so deceived her. Another story is that Indra secured the help of the moon, who assumed the form of a cock and crowed at midnight. This roused Gautama to his morning's devotions, when Indra went in and took his place. Gautama expelled Ahalya from his hermitage, and deprived her of her prerogative of being the most beautiful woman in the world, or, according to another statement, he rendered her invisible. She was restored to her natural state by Rama and reconciled to her husband. This seduction is explained mythically by Kumarila Bhatta as Indra (the sun's) carrying away the shades of night-the name Ahalya, by a strained etymology, being made to signify 'night.' AHI. A serpent. A name of Vritra, the Vedic demon of drought but Ahi and Vritra are sometimes "distinct, and mean, most probably, differently formed clouds."-Wilson. AHI-CHHATRA, AHI-KSHETRA. A city mentioned in the Mahā-bhārata as lying north of the Ganges, and as being the capital of Northern Panchala. It is apparently the Adisadra of Ptolemy, and its remains are visible near Rām-nagar. AINDRI. Son of Indra.' An appellation of Arjuna. AIRĀVATA. 'A fine elephant.' An elephant produced at the churning of the ocean, and appropriated by the god Indra. The derivation of this name is referred to the word Irāvat, signifying 'produced from water.' He is guardian of one of the points of the compass. See Loka-pāla. AITAREYA. The name of a Brāhmaṇa, an Āranyaka, and an Upanishad of the Rig-veda. The Brahmana has been edited and translated by Dr. Haug; the text of the Āranyaka has been published in the Bibliotheca Indica by Rajendra Lāla, and there is another edition. The Upanishad has been translated by Dr. Roer in the same series. "The Aitareya Aranyaka consists of five books, each of which is called Aranyaka. The second and third books form a separate Upanishad, and a still further subdivision here takes place, inasmuch as the four last sections of the second book, which are particularly consonant with the doctrines of the Vedanta system, pass as the Aitareyopanishad."-Weber. AJA. Unborn.' An epithet applied to many of the gods. A prince of the Solar race, sometimes said to be the son of Raghu, at others the son of Dilipa, son of Raghu. He was the husband chosen at her swayam-vara by Indumatī, daughter of the Raja of Vidarbha, and was the father of Dasaratha and IO AJAGAVA-ALAKA. grandfather of Rāma. The Raghu-vansa relates how on his way to the swayam-vara he was annoyed by a wild elephant and ordered it to be shot. When the elephant was mortally wounded, a beautiful figure issued from it, which declared itself a gandharva who had been transformed into a mad elephant for deriding a holy man. The gandharva was delivered, as it had been foretold to him, by Aja, and he gave the prince some arrows which enabled him to excel in the contest at the swayam-vara. When Dasaratha grew up, Aja ascended to Indra's heaven. ĀJAGAVA. The primitive bow' of Siva, which fell from heaven at the birth of Prithu. AJĀMILA. A Brahman of Kanauj, who married a slave and had children, of whom he was very fond. I. A AJATA-SATRU. 'One whose enemy is unborn.' king of Kāsī, mentioned in the Upanishads, who was very learned, and, although a Kshatriya, instructed the Brahman Gārgya-bālāki. 2. A name of Siva. 3. Of Yudhi-shthira. A king of Mathura who reigned in the time of Buddha. AJAYA-PĀLA. Author of a Sanskrit vocabulary of some repute. 4. AJĪGARTTA. A Brahman Rishi who sold his son Sunahsephas to be a sacrifice. AJITA. 'Unconquered.’ A title given to Vishnu, Siva, and many others. There were classes of gods bearing this name in several Manwantaras. AKRŪRA. A Yadava and uncle of Krishna. He was son of Swa-phalka and Gāndinī. It was he who took Krishna and Rāma to Mathura when the former broke the great bow. He is chiefly noted as being the holder of the Syamantaka gem. AKSHA. The eldest son of Rāvana, slain by Hanuman. Also a name of Garuda. AKSHAMĀLĀ. A name of Arundhati (q.v.). ĀKULI. An Asura priest. See Kilātākuli. AKŪPĀRA. A tortoise or turtle. The tortoise on which the earth rests. ĀKŪTI. A daughter of Manu Swayambhuva and Sata-rūpā, whom he gave to the patriarch Ruchi. She bore twins, Yajna and Dakshina, who became husband and wife and had twelve sons, the deities called Yamas. ALAKĀ. The capital of Kuvera and the abode of the ALAKA-NANDA-AMARU-SATAKA. II gandharvas on Mount Meru. It is also called Vasu-dhārā, Vasu-sthali, and Prabhā. ALAKA-NANDĀ. One of the four branches of the river Ganga, which flows south to the country of Bhārata. This is said by the Vaishnavas to be the terrestrial Ganga which Siva received upon his head. ALAMBUSHA. A great Rakshasa worsted by Satyaki in the great war of the Maha-bharata, and finally killed by Ghatotkacha. He is said to be a son of Rishyasringa. ALAYUDHA. A Rakshasa killed after a fierce combat by Ghatotkacha in the war of the Mahā-bhārata (Fauche, ix. 278). AMARA-KANTAKA. 