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

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'ishwa was killed by a hunter, and his body was left to rot under a tree, but some pious persons found the bones and placed them in a box. A devout king named Indra-dyumna was directed by VisliTZ-u to form an image of Jagan-natha and to place the bones of Kmh?za inside it. Yisvv^a-karma, the architect of the gods, undertook to make the image, on condition of being left quite undisturbed till the work was complete. After fifteen days the king was impatient and went to Viswa-karma, who was angry, and left off w^ork before he had made either hands or feet, so that the image has only stumps. Indra-dyumna prayed to Brahma, who pro- mised to make the image famous, and he did so by giving to it eyes and a soul, and by acting as high priest at its consecration. JAHNAVI. The Ganges. Bee Jahnu. JAHNU. A sage descended from Pururavas. He was dis- turbed in his devotions by the passage of the river Ganga, and consequently drank up its waters. He afterwards relented, and allowed the stream to issue from his ear, hence Ganga is called Jahnavi, daughter of Jahnu. See Ganga. I 130 J AIMINI—JAMAD-A GNL m JAIMINI. A celebrated sage, a disciple of Vyasa. He is said to have received the Sama-veda from his master, and to have been its publisher or teacher. He was also the founder of the Piirva-mimansa philosophy. Tlie text of Jaimini is printed in the Bihliotheca Ind'ica. JAIMINIYA-NYAYA-MALA-VISTARA. A work on philosophy by Madliava. It has been edited by Goldstiicker and Cowell. JAJALL A Brahman mentioned in the Maha-bharata as having by ascetism acquired a supernatural power of locomotion, of which he was so proud that he deemed himself perfect in virtue and superior to all men. A voice from the sky told him that he was inferior to Tuladhara, a Yaisya and a trader. He went to this Tuladhara and learnt wisdom from him. JALA-EtJPA. The fish or the Makara on the banner of Kama. JALA-zSAYIIsr. ' Sleeping on the waters. ' An appellation of YisliTiu, as he is supposed to sleep upon his serpent couch on the waters during the rainy season, or during the submersion of the world. JAMAD-AGXI. A Brahman and a descendant of Bhngu. He was the son of itichika and Satya-vati, and was the father of five sons, the youngest and most renowned of whom was Parasu-rama. Jamad-agni's mother, Satya-vati, was daughter of King Gadlii, a Kshatriya. The Yish?iu Purawa relates that when Satya-vati was pregnant, her {Brahman husband, i^ichika, prepared a mess for her to eat for the purpose of securing that her son should be born with the qualities of a Brahman. He also gave another mess to her mother that she might bear a son with the character of a warrior. The women changed the messes, and so Jamad-agni, the son of /tichlka, was born as a warrior-Brahman, and Yiswamitra, son of the Kshatriya Gadhi, was born as a priest. The Maha-bharata relates that Jamad- agni engaged dee])ly in study and " obtained entire possession of the Vedas." He went to King Eewu or Prasena-jit of the Solar race and demanded of him his daughter Rezmkru The king gave her to him, and he retired with her to his hermitage, where the princess shared in his ascetic life. She bore him five sons, Rumawwat, Sushena, Vasu, Vi.swavasu, and Para^'u-rama, and she was exact in the performance of all her duties. One J AM AD- A GNI— JAMBA VAT. 131 day she went out to bathe and beheld a loving pair sporting and dallying in the water. Their pleasure made her feel envious, so she was " defiled by unworthy thoughts, and returned wetted but not purified by the stream." Her husband beheld her " fallen from perfection and shorn of the lustre of her sanctity." So he reproved her and was exceeding wroth. His sons came into the hermitage in the order of their birth, and he commanded each of them in succession to kill his mother. Influenced by natural affection, four of them held their peace and did nothing. Their father cursed them and they became idiots bereft of all under- standing. Wlien Parasu-rama entered, he obeyed his father's order and struck off his mother's head with his axe. The deed assuaged the father's anger, and he desired his son to make a request. Parasu-rama begged that his