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stanzas." The copies known rather exceed this number of stanzas, but the contents do not answer to this description. "The character of the work is so decidedly sectarial, and the sect to which it belongs so distinctly marked-that of the worshippers of the juvenile Krishna and Rādhā, a form of belief of known modern origin"—that it must be a production of a comparatively late date. A specimen of the text and translation has been published by Stenzler.

BRAHMAVARTTA.

"Between the two divine rivers, Saraswati and Drishadwatī, lies the tract of land which the sages have named Brahmavartta, because it was frequented by the gods."-Manu, ii. 17.

BRAHMA-VEDA. A name given to the Atharvan or fourth Veda, the Veda of prayers and charms.

BRAHMA-YUGA. Krita-yuga. See Yuga.

'The age of Brahmans.' The first or

BRAHMOTTARA PURĀNA. See Brahma Purāna.

BRIHAD ĀRANYAKA, BRIHAD UPANISHAD. The Brihad Aranyaka Upanishad belongs to the Satapatha Brahmana, and is ascribed to the sage Yajnawalkya. It has been translated by Dr. Roer, and published in the Bibliotheca Indica. See Aranyaka and Yajnawalkya.

BRIHAD-DEVATĀ. An ancient work in slokas by the sage Saunaka, which enumerates and describes the deity or deities to which each hymn and verse of the Rig-veda is addressed. It frequently recites legends in support of its attributions.

BRIHAD-RATHA. The tenth and last king of the Maurya dynasty, founded by Chandragupta.

BRIHAN NARADĪYA PURĀNA. See Narada Purāna. BRIHASPATI. In the Rig-veda the names Brihaspati and Brahmanaspati alternate, and are equivalent to each other. They are names "of a deity in whom the action of the worshipper upon the gods is personified. He is the suppliant, the sacrificer, the priest, who intercedes with gods on behalf of men and protects mankind against the wicked. Hence he appears as the prototype of the priests and priestly order; and is also designated as the Purohita (family priest) of the divine community. He is called in one place the father of the gods,' and a widely extended creative power is ascribed to him. He is

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BRIHASPATI-BUDHA.

also designated as 'the shining' and 'the gold-coloured,' and as 'having the thunder for his voice."

In later times he is a Rishi. He is also regent of the planet Jupiter, and the name is commonly used for the planet itself. In this character his car is called Niti-ghosha and is drawn by eight pale horses. He was son of the Rishi Angiras, and he bears the patronymic Angirasa. As preceptor of the gods he is called Animishacharya, Chakshas, Ijya, and Indrejya. His wife, Tārā, was carried off by Soma, the moon, and this gave rise to a war called the Taraka-maya. Soma was aided by Usanas, Rudra, and all the Daityas and Danavas, while Indra and the gods took the part of Brihaspati. "Earth, shaken to her centre," appealed to Brahma, who interposed and restored Tara to her husband. She was delivered of a son which Brihaspati and Soma both claimed, but Tārā, at the command of Brahma to tell the truth, declared Soma to be the father, and the child was named Budha. There is an extraordinary story in the Matsya and Bhāgavata Purānas of the Rishis having milked the earth through Brihaspati. (See Vishnu Purana, i. pp. 188, 190.) Brihaspati was father of Bharadwaja by Mamata, wife of Utathya. (See Bharadwaja.) An ancient code of law bears the name of Brihaspati, and he is also represented as being the Vyasa of the "fourth, Dwapara age." There was a Rishi of the name in the second Manwantara, and one who was founder of an heretical sect. Other epithets of Brihaspati are Jīva, 'the living,' Didivis, the bright,' Dhishana, the intelligent,' and, for his eloquence, Gish-pati, 'lord of speech.'

BRIHAT-KATHA. A large collection of tales, the original of the Katha-sarit-sāgara (q.v.).

BRIHAT-SANHITA. A celebrated work on astronomy by Varaha Mihira. It has been printed by Kern in the Bibliotheca Indica, who has also published a translation in Jour. R. A. S. for 1870 and following years.

BUDDHA. Gotama Buddha, the founder of Buddhism. Vishnu's ninth incarnation. See Avatara.

BUDHA. 'Wise, intelligent.' The planet Mercury, son of Soma, the moon, by Rohini, or by Tara, wife of Brihaspati. (See Brihaspati.) He married Ilā, daughter of the Manu Vaivaswata, and by her had a son, Pururavas. Budha was author of a hymn in the Rig-veda. (See Ila.) From his parents he is called

CHAITANYA-CHANDRODAYA-CHAMUNDA. 65

Saumya and Rauhineya. He is also called Praharshana, Rodhana, Tunga, and Syāmānga, 'black-bodied.' The intrigue of Soma with Tārā was the cause of a great quarrel, in which the gods and the Asuras fought against each other. Brahma compelled Soma to give up Tārā, and when she returned to her husband she was pregnant. A son was born, who was so beautiful that Brihaspati and Soma both claimed him. Tārā for a long time refused to tell his paternity, and so excited the wrath and nearly incurred the curse of her son. At length, upon the command of Brahma, she declared Soma to be the father, and he gave the boy the name of Budha. This name is distinct

from Buddha.

CHAITANYA-CHANDRODAYA.

"The rise of the moon

It is

of Chaitanya.' A drama in ten acts by Kavi-karna-pura. published in the Bibliotheca Indica. Chaitanya was a modern Vaishnava reformer, accounted an incarnation of Krishna.

