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

English

There has been little dis- covered that is ancient on this subject ; only one " short tract, consisting of thirty-six verses, in a comparatively modern style, to which scholars cannot assign an earlier date than 300 years b.c." KA. The interrogative pronoun " who ? " This word has KA—KABANDHA. 137 been raised to tlie position of a deity. In the words of Max ]\Iiiller, " The authors of the Brahma?zas had so completely broken with the past, that, forgetful of the poetical character of the hymns (of the Veda) and the yearning of the poets after the unknown god, they exalted the interrogative pronoun itself into a deity, and. acknowledged a god Ka or Who % In the Taittiriya Brahma7?-a, in the Kaushitaki Brahma/ia, in the Ta?z6?ya Brahmawa, and in the ^atapatha Brahmawa, wherever interrogative verses occur, the author states that Ka is Prajapati, or the lord of creatures. Nor did they stop here. Some of the hymns in which the interrogative pronoun occurred were called Kadvat, i.e., having Imd or quid. But soon a new adjective was formed, and not only the hymns but the sacrifice also ofi'ered to the god were called Kaya or Who-ish. ... At the time of Pamni, this word had acquired such legitimacy as to call for a separate rule explaining its formation. The commentator here explains Ka by Brahman. After this we can hardly wonder that in the later Sansk?-it literature of the Pura?^as Ka appears as a recognised god, as a supreme god, with a genealogy of his own, perhaps even with a wife ; and that in the laws of ]\Ianu one of the recognised forms of marriage, generally known by the name of the Prajapati marriage, occurs under the monstrous title of Kaya." The Maha-bharata identifies Ka with Daksha, and the Bhagavata Purawa applies the term to Kasyapa, no doubt in consequence of their great generative powers and similarity to Prajaj)ati. KABANDHA. i. A disciple of Su-mantu, the earliest teacher of the Atharva-veda. 2. A monstrous Eakshasa slain by Eama. He is said to have been a son of the goddess 5'ri. He is de- scribed as " covered with hair, vast as a mountain, without head or neck, having a mouth armed with immense teeth in the middle of his belly, arms a league long, and one enormous eye in his breast." He was originally a Gandharva, and his hideous deformity arose, according to one account, from a quarrel with Indra, whom he challenged, and who struck him with his thun- derbolt, and drove his head and thighs into his body. According to another statement, his deformity arose from the curse of a sage. Wlien mortally wounded, he requested Kama to burn his body, and when that was done he came out of the fire m his real shape as a Gandharva, and counselled Kama as to 138 KACHA—KAHODA. the conduct of tlie war against RavaTza. He was also called Danu. KACIIA. A son of Bnhaspati. According to the Maha- l)liarata he became a disciple of ^Sukra or U^anas, the priest of the Asuras, with the object of obtaining from him the mystic power of restoring the dead to life, a charm which iSukra alone possessed. To prevent this the Asuras killed Kaclia again and again, but on both occasions he was restored to life by the sage at the intercession of Devayani, his daughter, who had fallen in love with Kacha. They killed him a third time, burnt his bodv, and mixed his ashes with >S'ukra's w^ine, but Devavani again implored her father to bring back the young man. Unable to resist his daughter's importunity, ^S'ukra once more performed the charm, and to his surprise heard the voice of Kacha come out from his own belly. To save his own life, ^Sukra taught his pupil the great charm. He then allowed himself to be ripped open, and Kacha, upon coming out, performed the charm, and restored his master to life. This incident is said to have caused /S'ukra to prohibit the use of wine to Brahmans. Kacha resisted the proposals of Devayani, and refused to make her his wife. She then cursed liim, that the charms he had learnt from her father should be powerless, and he in return condemned her to be souf^ht bv no Brahman, and to become the wife of a Kshatriva. KADA^IBARl. A daughter of Chitra-ratha and JNIadira. Her name has been given to a well-known prose