English
' Lord of Gautama.' Kame of one of the twelve great Lingas. See Linga. GAXJTAMI. I. An epithet of Durga. 2. Name of a fierce Eakshasi or female demon. GAY A. A city in Biliar. It is one of the seven sacred cities, and is still a place of pilgrimage, though its glory has departed. GAYATRl. A most sacred verse of the itig-veda, which it is the duty of every Brahman to rejieat mentally in his morning and evening devotions. It is addressed to the sun as Savitr2', the generator, and so it is called also Savitn. Personified as a goddess, Savit?Y is the wife of Brahma, mother of the four Yedas, and also of the twice-born or tliree superior castes. Colebrooke's translation of the Gayatri is " Earth, sky, heaven. Let us medi- tate on (these, and on) the most excellent light and power of that generous, sjjortive, and resplendent sun, (praying that) it may guide our intellects." Wilson's version is, in his translation of the itig- veda, " We meditate on that desirable light of the divine Savitri who influences our pious rites." In the Yislmu Pura?za he had before given a somewhat different version, " We meditate on that excellent light of the divine sun : may he illuminate our minds." A later version by Benfey is, " May we receive the glorious brightness of this, the generator, of the god who shall jDrosjDcr our works." Wilson observes of it: " The commentators admit some variety of inter^Dretation ; but it probably meant, in its original use, a simj)le invocation of the sun to shed a benignant influence upon the customary offices of worshij) ; and it is still employed by the unphilosbphical Hindus with merely that signification. Later notions, and es2:)ecially those of the Yedanta, have ojDcrated to 112 CHA TA-KARPARA—GITA-GO vinda. attach to the text an import it did not at first possess, and have converted it into a mystical propitiation of the spiritual origin and essence of existence, or Brahma." It is considered so holy that copyists often refrain from transcribing it. The name given to ^Sata-rupa (q.v.), Brahma's female half, daughter, and consort, as " the declarer of sacred knowledge." It is also applied to the consort of ^S'iva in the Hari-vansa, GHArA-KAEPAEA. A poet, who was one of the " nine gems " of the court of Vikramaditya. There is a short artificial poem, descriptive of the rainy season, bearing this name, which has been translated into German by Dursch. The words mean ' potsherds,' and form probably an assumed hterary name. GHArOTKACHA A son of Bhima by the Eakshasi Hic/imba. He was killed in the great battle by Kar?ia with the fatal lance that warrior had obtained from Indra. GHOSHA. It is said in the Veda that the Aswins " bestowed a husband upon Ghosha growing old," and the explanatory legend is that she was a daughter of Kakshivat, but being a leper, was incapable of marriage. A^Tien she was advanced in years the Aswins gave her health, youth, and beauty, so that she obtained a husband GHit/TACHl An Apsaras or celestial nymph. She had many amours with great sages and mortal men. She was mother of ten sons by Eaudraswa or Kiisa-nabha, a descendant of Puru, and the Brahma Vaivartta Purarza attributes the origin of some of the mixed castes to her issue by the sage Yiswa-karman. The Hari-van.sa asserts that she had ten daughters as well as ten sons by Eaudra-swa. Another legend represents her as mother by Ku.sa-nabha of a hundred daughters, whom Yiiyu wished to accompany him to the sky. They refused, and in his rage he cursed them to become deformed; but they recovered their natural shape and beauty, and were married to Brahma-datta, king of Kampila. GIEI-JA 'Mountain born.' A name of ParvatI or Devi. S&e Devi. GIEI-VEAJA. A royal city in Magadha, identified with Eaja-griha in Bihar. GiTA. The Bhagavad-glta (q.v.). GiTA-GOVINDA. A lyrical poem by Jaya-deva' on the early life of K?7'sh7ia as Go vinda the cowherd. It is an erotic GOBHILA—GOTAMA. 