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As he rode on the hump he obtained the cognomen of Kakut-stha. In explanation of his title Puran-jaya, the Bha- gavata Pura?za says that he took the city of the Daityas situated in the west. PURO GHANA. The emissary of Dur-yodhana who at- tempted to burn the Pa?^o?avas in their house and was burnt in his own house by Bhima. See Maha-bharata. PURU. The sixth king of the Lunar race, youngest son of Yayati and Sarmish/ha. He and his brother Yadu were founders of two great branches of the Lunar race. The descen- dants of Puru were called Pauravas, and of this race came the Kauravas and Pa?i(7avas. Among the Yadavas or descendants 01 Yadu was K?i*sh7?a. Bee Yayati. PURUKUTSA. A son of Mandhat?i, into whose person Yish?iu entered for the' purpose of destroying the subterranean Gandharvas, called Mauneyas. He reigned on the banks of the ]!^armada, and that river personified as one of the J^agas was his wife. By her he had a son, Trasadasyu. The Yish/m Purawa is said to have been narrated to him by " Daksha and other venerable sages." PURU-RAYAS. In the Yedas, a mythical personage con- nected with the sun and the dawn, and existing in the middle region of the universe. According to the ^ig-veda he was son of Ila, and a beneficent pious prince ; but the Maha-bharata says, "We have heard that Ha was both his mother and his father. The parentage usually assigned to him is that he was 248 PURV-RAVAS. son of Budlia by Ila, daughter of Manu, and grandson of tlie moon." Tlirongh his mother he received the city of Pratish/hana. {See Ila.) lie is the hero of the story and of the drama of Vikrama and Urvasi, or the " Hero and the jSTymph." Puru-ravas is the Vikrama or hero, and Urvasi is an Apsaras who came down from Swarga through having incurred the imprecation of Mitra and YaruTia. On earth Purii-ravas and she became ena- moured of each other, and she agreed to live with him upon certain conditions. " I have two rams," said the nympli, " which I love as children. They must be kept near my bed- side, and never suffered to be carried away. You must also take care never to be seen by me undressed ; and clarified butter alone must be my food." The inhabitants of Swarga were anxious for the return of Urva^i, and knowing the compact made with Purii-ravas, the Gandharvas came by night and stole lier rams. Purii-ravas was undressed, and so at first refrained from pursuing the robl)ers, but the cries of Urvasi impelled him to seize his sword and rush after them. The Gandharvas then brought a vivid flasli of lightning to the chamber which dis- played the person of Purii-ravas. So the charm was broken and Urvasi disappeared. Purii-ravas wandered about demented in search of her, and at length found her at Kuru-kshetra bathing with four other nymphs of heaven. She declared herself preg- nant, and told him to come there again at the end of a year, when she would deliver to him a son and remain with him for one night. Purii-ravas, thus comforted, returned to his capital. At the end of the year he went to the trysting-place and received from Urva.si his eldest son, Ayus. The annual interviews were repeated until she had borne him five more sons. (Some autho- rities increase the number to eight, and there is considerable variety in their names. ) She then told him tliat the Gandharvas had determined to grant him any boon he might desire. His desire was to pass his life with Urvasi. The Gandharvas then brought him a vessel with fire and said, " Take this fire, and, according to the precepts of the Yedas, divide it into three fires ; then, fixing your mind upon the idea of living with Urvasi, offer oblations, and you shall assuredly obtain your wishes." He did not immediately obey this command, but eventually he fulfilled it in an emblematic way, and " obtained a seat in the sphere of the Gandharvas, and was no more separated from his love." As PURUSHA-PUSHAN. 