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"10. "We will heed thy word, O Rishi, that cam'st to us from far with loaded wagons; I bend low before thee as a willing slave, as to her lord submits the bride.'

"II. But when the Bhâratas' host, animated by Indra and full of ardor, has quickly forded thee, then let the current shoot up again with arrow's fleetness; this is the boon I beg of you, ye holy ones.

"12. The Bhâratas, filled with the ardor of battle, have crossed; the bard did win the rivers' favor. Now swell, now grow rapidly, to end the work, and hasten onwards, with well-filled beds." (III., 33.)

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31. The bard in this last verse, with truly poetic licence, describes as an accomplished fact that which he only wished to happen, but which did not really happen. For in reality, the event was exactly reversed the Tritsu took the initiative and it was they who crossed the Vipash and Shatadrû (the fording of which Indra made easy to Sudâs), astonishing the enemy by appearing unexpectedly, in battle array, on the southern bank of the Purushnî. Then there was a veritable scramble; one after another the confederate tribes with their leaders jumped into the river, 'thinking, fools that they were, to cross as easily as on dry land." The horses and the chariots were badly handled by the current, and those who did cross, came out on the other side like stampeding cattle without a herdsman. Many chiefs were drowned; the slaughter was terrible: over six thousand warriors fell by Indra's might"; the booty "given into Sudâs' hands" was immense, and the survivors had to pay heavy tribute. The Tritsu victory was com plete, and there was nothing to hinder their further advance eastward to the Yamunâ (Rig-Veda, VII., 18). The fate of the Puru hero Kutsa is not ex

pressly mentioned, but there is a curious incidental allusion which would almost make us believe that he was taken prisoner. In that one verse Kutsa's tribulations are obscurely hinted at, and the birth of TRÂSADASYU, son of his daughter PURUKUTSÎ, seems to be considered as a consolation or compensation sent him by the gods.

32. Trâsadasyu became a very powerful sovereign, the first of Indian princes to bear the highest royal title, "king of kings" (samraj). A solid peace must have followed the disastrous battle on the Purushnî, for Trâsadasyu invariably appears as the Âryas' firm friend and ally; his successors, through several generations, are frequently mentioned, not only in the great epics, but in the Rig-Veda itself. But his people gradually changed its name, and became known as the Kurus, who take such a prominent position in the country as depicted in the great epics. This change of the name is explained, as usual, by a genealogical fiction: Kuru, we are told, was a greatgrandson of Kutsa, and was so great a king that his entire people was thenceforth named after him. In the same manner the Tritsu disappear; but we are expressly told that they continued to acquire lands and the Yamunâ is-rather abruptly-mentioned in connection with them. But if their name disappears, that of the Vasishthas and their bigoted orthodox school does not, and it turns out, from this and other indications, that the land which the Tritsu finally occupied, became that stronghold of fanatical Brahmanism, caste, and absolute priestly rule, which is designated in the most perfect of Brahmanic

codes, that of Manu, as the BRAHMA-VARTA, the only country in which it is lawful for a really orthodox Brâhman to reside. This is the text:

"That land, created by the gods, which lies between the two divine rivers, Sarasvatî and Drishadvatî, the sages call Brahmâvarta. "The custom handed down in regular succession among the castes and the mixed races of that country is called the conduct of virtuous

men.

"From a Brahman born in that country let all men on earth learn their several usages."

This as distinguished from the entire country between the Himâlaya and the Vindhya and between the eastern and western oceans, which is called ARYAVARTA, and is good to live in, but not preeminently holy as that small chosen tract. The twice-born should strive not to live outside of Âryâvarta, for the rest of the continent is the country of the Mlekkhas (barbarians) where it is lawful for the Shûdra to reside, but which the twice-born should avoid.

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APPENDIX TO CHAPTER VIII.

THE STORY OF THE FLOOD

IN INDIA (THE

MATSYA AVATÂR).'

1. THE story of the Flood exists in Hindu literature in several versions, always as an incident of some more or less bulky work or collection, except one, which forms the subject of a short separate narrative or Purâna-the MATSYA (i. e. "Fish ") PURÂNA. It is also given in very abridged form in another of the lesser Purânas, the AGNI-PURANA; but the two fullest and most elaborate versions are those in the BHAGAVATA PURANA, one of the most important of these writings, consecrated to the glorification of Vishnu, and in the great epic itself, the Mahâbhârata, where it occurs among many legends told on various occasions by this or that learned Brâhman, for the entertainment or instruction of this or that royal hero. These versions have been known to Sanskrit scholars for half a century and more, but being found imbedded in such a late, and in some cases almost modern body of literature, representing Hinduism even more than classical Brahmanism, those who had detected the foreign. ring of the story were naturally led to attribute it to late Semitic importation, directly connecting it with the Biblical account in Genesis. The surprise was therefore great when a version came to light in one of the great Brâhmanas, the SHATAPATHA (“ Brâh

1 In connection with these pages it is absolutely necessary to read over carefully Chapter VII. of the Story of Chaldea, more especially the incident of the Deluge, pp. 314-317.

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