work, a kind of novel, written by Yawa or Bawa-bha//a, in the seventh century. The work has been printed at Bombay. KADEtJ. A daughter of Daksha, and one of the thirteen that were married to Kasyapa. She was mother of "a thousand powerful many-headed serpents, the chief amongst whom were ^'esha, Vasuki, . . . and many other fierce and venomous ser- pents." The Vishnu Purawa, from which this is taken, names twelve, the Vayu Pura7?a forty. Her offspring bear the metro- nymic Kadraveya, KAHOi)A. A learned Brfdiman, fatlier of Ash/Tivakra. He with many others was overcome in argument at the court of Janaka by a Buddhist sage, and as a penalty was thrown into tlie river. Some years afterwards he was recovered by his son, who overcame the supposed Buddliist sage, and tlius brought about a restoration. /S'ee Asli^avakra, KAIKASi—KAKSHlVA T. 139 KAIKASI. Daughter of the Eakshasa Sii-mah and his wife Ivetii-mati, wife of Visravas and mother of Ravawa. — Muir, iv. 487, 488. KAIKEYA. Name of a country and of its king. He was father-in-law of Krishwa, and his five sons were allies of the Pa?i<^avas. His real name appears to have been Dhrish/a- ketu. KAIKEYAS, KEKAYAS. The people of Kaikeya, one of the chief nations in the war of the Maha-bharata. The Rama- yaTza places them in the west, beyond the SaraswatI and Byas. KAIKEYI. A princess of Kaikeya, wife of King Dasa-ratha, and mother of Bharata, his third son. She carefully tended Dasa-ratha when he was wounded in battle, and in gratitude he promised to grant any two requests she might make. Urged by the malignant counsels of Manthara, a female attendant, she made use of this promise to procure the exile of Rama, and to promote the advancement of her own son, Bharata, to his place. See Dasa-ratha, Rama. KAILASA. A mountain in the Himalayas, north of the Manasa lake. /S'iva's paradise is said to be on Mount Kailasa, so also is Kuvera's abode. It is called also Ga?2a-parvata and Rajatadri, * silver mountain.' KAI7ABHA. Kai^abha and Madhu were two horrible demons, who, according to the Maha-bharata and the Pura?ias, sprang from the ear of Yisliwu while he was asleep at the end of a kalpa, and were about to kill Brahma, who was lying on the lotus springing from Yish?iu's navel. Yish/m killed them, and hence he obtained the names of Kai/abha-jit and Madhu-su.dana. The Markawfeya Pura?ia attributes the death of Kai/fabha to TJma, and she bears the title of Kai/abha. The Hari-vansa states that the earth received its name of Medini from the marrow (medas) of these demons. In one passage it sajs that their bodies, being thrown into the sea, produced an immense quantity of marrow or fat, which NarayaTza used in forming the earth. In another place it says that the medas quite covered the earth, and so gave it the name of Medini. This is another of the many etymological inventions. KAKSHIYAT, KAKSHlYAK A Yedic sage, particularly connected with the worship of the Aswins. He was the son of Dirgha-tamas and Usij (q.v.), and is author of several hymns in 140 KAKUDMIN—KALAKANJAS. the ifc/g-veda. He was also called Pajriya, because lie was of the race of Pajra. In one of his hymns he lauds the liberality of King SAvanaya. The following legend, in explanation, is given by the commentator Sayawa and the Xitl-manjara : — Kak- shlvat, having finished his course of study, took leave of his preceptor and departed homewards. As he journeyed night came on, and he fell asleep by the roadside. In the morning he was aroused by Eaja Swanaya, who, being pleased with his appearance, treated him cordially and took him home. After ascertaining his worthiness, he married him to his ten daughters, presenting him at the same time with a hundred nislikas of gold, a hundred horses, a hundred bulls, a thousand and sixty cows, and eleven chariots, one for each of his ten wives, and one for himself, each dra"svn by four horses. With these he returned home to his father, and recited the hymn in praise of the muni- ficence of Swanaya. KAKUDMIK A name of Eaivata (q.v.). KAKUT-STHA. See Puranjaya. KALA. 'Time.' A name of Yama, the judge of the dead. In the Atharva-veda Time is addressed as the source and ruler of aU things. " It is he who drew forth the worlds and encom- passed them.