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CHANDRA-GUPTA-CHANDRA-VANSA.

Chandra-gupta was then raised to the throne and founded the Mauryan dynasty, the third king of which was the great Asoka, grandson of Chandra-gupta. The Brahmans and Buddhists are widely at variance as to the origin of the Maurya family. The drama Mudra-rakshasa represents Chandra-gupta as being related to Mahā-padma Nanda, and the commentator on the Vishnu Purana says that he was a son of Nanda by a woman of low caste named Mura, wherefore he and his descendants were called Mauryas. This looks very like an etymological invention, and is inconsistent with the representation that the low caste of Nanda was one cause of his deposition; for were it true, the low-caste king would have been supplanted by one of still lower degree. On the other hand, the Buddhists contend that the Mauryas belonged to the same family as Buddha, who was of the royal family of the Sakyas. The question of the identification of Sandracottus and Chandra-gupta has been discussed at length by Wilson in the preface to the Mudrā-rākshasa in his Hindu Theatre, and in the Vishnu Purāna, vol. iv. p. 185; also by Max Müller in his History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature.

CHANDRA-HĀSA. A prince of the south, who lost his parents soon after his birth, and fell into a state of destitution, but after going through a variety of adventures came to the throne. See Wheeler, vol. i. p. 522.

CHANDRA-KĀNTA. "The moon-stone.' A gem or stone supposed to be formed by the congelation of the rays of the moon; a crystal is perhaps meant. It is supposed to exercise a cooling influence. So in the Megha-dūta

"The moon's white rays the smiling night illume,

And on the moon-gem concentrated fall,

That hangs in woven nets in every hall;
Whence cooling dews upon the fair descend,
And life renewed to languid nature lend."

It is also called Mani-chaka.

CHANDRA-KETU. 1. A son of Lakshmana.

2. A king

of the city of Chakora. 3. A country near the Himalayas. CHANDRA-VANSA. The Lunar race. The lineage or race which claims descent from the moon. It is divided into two great branches, the Yadavas and Pauravas, respectively descended from Yadu and Puru. Krishna belonged to the line of Yadu, and Dushyanta with the Kuru and Pandu princes to

the line of Puru. The following is a list of the Lunar race as given in the Vishnu Purana, but the authorities vary :

CHANURA. A wrestler in the service of Kansa, who was killed by Krishna.

CHARAKA. A writer on medicine who lived in Vedic times. According to his own statement, he received the materials of his work from Agnivesa, to whom they were delivered by Atreya. A legend represents him as an incarnation of the serpent Sesha. The work was translated into Arabic before the end of the eighth century. The text has been printed in India.

* See Table under Maha-bhārata.

CHARAKA.

CHARAKA-CHHANDAS.

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One of the chief schools of the Yajurveda.
A Brahmana of the Black

CHARAKA-BRAHMANA.

Yajur-veda.

CHARANA. A Vedic school or society. It is explained by a commentator as "a number of men who are pledged to the reading of a certain Sakha of the Veda, and who have in this manner become one body."

CHARANAS. Panegyrists. The panegyrists of the gods. CHARMANVATI. The river Chambal.

CHARU, CHARU-DEHA, CHARU-DESHNA, CHARUGUPTA. Sons of Krishna and Rukminī.

CHARU-DATTA. The Brahman hero of the drama Mrich

chhakati.

CHĀRU HĀSINI. 'Sweet smiler.' This epithet is used for Rukmini and for Lakshmana, and perhaps for other wives of Krishna.

CHÂRU-MATĪ. Daughter of Krishna and Rukminī.

CHĀRVĀKA. 1. A Rakshasa, and friend of Dur-yodhana, who disguised himself as a Brahman and reproached Yudhishthira for his crimes, when he entered Hastina-pura in triumph after the great battle. The Brahmans discovered the imposture and reduced Chārvāka to ashes with the fire of their eyes. A sceptical philosopher who advocated materialistic doctrines. He probably lived before the composition of the Rāmāyana, and is perhaps identical with the Chārvāka of the Mahā-bhārata. His followers are called by his name.

CHATUR-VARNA.

The four castes. See Varna.

2.

CHEDI. Name of a people and of their country, the modern Chandail and Boglekhand. The capital was Sukti-mati, and among the kings of this country were Dama-ghosha and Sisu-pāla. CHEKITANA. A son of Dhrishta-ketu, Raja of the Kekayas, and an ally of the Pandavas.

CHERA. A kingdom in the south of the peninsula, which was absorbed by its rival the Chola kingdom.

CHHANDAS, CHHANDO. Metre. One of the Vedangas. The oldest known work on the subject is "the Chhandah-sastra, ascribed to Pingala, which may be as old as the second century B.C." It is published in the Bibliotheca Indica. The subject is one to which great attention has been given by the Hindus from the earliest times.

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CHHANDOGA-CHITRA-KUTA.

CHHANDOGA. A priest or chanter of the Sama-veda. CHHANDOGYA. Name of a Upanishad of the Samaveda. (See Upanishad.) It has been printed by Dr. Roer, and it has been translated into English by Rajendra Lal, and published in the Bibliotheca Indica. There is also another printed edition of the text. The Chhandogya Upanishad consists of eight out of ten chapters of the Chhandogya Brahmana; the first two chapters are yet wanting. This work is particularly distinguished by its rich store of legends regarding the gradual development of Brahmanical theology.

CHHAYA. 'Shade.' A handmaid of the sun. Sanjna, wife of the sun, being unable to bear the fervour of her lord, put her handmaid Chhaya in her place. The sun, believing Chhaya to be his wife, had three children by her: Sani, the planet Saturn; the Manu Savarni ; and a daughter, the Tapati river. As mother of Saturn, Chhaya is known as Sani-prasu. The partiality which she showed for these children provoked Yama, the son of Sanjna, and he lifted his foot to kick her. She cursed him to have his leg affected with sores and worms. that she was not Sanjnā and mother of Yama, so the sun went in search of Sanjna and brought her back. According to one Purāna, Chhāyā was a daughter of Viswakarma, and sister of Sanjna, the wife of the sun.

This made it clear

CHINTA-MANI. The wish-gem.' A jewel which is supposed to have the power of granting all desires. The philosopher's stone. It is said to have belonged to Brahma, who is himself called by this name. It is also called Divya-ratna.

CHIRA-JIVIN. 'Long-lived.' Gods or deified mortals, who live for long periods.

CHITRA-GUPTA. A scribe in the abodes of the dead, who records the virtues and vices of men. The recorder of Yama.

CHITRA-KŪTA. 'Bright-peak.' The seat of Valmiki's hermitage, in which Rama and Sita both found refuge at different times. It is the modern Chitrakote, on the river Pisuni, about fifty miles south-east of Banda in Bundelkhand. It is a very holy place, and abounds with temples and shrines, to which thousands annually resort. "The whole neighbourhood is Rāma's country. Every headland has some legend, every cavern is connected with his name."-Cust in "Calcutta Review.”