1. Vrishabha, of the kingly race of Ikohwaku, was son of Nabhi and Marudeva. He is usually painted yellow, and has a bull as his characteristic mark. His stature was 500 poles in height, and he lived 8,400,000 great years. He was born at Oude. When crowned king he was 2,000,000; he reigned 6,300,000 years, and

spent 100,000 in the practice of austerity, by which he became qualified for sainthood.

23. Parswanatha was also of the same race as the first. He is represented as blue in colour, and has a snake to distinguish him. Possibly this was the real founder of the Jain sect. He was born at Benares, and commenced his saintly life when he was thirty years of age, and, continuing his asceticism for seventy years, died when he was just a hundred years old.

24. Mahavir is the last and much the best known of all. His common title is "The Saint." His image is golden in colour, and his symbol a lion. He resigned his position as a god in order to obtain immortality as a saint, when there was a little over seventy-five years to run before the end of the age. His parents were Brahmans; but as Indra considered it improper that one whom he recognized as a saint before he was born, who was to occupy such a position, should be born in a humble family, he removed the foetus to the womb of a princess of the royal race, Trisala, wife of Siddharta. At twenty-eight he lost his father, became king and reigned for two years. Then resigning his royal state, he entered upon a life of austerity, and after forty-two years of preparation, at the age of seventy-two he became exempt from pain for ever. In other words he died, and obtained moksha, deliverance from birth and death, absorption. According to tradition, the death of the last Jain occurred two thousand four hundred years ago.

Footnotes

^483:* Dowson, s.v.

^484:* Page 41.

^484:+ Page 150.

^487:* Manu, bk. iii.

INDEX.

A.

Adikavi, a name of Brahma, <page 107>

Aditi, character and attributes of, <page 17>; resorted to for pardon, <page 17>; origin of, <page 18>; the mother of Vishnu in the Dwarf incarnation, <page 18>

Adityas, the, <page 18>; various lists of, <page 19>; probably sun-gods, <page 19>

Agastya, a son of Varuna, <page 44>

Agni, description of, <page 21>; cause of his superiority, <page 10>; Vedic attributes of, <page 22>; a Rakshas, <page 27>; the father of Nila, <page 27>; the reputed father of Kartikeya, <page 337>; cursed by Bhrigu, <page 36>

Ahalya, wife of Gautama, seduced by Indra, <page 60>; released from her husband's curse, <page 177>

Airavata, Indra's elephant, <page 448>

Ambika, a name of Uma, <page 285>

Amburaja, a name of Varuna, <page 44>

Ananga, a name of Kamadeva, <page 261>