565:2 So the Bhágavata describes him as leading a host of Mlechchhas, or barbarians, against Krishńa; but in the Mahábhárata, Sabhá Parvan, vol. I. p. 330, where Krishńa describes the power of Jarásandha, he admits that he and the Yádavas fled from Mathurá to the west, through fear of that king, but no account is given of any siege of Mathurá by Kálayavana. The only indication of such a person is the mention that Bhagadatta, the Yavana king, who rules over Muru and Naraka in the west and south, is one of his most attached feudatories. This king is in various other places called king of Prágjyotish, as he is in a subsequent passage of the same book, Sabhá P., p. 374; and this name is always applied to the p. 566 the west of Asam. His subjects are, however, still Yavanas and Mlechchhas, and he presents horses, caps set with jewels, and swords with ivory hilts; articles scarcely to be found in Asam, which cannot well be the seat of his sovereignty. It seems most likely therefore that the story may have originated in some knowledge of the power and position of the Greek-Bactrian princes, or their Scythian successors, although in the latter compilations it has been mixed up with allusions to the first Mohammedan aggressions. See As. Res. V. 506 and XV. 100.

566:3 According to the Mahábhárata, he only enlarged and fortified the ancient city of Kuśasthalí, founded by Raivata. Sabhá P.: see also p. 356 of our text.

567:4 The name of Muchukunda, as one of the sons of Mańd́hátri, occurs p. 363; but no further notice is taken of him. The Bhágavata specifies his being the son of that king, and relates the same story of his long sleep as the text. The same occurs in the Hari Vanśa. The general character of the legends in this chapter is that of reference to something familiar, rather than its narration. In the Hari Vanśa the opposite extreme is observable, and there the legends are as prolix as here they are concise. The Bhágavata follows a middle course; but it seems unlikely that in either of the three we have the original fables.

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Hinduism

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