and from him he received eight boons, to which Uma added eight others: among the eight granted by Siva were "a hundred hundreds of sons," and by Uma sixteen thousand one hundred wives. According to Krishna, Siva "is the most excellent of beings in the three worlds." "As he is the greatest of gods, he is called Mahadeva, since he constantly prospers all men in all their acts: seeking their welfare (Siva), he is called Siva."

The following legend will show that the belief in Krishna's divinity was not by any means common at the time the Mahabharata was written. When King Yudhishthira offered a sacrifice, it was proposed that Krishna, as the greatest chief present, should receive the presents that were made. Sisupala strongly objected to this, and supported his objection by a recital of Krishna's misdeeds. Krishna listened patiently for a time, but at last declared that the time had come when he must slay his detractor. He said, "I have promised to forgive him a hundred offences--he has now offended more than a hundred times;" and then the never-failing discus did its work. In other passages of the Mahabharata, Siva praises Krishna in almost as extravagant language as that employed by Krishna to him; but this is so thoroughly opposed to his general position throughout the poem, there can be little doubt that these passages were introduced when the worship of Krishna had to a large extent superseded that of Siva.

Krishna, as described in the Mahabharata, was not above employing deception, and leading others to do it too. On one occasion during the great war between the Kurus and Pandavas, the Pandavas were in great distress, owing to the bravery and skill of a Kuru chief named

Dronacharjya. This chief had a son whom he deeply loved, named Ashwatthama; and it was thought that if a report could be spread to the effect that this son was slain, his father would be too distressed to fight. Dronacharjya at last heard the rumour, but refused to believe it unless confirmed it. At first the good king refused to speak an untruth; but at Krishna's suggestion he repeated the words, "Ashwatthama is dead," meaning an elephant of that name, yet wishing the father to understand he referred to his son. The trick succeeded; but the king as a punishment for his prevarication had to endure the sight of the lost in hell, whilst being conducted to heaven.

Amongst Krishna's many names the following are the most common:--

Gopal, "The Cowherd."

Gopinath, "The Lord of the Milkmaids."

Mathuranath, "The Lord of Mathura."

Footnotes

^197:* Chambers's Cyclopaedia, s.v.

^200:* Book v.