्यति महापद्मः द्वितीय इव भार्गवः । तस्य चाष्टौ भविष्यन्ति सुमाल्य प्रमुखाः सुताः ।। य इमां भोक्ष्यन्ति महीं राजानः स्म शतं समाः । नव नन्दान् द्विजः कश्चित् प्रपन्नानुद्धरिष्यति ।
तेषामभावे जगतीं मौर्या भोक्ष्यन्ति वै कलौ ॥" R.M. Smith reads “शूद्रायां कालसंवृतः" for “शूद्रायां कलिकांशजः" and suggest the following reading for the last two verses :
महापद्मस्य पर्याये भविष्यन्ति नपाः क्रमात् । सहल्यस्तत्सुतो ह्यष्टौ समा द्वादश वै नृपः ।। सहल्याद् यः स्मृतस्त्वन्यो नन्देन्दुः स भविष्यति । उद्धरिष्यति तान् सर्वान् कौटिल्यो विद्विडष्टभिः ।
भुक्त्वा महीं वर्षशतं ततो मौर्यान् गमिष्यति ॥" These texts demonstrate how the above accounts differ from the facts about the Nanda dynasty. Following are the points of difference : 1. Parentage-Both Diodorus and Curtius declare that the then monarch was the son of a barber. The Nandas were not barbers according to the Purānas. Even the Mudrarāksasa does not say so. The Nandas were Sūdras' according to the Puranas and the word does not necessarily mean "barbers'. Both Curtius and Diodorus declare that the favourite of the queen was a barber. Curtius is very replicit about the miserable condition of the fellow. "Scarcely Starving off hunger by his daily earnings" is a description which applies to a person both of whose parents were poor barbers. That does not apply to Mahāpadma, the founder of the Nanda dynasty. Mahāpadma was not the son of a barber. He was the son of Mahānandi, the last ruler of Sisünāga dynasty. He was called Sudra simply because his mother came of a Sūdra family. The Purāņas,
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