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A Classical Dictionary of Hindu Mythology and Religion, Geography, History and Literature - John Dowson, 1820 - Complete Book

English

It has been claimed for Bhaskara that he "was fully acquainted with the principle of the Differential Calculus." This claim Dr. Spottiswoode considers to be overstated, but he observes of Bhaskara : " It must be admitted that the penetration shown by Bhaskara in his analysis is in the highest, degree remarkable ; that the formula which he establishes, and his method of establishing it, bear more than a mere resemblance — they bear a strong analogy — to the corresponding process in modern astronomy ; and that the majority of scientific persons will learn with surprise the existence of such a method in the writings of so distant a period and so distant a region." — Jour. R A. S., 1S59. BHA7TACHARYA. See Kumfirila Bha//a. BHArn-KAYYA. A poem on the actions of Rama by Bha^^i. It is of a very artificial character, and is designed to illustrate the laws of grammar and the figures of poetry and BHA UMA—BHIKSHU. 49 rhetoric. The text has been printed with a commentary, and part has been translated into German by Schiitz. BHAUMA. Son of Bhumi (the earth). A metronymic of the Daitya Naraka, BHAUTYA. The fourteenth Mann. See Mann. BHAYA. I. A Yedic deity often mentioned in connection Avith /S'arva the destroyer. 2. A name of Rudra or /S'iva, or of a manifestation of that god. See Rudra. BHAYA-BHUTL A celebrated dramatist, the author of three of the best extant Sanskrit dramas, the Maha-vira Charita, Uttara Rama Charita, and Malati Madhava. He was also known as /Sri-kan^ha, or ' throat of eloquence. ' He was a Brah- man, and was a native either of Beder or Berar, but Ujjayini or its neighbourhood would seem, from his vivid descriptions of the scenery, to have been the place of his residence. The eighth century is the period at which he flourished. His three plays have been translated by Wilson in blank verse, who says of Malati Madliava, " The author is fond of an unreasonable display of learning, and occasionally substitutes the phraseology of logic or metaphysics for the language of poetry and nature. At the same time the beauties predominate over the defects, and the language of the drama is in general of extraordinary beauty and power." BHAYISHYA PURAiYA. " This PuraT^a, as its name im- jilies, should be a book of prophecies foretelling what will be." The copies discovered contain about 7000 stanzas. The work is far from agreeing with the declared character of a Purawa, and is principally a manual of rites and ceremonies. Its deity is iS'iva, There is another work, containing also about 7000 verses, called the Bhavishyottara PuraT^a, a name which would imply that " it was a continuation or supj)lement of the former," and its contents are of a similar character. — Wilson. BHAYISHYOTTARA PURAiVA. See Bhavishya PurSwa. BHAWAISI'I. One of the names of the wife of ^iva. See Devi. BHELA. An ancient sage who wrote upon medicine. BHIKSHU. A mendicant. The Brahman in the fourth and last stage of his religious life. See Brahman. Any mendicant, especially, in its Pali form, Bhikkhu, a Bud- dhist mendicant. D so BHIMA. BHlMA, BHIMA-SENA. 'The terrible.' The second of the five Pam?u princes, and mythically son of Vayu, ' the god of the wind.' He was a man of vast size, and had great strength. He was M'rathful in temper, and given to abuse, a brave warrior, but a fierce and cruel foe, coarse in taste and manners, and a great feeder, so that he was called Vrikodara, 'wolfs belly.' Half of the food of the family was allotted to him, and the other half sufficed for his four brothers and their mother. The weapon he generally used was a club, which suited liis gigantic strength, and he had been trained in the use of it by Drowa and Bala- rama. His great strength excited the envy of his cousin Dur- yodhana, who poisoned him and threw his body into the Ganges ; but it sank to the reahn of the serpents, where it was restored to health and vigour, and Bhima returned to Hastina- pura. At the passage of arms at Hastinapura, he and Dur- yodhana engaged each other with clubs ; but the mimic combat soon turned into a fierce personal conflict, which Dro?ia had to put an end to by force. It was at