598:3 The Hari V. and Padma P. send Pauńd́raka to Dwáraká. According to the latter, Nárada incites Pauńd́raka to the aggression, telling him he cannot be a Vásudeva till he has overcome Krishńa: he goes, and is killed. The former work, as usual, enters into particulars of its own invention. Krishńa is absent on a visit to Śiva at Kailása, and during his absence Pauńd́raka, assisted by Ekalavya, king of the Nishádas, makes a night attack upon Dwáraká. They are resisted by the Yádavas under Sátyaki and Balaráma; by the former of whom Pauńd́raka is repeatedly overthrown, and all but slain: he requires so much killing, however, that he is likely to obtain the victory, when Krishńa conies to the aid of his kinsmen, and after a protracted encounter, described in language employed a hundred times before, kills his competitor. The whole of the sections called the Kailása Yátrá, or Krishńa's journey to Kailása, must have been wanting in the copy used by M. Langlois, as they are not included in his translation. The chapters of the Hari V. according to his enumeration of them are 261: my copy has 316.

599:4 The Bhágavata names him Sudakshińa; the Padma, Dańd́apáni.

599:5 A personified Krityá, a magical creation. The Padma has the same. The Bhágavata makes the product of the sacrificial fire a male, and sends him to Dwáraká, accompanied by a host of Bhútas, Suva's attendant goblins.

600:6 According to the Bhágavata, the magical being himself destroys Sudakshińa and his priest; but Sudarśana consumes the people and the city. The Padma ascribes the destruction of the king and all his city to the discus. The Hari V. closes its narrative with the death of Pauńd́raka, and makes no mention of the destruction of Benares. The circumstance is alluded to in a preceding section (s. 159) by Nárada, when detailing the exploits of Krishńa.

600:7 In this legend, again, we have a contest between the followers of Vishńu and Śiva intimated, as, besides the assistance given by the latter to Pauńd́raka, Benares--Varánáśí or Atimukta--has been from all time, as it is at present, the high place of the Śaiva worship. There is also an indication of a Vaishńava schism, in the competition between Pauńd́ra and Krishńa for the title of Vásudeva, and the insignia of his divinity.

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Hinduism

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