Identifier: indianmythlegend00inmack Title: Indian myth and legend Year: 1913 (1910s) Authors: Mackenzie, Donald Alexander, 1873-1936 Subjects: Hindu mythology Publisher: London, Gresham Contributing Library: Indiana University Digitizing Sponsor: Indiana University

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Text Appearing Before Image: he was unable to obtain it by force, he de-termined to raise himself from the Kshatriya to the Brah-man caste by performing prolonged austerities. WhenVishwamitra secured this elevation he fought with his rival. Some Vedic scholars regard Vishwamitra and Vasishthaas actual historical personages. They argue that Vish-wamitra was originally a Purohita (family priest) in theservice of Sudas, the king of an Aryan tribe called theTritsus. References are found in the Rigveda to thewars of Sudas, who once defeated a coalition of tenkings. Vishwamitra is believed to have been deposedby Sudas in favour of Vasishtha, and to have allied him-self afterwards with the enemies of the Tritsus.^ Professor Oldenberg, the German Sanskrit scholar, isconvinced, however, that there is no evidence in theRigveda of the legendary rivalry between Vishwamitraand Vasishtha. He regards the Vasishthas as the familypriests of the Bharata tribe and identical with the Tritsus. ^ Rig-veda^ viii, 53. 9-11, and vii, 18.

Text Appearing After Image: PARVATI, WIFE OF SHIVA (see page 150)From a South Indian temple DIVINITIES OF THE EPIC PERIOD 155 Among the tribes which opposed the advance of theconquering King Sudas, who appears to have been alate comer, was the Puru people on the banks of theSaraswati river. We find that the early authors suddenlycease to refer to them, and the problem is presented:What fate had befallen the Purus ? Professor Oldenberg,whose view is accepted by Professor Macdonell, Oxford,explains that the Purus merged in the Kuru coalition.The Kurus gave their name to Kuru-kshetra, the famousbattlefield of the epic Mahdhhdrata; they had alreadyfused with the Panchala tribe and formed the Kuru-Panchala nation in Madhyadesa, the Middle Country,the home of Brahmanic culture, the birthplace of thefamous old Upanishads. The Bharatas, and their priestly aristocracy of Tritsus,the Vasishthas, appear to have joined the Kuru-Panchalaconfederacy about the time that the Brahmanas were beingcomposed, and these were probably

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