mother might be restored to life in purity, and that his brothers might regain their natural condition. All this the father granted. The mighty Karta-virya, king of the Haihayas, who had a thousand arms, paid a visit to the hermitage of Jamad-agni. The sage and his sons were out, but his wife treated her guest with all proper respect. Unmindful of the hospitality he had received, Karta-virya threw down the trees round the hermi- tage, and carried of the calf of the sacred cow, Surabhi, which Jamad-agni had acquired by penance. Parasu-rama returned and discovered what had happened, he then pursued Karta- virya, cut off his thousand arms with arrows, and killed him. The sons of Karta-virya w^nt in revenge to the hermitage of Jamad-agni, and in the absence of Parasu-rama slew the pious sage without pity. When Parasu-rama found the lifeless body of his father, he laid it on a funeral pile, and vowed that he would extirpate the whole Kshatriya race. He slew all the sons of Karta-virya, and " thrice seven times " he cleared the earth of the Kshatriya caste. JAMADAGXYA. The patronymic of Parasu-rama. JAMBAVAT. King of the bears. A celebrated gem called Syamantaka had been given by the Sun to Satra-jit. He, fear- ing that Krfsh?ia would take it from him, gave it to his brother, Prasena. One property of this jewel was to f)rotect its wearer when good, to ruin him when bad. Prasena was wicked and was killed by a lion, which was carrying off the gem in its mouth, when he was encountered and slain by Jambavat. After Pra- 132 JAMBA VA tI—JANAKA, Sena's disappearance, Kr/sli;ia was suspected of having killed him for the sake of the jewel. K77sh?ia with a large party- tracked the steps of Prasena, till it was ascertained that he had been killed by a lion, and that the lion had been killed by a bear. K?'ish7za then tracked the bear, Jambavat, into his cavern, and a great fight ensued between them. After waiting outside seven or eight days, Krishna's followers went home and performed his funeral ceremonies. On the twenty-first day of the fight, Jambavat submitted to his adversary, gave up the gem, and presented to him his daughter, Jambavati, as an offering suitable to a guest. Jambavat with his army of bears aided Rama in his invasion of Lanka, and always acted the part of a sasje counsellor. JAMBAYATL Daughter of Jambavat, king of the bears, wife of K?'ish7ia, and mother of A^amba. JAMBHA. Xame of several demons. Of one who fouglit against the gods and was slain by Indra, who for this deed was called Jambha-bhedin. Also of one Avho fought against Arjuna and was killed by K?*ish?2a. JAMBU-DWlPA One of the seven islands or continents of which the world is made up. The great mountain, IMeru, stands in its centre, and Bharata-varsha or India is its best part. Its varshas or divisions are nine in number : — (r.) Bharata, south of the Himalayas and southernmost of all. (2.) Kim-purusha. (3.) Hari-varsha. (4.) Ila-V7'ita, containing Meru. (5.) Ramyaka. (6.) Hiraw-maya. (7.) Uttara-Kuru, each to the north of the pro- ceding one. (8.) Bhadra-swa and (9.) Ketu-mala lie respectively to the east and west of Ila-vrita, the central region. JAMBU-MALI. A Rakshasa general of Rava?2a. He was killed by Hanumrm. JANAKA. I. King of Mithila, of the Solar race. A\nien Nimi, his predecessor, died without leaving a successor, the sages subjected the body of Nimi to attrition, and produced from it a prince " who was called Janaka, from being born without a progenitor." He was the first Janaka, and twenty- generations earlier than Janaka the father of Slta. 2. King of Videha and father of Sitil, remarkable for his great knowledge and good works and sanctity. He is called /S'ira-dhwaja, 'he of the plough banner,' because his daughter Sitil sprang up ready formed from the furrow when he was JANAKI—JARA-SANDHA. 133 ploughing the ground and preparing for a sacrifice to obtain offspring. The sage Yajnawalkya was his priest and adviser. The Brahnia72as relate that he "refused to submit to the hier- archical pretensions of the Brahmans, and asserted his right of performing sacrifices without the intervention of priests." He succeeded in his contention, for it is said that through his pure and righteous life he became a Brahman and one of the Rajarshis.