249 a son of Ila, liis metronymic is Aila. There is a hymn in the ifc/g-veda which contains an obscure conversation between Piirii- ravas and Urvasi. The above story is first told in the iS'atapatha BrahmaTza, and afterwards reappears in the PuraTias. The Bhagavata Purawa says, " From Puru-ravas came the triple Veda in the beginning of the Treta (age)." The story is supposed to have a mythic origin. Max Miiller considers it " one of the myths of the Vedas which expresses the correlation of the dawn and the sun. The love between the mortal and the immortal, and the identity of the morning dawn and the evening twilight, is the story of Urvasi and Puru-ravas. " The word Urvasi, according to the same writer, " was originally an appellation, and meant dawn." Dr. Goldstiicker's explanation differs, but seems more apposite. According to this, Purii-ravas is the sun and Urvasi is the morning mist ; when Purii-ravas is visible Urvasi vanishes, as the mist is absorbed when the sun shines forth. Urvasi in the story is an Apsaras, and the Apsa- rases are " personifications of the vapours which are attracted by the sun and form into mists or clouds." PURUSHA. ' Man.' i. The original eternal man, the Sup- reme Being, and soul of the universe. 2. A name of Brahma. PURUSHA-XARAYAiVA. The original male. The divine creator Brahma. PURUSHA-StJKTA. A hymn of the i^ig-veda in which the four castes are first mentioned. It is considered to be one of the latest in date. See Muir's Texts, i. p. 7. PURUSHOTTAMA. Literally ' best of men ;' but the word Purusha is here used in its mythic sense of soul of the universe, and so the compound means the "supreme soul." It is a title of Yishmi, and asserts his right to be considered the Supreme God. So the Hari-vansa says, " Purushottama is whatever is declared to be the highest, Purusha the sacrifice, and everything else which is known by the name of Purusha." PURUSHOTTAMA - KSHETRA. The sacred territory round about the temple of Jagannatha in Orissa. PURYA-jNIiMANSA. A school of philosophy. See Darsana. PUSHAjST. a deity frequently mentioned in the Yedas, but he is not of a distinctly defined character. Many hymns are addressed to him. The word comes from the root 2^ush, and the primary idea is that of " nourisher '' or Providence. So the 250 PUSHAN—PUSHKARA. Taittirlya Bralima?ia says, " AVlien Prajapati formed living creatures Pushan nourished them." The account given in Bbh- thngk and Roth's Dictionary, and adopted by Dr. Muir, is as follows : — "Piishan is a protector and multiplier of cattle and of human possessions in general. As a cowherd he carries an ox-goad, and he is drawn by goats. In the character of a Solar deity, he beholds the entire universe, and is a guide on roads and journeys and to the other world. He is called the lover of his sister Surya. He aids in the revolution of day and night, and shares with Soma the guardianship of living creatures. He is invoked along with the most various deities, but most fre- Cjuently with Indra and Bhaga." He is a patron of conjurors, especially of those who discover stolen goods, and he is connected with the marriage ceremonial, being besought to take the bride's hand and bless her. (See Miiifs Texts, v. 171.) In the Xirukta, and in works of later date, Pushan is identified with the sun. He is also called the brother of Indra, and is enumerated among the twelve Adityas. Pushan is toothless, and feeds upon a kind of gruel, and the cooked oblations offered to him are of ground materials, hence he is called Karambhad. The cause of his being toothless is variously explained. Accord- ing to the Taittirlya Sanhita, the deity Rudra, being excluded from a certain sacrifice, shot an arrow at the offering and pierced it. A portion of this sacrifice was presented to Pushan, and it broke his teeth. In the Maha-bharata and in the Purawas the legend takes a more definite shape. " Rudra (/S'iva), of dreadful power, ran up to the gods present at Daksha's sacrifice, and in his rage knocked out the eyes of Bhaga with a blow, and, in- censed, assaulted Pushan with his foot, and knocked out his teeth as he was eating the purof?a5a offering." In the Pura?zas it is not /Siva himself, but his manifestation the Rudras, who disturbed the sacrifice of the gods and knocked Pushan's teeth down his throat. Pushan is called Agh^'mi, ' splendid ; ' Dasra, Dasma, and Dasma-varchas, ' of wonderful appearance or power,' and Kapardin (q.v.). PUSHKARA. A blue lotus. A celebrated tank about five miles from Ajmir. One of the seven Dwipas. (See Dwipa.