113 work, and sings the loves of K7"isli?ia with Radha, and other of the cowherd damsels, but a mystical interpretation has been put upon it. The poems are supposed to have been written about the twelfth or thirteenth century. There are some translations in the Asiatic Researches by Sir W. Jones, and a small volume of translations has been lately published by Mr. Edwin Arnold. There is also an edition of the text, with a Latin translation and notes, by Lassen, and there are some others. GOBHILA. An ancient writer of the Siitra period. He was author of some G?'*hya Sutras, and of some Siitras on gram- mar. The G?7'hya Siitras have been published in the Bihliotheca Indica. GO-KARiYA. * Cow's ear.' A place of pilgrimage sacred to /S'iva, on the west coast, near Mangalore. GO-KULA. A pastoral district on the Yamuna, about Ma- thura, where Kn'sh?za passed his boyhood with the cowherds. GO-LOKA. 'The place of cows.' K?'ish?ia's heaven; a modern addition to the original series of seven Lokas. GO-MANTA. A great mountain in the Western Ghats. Accordinq; to the Hari-vansa it was the scene of a defeat of Jara-sandlia by K?7'sliiza. GO-MATl. The Giimti river in Oude ; but there are others which bore the name. One fell into the Sindhu or Indus. GO-PALA, GO-Yi:^DA. ' Cow-keeper.' A name of the youthful Krish?ia, who lived among the cowherds in Yrinda- vana. GOPALA-TAPANI An ITpanishad in honour of Knsh?ia. Printed in the Bihliotheca Indica, GO-PATHA BRAHMAiV^A. The Brahmawa of the Atharva or fourth Yeda. It has been published by Rajendra Lala in the Bihliotheca Indica. GOPATI-i^/SHABHA. ' Chief of herdsmen.' i. A title of /S'iva. 2. A demon mentioned in the Maha-bharata as slain by K?'ishwa. GOPIS. The cowherd damsels and wives with whom Iv?'ish??a sported in his youth. GOTAMA. The founder of the Nyaya school of philosophy. He is called also /S'atananda, and is author of a Dharma-sastra or law-book, which has been edited by Stenzler. He is fre- quently called Gautama. H 114 GO-VARDHANA—GRITSA-MADA. GO-YARDHAXA. A mountain in Vrindavana, wliicli Knshwa induced the cowherds and cowherdesses to worship instead of Indra. This enraged the god, who sent a deluge of rain to wash away the mountain and all the people of the country, but K?'ish7ia held up the mountain on his little finger for seven days to shelter the people of V^'/ndavana. Indra retired baffled, and afterwards did homage to K?tshria. GOA^ARDHAXA-DHARA ' Upholder of Govardhana.' A title of K?-zsh?ia. GO-YINDA ' Cow-keeper.' A name of K?-ish?ia. GRAHA. 'Seizing.' i. The power that seizes and obscures the sun and moon, causing eclipses ; the ascending node, Rahu. 2. Evil spirits with which people, especially children, are pos- sessed, and which cause sickness and death. They are supposed to be amenable to medicine and exorcism. Git/HA-STHA. 'Householder.' A Brahman in the second stage of his religious life. See Brahman. Gi?/HYA SUTRAS. Rules for the conduct of domestic rites and the personal sacraments, extending from the birth to the marriage of a man. {See Sfitra.) The Grihya Siitras of A.swalayana have been printed in the Bibliotheca Indica. Gi^/TS A-MADA. The reputed Rkhi of many hymns in the second ]\Ia?^f/ala of the jRig-veda. According to the Yish?ni PuraTza he was a Kshatriya and son of iSuna-hotra, being de- scended from Puriiravas of the Lunar race. From him sprang /S'aunaka, the eminent sage versed in the iifg-veda " who origi- nated the system of four castes." The Yayu PuraTza makes /S'unaka to be the son of G?'itsa-mada, and /S'aunaka the son of ^Sunaka : this seems probable. "It is related of him by Siiyawa that he was first a member of the family of Angiras, being the ' son of ^Suna-hotra. He was carried off by the Asuras whilst ]>erforming a sacrifice, but was rescued by Indra, under whose authority he was henceforth designated as G?*itsa-mada, the son of iS'unaka or 6'aunaka of the race of Bh?7gu. Thus the Anukra- mamka says of him : He who was an Angirasa, the son of iSuna-hotra, became /S'aunaka of the race of Bb?igu." According to the Maha-bharata, he was son of Yita-havya, a king of the Ilaihayas, a Kshatriya, who became a Brahman. {See Yita- havya.) The Maha-bharata alludes to a legend of his having assumed the semblance of Indra, and so enabled that deity to GUDA-KESA—HAIHA YA. 115 escape from the Asuras, who were lying in wait to destroy him. There are several versions of the story, but they all agree that after Indra had escaped G?