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It has also drawn largely from the jMahfi-bharata. " Although a iS'aiva work, it is not exclusively so, and it has no such sectarial absurdities as the Kiirma and Linga." AfA UNE YA S— MED ml 207 MAUNEYAS. A class of Gandharvas, sons of Kasyapa, who dwelt beneath the earth, and were sixty millions in num- ber. They overpowered the Nagas, and compelled them to flee to YishTiu for assistance, and he sent Purukutsa against them, who destroyed them. MAUEYA. The dynasty founded by Chandra-gupta at Pa^ali-putra (Patna) in Magadha. According to the VisliTiu Pura?ia, the Maurya kings were ten in number and reigned 137 years. Their names were — (i.) Chandi-a-gupta, (2.) Bindu-sara, (3.) Asoka-vardhana, (4.) Su-ya6'as, (5.) Dasa-ratha, (6.) Sangata, (7.) /S'llli-siika, (8.) Soma-6'arman, (9.) /S'asa-dharman, (10.) Bn'- had-ratha. The names vary in other Puril?ias. See Chandra- gupta. MAYA. A Daitya who was the architect and artificer of the Asuras, as Viswa-karma was the artificer of the Suras or gods. Ho was son of Yiprachitti and father of Yajra-kama and Mando- dari, wife of Kava?ia. He dwelt in the Deva-giri mountains not very far from Delhi, and his chief works were in the neighbour- hood of that city, where he worked for men as well as Daityas. The iMaha-bharata speaks of a palace he built for the Pa7i<iavas. In the Hari-vau5a he appears frequently both as victor and van- quished in contests with the gods. MAYA, ' niusion, deception,' i. Illusion personified as a female form of celestial origin, created for the purj^ose of beguil- ing some individual Sometimes identified with Durga, as the source of spells, or as a personification of the unreality of worldly things. In this character she is called Maya-devi or Maha- maya, 2. A name of Gay a, one of the seven sacred cities. MAYA-DEYl, MAYA-YATl. Wife of the demon ^ambara. She brought uj) Pradyumna, the son of Krish7^a, and subse- quently married him. Pradyumna is represented as being a revived embodiment of Kama, the god of love ; and in accord- ance with this legend Maya-vati is identified with his wife Eati, the Hindu Yenus. See Maya, MAYU. ' Bleater, bellower.' The Kinnaras are called Majois. MEDHATITHI. j!^ame of a Ka?iwa who was a Yedic i^ishi. There is a legend in one of the Upanishads that he was carried up to heaven by Indra in the form of a ram, because the god had been pleased with his austerities. Cf. Ganymede. MEDIXI. The earth. See Kai/abha. 2oS MEDINI—MIMAXSA-DA RSANA . MEDIXi, ]\rEDINl - KOSHA. A weU-kuown Sanskrit vocabulary. There are printed editions. MEGHA-DUTA. ' Cloud messenger.' A celebrated poem by Kali-dasa, in wliicli a banished Yaksha implores a cloud to convey tidings of him to his wife. It has been translated into English verse by Wilson, and there are versions in French and German. The text has been printed with a vocabulary by Johnson. MEGHA-NADA. A son of Kavawa. See Indra-jit. !MEKALA. Name of a mountain from which the l^armada river is said to rise, and from which it is called jNIekala and Mekala-kanya, 'daughter of Mekala.' There was a people of this name, who probably lived in the vicinity of this mountain. Their kings were also called Mekalas, and there appears to have been a city Mekala. MEN A, MENAKA. i. In the i?*g-veda, a daughter of V?ishan-aswa. A Bralima?ia tells a strange story of Indra having assumed the form of Mena and then fallen in love with her. In the Pura?ias, wife of Himavat and mother of Uma and Ganga, and of a son named Mainaka. 2. An Apsaras sent to seduce the sage Viswrimitra from liis devotions, and succeeding in this object, she became the mother of the nymph ^S'akuntala. MERU. A fabulous mountain in the navel or centre of the earth, on which is situated Swarga, the heaven of Indra, con- taining: the cities of the ^0^% and the habitations of celestial spirits. The Olymjms of the Hindus. Regarded as a terrestrial object, it would seem to be some mountain north of the Hima- layas. It is also Su-meru, Hemadri, ' golden mountain ; ' Ratna- sanu, 'jewel peak;' Kar/akachala, 'lotus mountain;' and Amaradri and Deva-parvata, 'mountain of the gods.' :MERU-SAVARiVAS. The ninth, tenth, eleventh, and twelfth Manus, said to be the " mind-engendered sons of a daughter of Daksha by himself and the three gods Brahma, Dharma, and Rudra, to whom he presented her on Mount Meru." The signification of the appellation INIeru is obvious ; that of SavarTia or Savar;d signifies that they were all of one caste (varnct). MiMANSA. A school of j)hilosophy. See Dar.s^ana. MI^IANSA-DAR/S'ANA. A work on the IMlmiinsa philo- sophy. Printed in the Bihliothcca Indica. MI MANS A- VAR TTIKA- MRICHCHHAKA TL 209 MIMANSA-YARTTIKA. A work on the Mimansa philo- sophy by Kumarila Eha//a. MINJIKA (mas.) and MINJIKA (fern.). Two beings who, according to the Maha-bharata, sprang from the seed of Rudra, which was spilt upon a mountain. They are to be worshii^ped by those who desire the welfare of children. MITAKSHARA. A commentary by Vijnaneswara on the Smriti or text-book of Yajnawalkya. The authority of this book is admitted all over India, with the exception of Bengal proper. The portion on inlieritance has been translated by Colebrooke, and into French by Orianne. The text has been printed in India. MITHILA. A city, the capital of Videha or North Bihiir, which corresponds to the modern Tirhut and Puraniya, between the GandakI and Ko5i rivers. It has given its name to one of the five northern nations of Brrdimans {see Brahman), and to a school of law. It was the country of King Janaka, and the name of his capital, Janaka-pura, still survives in " Janakpoor," on the northern frontier. MITRA. Probably connected with the Persian Mithra. A form of the sun. In the Vedas he is generally associated with Yaru??a, he being the ruler of the day and Varu?ia the ruler of the night. They together ujDhold and rule the earth and sky, guard the world, encourage religion, and chastise sin. He is one of the Adityas or sons of Aditi. MITRA-SAHA. A king called also Kalmasha-pada (q.v.). MLECHHAS. Foreigners, barbarians, people not of Aryan race. MOHA-MUDGARA. ' Hammers for ignorance.' A poem in explanation of the Yedanta philosoj^hy. It has been printed and translated by IST^ve. Mi?/CHCHHAKATi 'The toy-cart.' A drama in ten acts by King /Sudraka, supposed to be the oldest Sansk?'it drama extant, and to have been written in the first or second century A.D. The country over which ^Siidraka reigned is not known. This play, says Wilson, its translator, " is a curious and interest- ing picture of national manners . . . free from all exterior influence or adulteration. It is a portrait purely Indian. It represents a state of society sufhciently advanced in civilisation to be luxurious and corrupt, and is certainly very far from o 2 1 o MRIGANKA -LEKHA—MUD GALA. offering a flattering similitude, although not without some attractive features." Williams observes, " The dexterity with which the plot is arranged, the ingenuity Avith which the inci- dents are connected, the skill with which the characters are delineated and contrasted, the boldness and felicity of the diction, are scarcely unworthy of our own great dramatists." There are translations in French and several editions of the text. Mi?/GAXKA-LEKHA. A play in four acts, written by Yiswa-natha at Benares. The piece takes its name from the heroine, a princess of Kamariipa. It is a comparatively modern work. Mi^/TYU. ' Death.' A name of Yama, the god of the dead. MUCHUKUXDA. In the Pura?ias, son of Mandhat?'/, and called 'king of men.' He rendered assistance to the gods in their wars with the Asuras or demons, and he asked and obtained as a reward the boon of a long uninterrupted sleep. AYliosoever disturbed him was to be burnt to ashes by fire issuing from his body. Kala-yavana was lured into his cave by Kr^'shwa and woke the sleeper, who cast a fiery glance upon the intruder which destroyed him. Muchukunda then paid laud and honour to Knsh?ia, who gave him power to go to whatever celestial region he wished, and to enjoy all heavenly pleasures. Muchukunda left his cave and went to Gandha- madana to perform peiiance. The Maha-bharata says he was reproved by Kuvera for trusting to his priest more than to his own prowess for success in war, but he replied that the religious aid of Brahmans was as necessary as the warlike powers of Kshatriyas. MUDGALA. A Yedic Tiishi from whom the Maudgalya Brahmans sprang.