tliis same meeting that he reviled Karwa, and heaped contempt upon him, increasing and converting into bitter hatred the enmity which Kar^za had pre- viously entertained against the PaTif/avas. When he and his brothers were in exile, and an attempt was made, at the instiga- tion of Dur-yodhana, to burn them in their house, it was he who barricaded the house of Purochana, the director of the plot, and burnt him as he had intended to burn them. Soon after this he met the Asura Hit^imba, whom he killed, and then married his sister Hi(iimba. He also slew another Asura named Yaka, whom he seized by the legs and tore asunder ; afterwards he killed his brother, Kirmira, and other Asuras. This brought the Asuras to submission, and they engaged to refrain from molest- ing mankind. After the V^ndw 2)rinces were estabhshed at Indraprastha, Bhima fought in single combat with Jarasandha, king of Magadha, who had refused to recognise their supremacy. As ' son of the wind,' Bhima was brother of Hanuman, and was able to fly with great speed. By this power of flight, and with the help of Hanuman, he made his way to Kuvera's heaven, higli up in the Himalayas. A\^ien Jayadratha failed in his attem2)t to carry off Draupadi, he was i)ursued by Arjuna and Bhima. The latter overtook him, dragged him by the hair from his chariot to the ground, and kicked him till he became sense- BHIMA. ' 51 less. At Arj Una's remonstrance Bliima refrained from killing him ; but lie cut off all his hair except five locks, and compelled him to acknowledge publicly that he was the slave of the Pa?i(^avas. Bhima refused to listen to his brother's plea for Jayadratha's release, but at Draupadi's intercession he let him go free. In the second exile of the PaTZcZavas, they went to the Kaja of Yira^fa, whose service they entered. Bhima, holding a ladle in one hand and a sword in the other, undertook the duties of cook ; but he soon exhibited his prowess by fighting with and killing a famous wrestler named Jimuta. Draupadi had entered into the service of the queen as a waiting-maid, and attracted the admiration of the king's brother-in-law, Kichaka. When she rejected his advances, he insulted and brutally assaulted her. Her husbands did not seem disposed to avenge her, so she appealed to Bhima, as she was wont when she sought revenge, DrauiDadi made an assignation with Kichaka, which Bhima kept, and after a sharp struggle with the disaj^jDoiiited gallant, he broke his bones to atoms, and made his body into a large ball of flesh, so that no one could tell how he had been killed or who had killed him. Draupadi was judged to have had a share in his death, and was condemned to be burnt alive ; but Bhima drew his hair over his face, so that no one could recognise him, and, tearing up a large tree for a club, he rushed to the rescue. He was taken for a mighty Gandliarva, the crowd fled, and Draupadi was released. Kichaka had been the general of the forces of Yira;!a and the mainstay of the king. After his death, Su-sarman, king of Trigartta, aided and abetted by the Kaiiravas and others, determined to attack Vira/a. The Raja of Yira/a was defeated and made prisoner, but Bhima pursued Su-5arman and overcame him, rescued the prisoner, and made the conqueror captive. In the great battle between the Kauravas and Pam/a- vas, Bhima took a very j)rominent part. On the first day he fought against Bhishma ; on the second he slew the two sons of the Raj a of Magadha, and after them their father, killing him and his elephant at a single blow. In the night between the fourteenth and fifteenth day of the battle, Bhima fought with Dro?za until the rising of the sun ; but that redoubted warrior fell by the hand of Dh?'ish/a-dyumna, who continued the combat till noonday. On the seventeenth day he killed Duh-sasana, and drank his blood, as he had long before vowed to do, in 52 ■ BHIMA, retaliation of the insults Duli-sasana had offered to DranpadT. On the eighteenth and last day of the battle Dur-yodhana fled and hid himself in a lake. "When he was discovered, he would not come out until he had received a promise that he should not have to fight with more than one man at a time. Even then he delayed until he was irritated by the abuse and the taunts of the Pa7i<iavas. Bhima and Dur-yodhana fought as usual with clubs.