CHAITRA-RATHA. The grove or forest of Kuvera on Mandara, one of the spurs of Meru; it is so called from its being cultivated by the gandharva Chitra-ratha.

CHAKORA. A kind of partridge. A fabulous bird, supposed to live upon the beams of the moon.

CHAKRA-VARTI. A universal emperor, described by the Vishnu Purana as one who is born with the mark of Vishnu's discus visible in his hand; but, Wilson observes, "the grammatical etymology is, 'He who abides in or rules over an extensive territory called a Chakra.'

CHAKSHUSHA. The sixth Manu. See Manu.

CHAMPA. Son of Prithu-laksha, a descendant of Yayāti, through his fourth son, Anu, and founder of the city of Champā.

CHAMPA, CHAMPĀVATI, CHAMPA-MĀLINI, CHAMPA-PURI. The capital city of the country of Anga. Traces of it still remain in the neighbourhood of Bhagalpur. It was also called Mālinī, from its being surrounded with champaka trees as with a garland (mālā). It is said to have derived its name from Champa, its founder, but the abundant champaka trees may assert a claim to its designation.

CHAMUNDĀ. An emanation of the goddess Durgā, sent forth from her forehead to encounter the demons Chanda and Munda She is thus described in the Markandeya Purāna :—

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CHANAKYA-CHANDRA-GUPTA.

"From the forehead of Ambikā (Durgā), contracted with wrathful frowns, sprang swiftly forth a goddess of black and formidable aspect, armed with a scimitar and noose, bearing a ponderous mace, decorated with a garland of dead corses, robed in the hide of an elephant, dry and withered and hideous, with yawning mouth, and lolling tongue, and bloodshot eyes, and filling the regions with her shouts." When she had killed the two demons, she bore their heads to Durgā, who told her that she should henceforth be known, by a contraction of their names, as Chamundā.

CHANAKYA. A celebrated Brahman, who took a leading part in the destruction of the Nandas, and in the elevation of Chandra-gupta to their throne. He was a great master of finesse and artifice, and has been called the Machiavelli of India. A work upon morals and polity called Chanakya Sutra is ascribed to him. He is the chief character in the drama called Mudrarakshasa, and is known also by the names Vishnu-gupta and Kautilya. His maxims have been translated by Weber.

CHANDA, CHANDI. The goddess Durgā, especially in the form she assumed for the destruction of the Asura called Mahisha.

CHANDI-MĀHĀTMYA, CHANDIKĀ-MĀHĀTMYA. The same as the Chandīpātha.

CHANDĪPĀT, CHANDĪPĀTHA. A poem of 700 verses, forming an episode of the Märkandeya Purana. It celebrates Durga's victories over the Asuras, and is read daily in the temples of that goddess. The work is also called Devimāhātmya. It has been translated by Poley and by Burnouf. CHANDRA. The moon, either as a planet or a deity. See

Soma.

CHANDRA-GUPTA. This name was identified by Sir W. Jones with the Sandracottus or Sandrocyptus mentioned by Arrian and the other classical historians of Alexander's campaign; and somewhat later on as having entered into a treaty with Seleucus Nicator through the ambassador Megasthenes. The identification has been contested, but the chief writers on Indian antiquities have admitted it as an established fact, and have added confirmatory evidence from various sources, so that the identity admits of no reasonable doubt. This identification is of the utmost importance to Indian chronology; it is the

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only link by which Indian history is connected with that of Greece, and everything in Indian chronology depends upon the date of Chandra-gupta as ascertained from that assigned to Sandracottus by the classical writers. His date, as thus discovered, shows that he began to reign in 315 B.C., and as he reigned twenty-four years, his reign ended in 291 B.C. Chandra-gupta is a prominent name in both Brahmanical and Buddhist writings, and his accession to the throne is the subject of the drama Mudra-rakshasa.

When Alexander was in India, he learned that a king named Xandrames reigned over the Prasii (Prāchyas) at the city of Palibothra, situated at the confluence of the Ganges and another river called Erranaboas (the Sone). At this time, Sandracottus was young, but he waged war against Alexander's captains, and he raised bands of robbers, with whose help he succeeded in establishing freedom in India.

Hindu and Buddhist writers are entirely silent as to Alexander's appearance in India, but they show that Chandra-gupta overthrew the dynasty of the Nandas, which reigned over Magadha, and "established freedom in India by the help of bands of robbers." He established himself at Patali-putra, the capital of the Nandas, which is identical with the Greek Palibothra, and this has been shown to be the modern Patna. That town does not now stand at the confluence of two rivers, but the rivers in the alluvial plains of Bengal frequently change their courses, and a change in the channel of the Sone has been established by direct geographical evidence. There is a difficulty about Xandrames. This is no doubt the Sanskrit Chandramas, which some consider to be only a shorter form of the name Chandra-gupta, while others point out that the Greek references indicate that Xandrames was the predecessor of Sandracottus, rather than Sandracottus himself.

The dynasty of the Nandas that reigned over Magadha are frequently spoken of as the "nine Nandas," meaning apparently nine descents; but according to some authorities the last Nanda, named Mahā-padma, and his eight sons, are intended. Mahāpadma Nanda was the son of a Sūdra, and so by law he was a Sūdra himself. He was powerful and ambitious, cruel and avaricious. His people were disaffected; but his fall is represented as having been brought about by the Brahman Chanakya.