'Peak of the immortals.' A place of pilgrimage in the table-land east of the Vindhyas. AMARA-KOSHA. This title may be read in two ways-the immortal vocabulary,' or, more appropriately, 'the vocabulary of Amara or Amara Sinha.' "The oldest vocabulary hitherto known, and one of the most celebrated vocabularies of the classical Sanskrit." It has been the subject of a great number of commentaries. The text has been often printed. There is an edition published in India with an English interpretation and annotations by Colebrooke, and the text with a French translation has been printed by Deslongchamps. AMARA SINHA. The author of the vocabulary called Amara-kosha. He was one of the nine gems of the court of Vikrama. (See Nava-ratna.) Wilson inclines to place him in the first century B.C. Lassen places him about the middle of the third century A.D., and others incline to bring him down later. AMARĀVATĪ. The capital of Indra's heaven, renowned for its greatness and splendour. It is situated somewhere in the vicinity of Meru. It is sometimes called Deva-pura, 'city of the gods,' and Pusha-bhāsā, 'sun-splendour.' A title of AMARESWARA. 'Lord of the immortals.' Vishnu, Siva, and Indra. Name of one of the twelve great lingas. See Linga. AMARU-SATAKA. A poem consisting of a hundred stanzas written by a king named Amaru, but by some attributed to the philosopher Sankara, who assumed the dead form of that king for the purpose of conversing with his widow. The verses are of an erotic character, but, like many others of the same kind, a religious or philosophical interpretation has been found for them. There is a translation in French by Apudy with the text, and a translation in German by Rückert. AMBA. 'Mother.' 1. A name of Durgā. 2. The eldest laughter of a king of Kāsī. She and her sisters Ambikā and Ambalika were carried off by Bhishma to be the wives of Vichitravirya. Ambā had been previously betrothed to a Raja of Salwa, and Bhishma sent her to him, but the Raja rejected her because she had been in another man's house. She retired to the forest and engaged in devotion to obtain revenge of Bhishma. Siva favoured her, and promised her the desired vengeance in another birth. Then she ascended the pile and was born again as Sikhandin, who slew Bhishma. AMBĀLIKĀ. The younger widow of Vichitra-vīrya and mother of Pandu by Vyasa. See Maha-bharata. AMBARISHA. 1. A king of Ayodhya, twenty-eighth in descent from Ikshwāku. (See Sunahsephas.) 2. An appellation of Siva. 3. Name of one of the eighteen hells. AMBASHTHA. A military people inhabiting a country of the same name in the middle of the Panjab; probably the 'Αμβάσται of Ptolemy. 2. The medical tribe in Manu. AMBIKĀ. 1. A sister of Rudra, but in later times identified with Umā. 2. Elder widow of Vichitra-virya and mother of Dhrita-rashtra by Vyasa. See Mahā-bhārata. AMBIKEYA. A metronymic applicable to Ganesa, Skanda, and Dhrita-rashtra. The Vedas in the aggregate. ĀMNĀYA. Sacred tradition. AMRITA. 'Immortal.' A god. The water of life. The term was known to the Vedas, and seems to have been applied to various things offered in sacrifice, but more especially to the Soma juice. It is also called Nir-jara and Piyusha. In later times it was the water of life produced at the churning of the ocean by the gods and demons, the legend of which is told with some variations in the Rāmāyana, the Mahā-bhārata, and the Purānas. The gods, feeling their weakness, having been worsted by the demons, and being, according to one authority, under the ban of a holy sage, repaired to Vishnu, beseeching him for renewed vigour and the gift of immortality. He directed them to churn the ocean for the Amrita and other precious things which had been lost. The story as told in the Vishnu Purāna has been rendered into verse by Professor Williams thus : AMRITA. "The gods addressed the mighty Vishnu thus- Replied "Your strength shall be restored, ye gods; Unite yourselves in peaceful combination With these your foes; collect all plants and herbs The mountain, for a churning stick, and Vāsuki, Straightway they gathered various herbs and cast them Then did they churn the sea of milk; and first Goddess of wine. Then from the whirlpool sprang Of heavenly maidens, with its fragrant blossoms 13 |