Max Duncker - The History of Antiquity, Vol. 4 (of 6)

Von Gutschmid, "Beiträge," s. 76 ff. See below.

P. 484, ed. Wilson.

Von Gutschmid, loc. cit. s. 85 ff.

That the main portions of the Epos in their present form cannot be older, is clear from the views of the worship of Vishnu and Çiva which prevail in the poem. These forms of worship first obtained currency in the fifth and fourth centuries B.C. (see below). It is also clear from the identification of Vishnu and Krishna, of Rama and Vishnu; the deeply felt Brahmanic anti-Buddhist tendencies, seen in such a marked manner in the Ramayana; the form of philosophic speculation, and the application of astrology, which are characteristic of the Epos in its present state; and finally from the mention of the Yavanas as the allies of the Kurus, and Dattamira, i. e. Demetrius, the king of the Yavanas. This king reigned in Bactria in the first half of the second century B.C. (Lassen, loc. cit. 1, 557). Another king of the Yavanas who is mentioned is Bhagadatta, i. e. apparently, Apollodotus, the founder of the Græco-Indian kingdom in the second half of the first century B.C. (Von Gutschmid, "Beiträge," s. 75). We are led to the same result by the descriptions of Indian buildings, of paved roads and lofty temples, which were first built by the Brahmans in opposition to the stupas of the Buddhists. Lassen places the important pieces of the Mahabharata, in their present form, between Kalaçoka and Chandragupta, i. e. between 425-315 B.C. ( loc. cit. 12, 589 ff.) Benfey places them in the third century B.C., A. Weber in the first century. The Mahabharata, which according to the statement found in the poem (1, 81) originally had only 8,800 double-verses, now numbers 100,000: A. Weber, "Acad. Vorlesungen," s. 176. The old form of the Mahabharata is much anterior to the fifth century B.C.; certain passages of the present poem are much later: A. Weber, "Indische Skizzen," s. 37, 38. When Dion Chrysostom remarks (2, 253, ed. Reiske) that the Homeric poems were sung by the Indians in their own language – the sorrows of Priam, the lamentation of Hecuba and Andromache, the bravery of Achilles and Hector – Lassen is undoubtedly right in referring this statement to the Mahabharata, and putting Dhritarashtra in the place of Priam, Gandhari and Draupadi in the place of Andromache and Hecuba, Arjuna and Suyodhana or Karna in the place of Achilles and Hector ("Alterth." 22, 409). It is doubtful whether the remark of Chrysostom is taken from Megasthenes. That the Ramayana is later in style than the Mahabharata will become clear below.

"Vishnu-Purana," ed. Wilson, p. 380, seqq.

Lassen, "Ind. Alterth." 12, Anhang xviii. n. 4.

In the Rigveda we find: "If you, Indra and Agni, are among the Druhyus, Anus or Purus, come forth."

Lassen, loc. cit. 1, xxii. n. 15.

"Rigveda," 1, 31, 4; 1, 31, 17; 7, 18, 13.

According to the Brahmanic recension of the poem which we now possess, Samvarana is able to obtain the daughter of the god only by the mediation of a sacred priest. The king therefore bethinks him of Vasishtha, who ascends to the god of light and obtains his daughter for the king. Lassen, "Ind. Alterth." 12, Anhang xxvi.

Lassen, "Ind. Alterth." 12 656, n. and 12 850.

A. Weber, "Ind. Literaturgesch." s. 1262.

Manu, 7, 90, 93. Yajnavalkya, 1, 323-325.

Panini in M. Müller, "Hist. of anc. Sanskrit Literature," p. 44, n. 2.

Manu, 9, 59.

M. Müller, loc. cit.

"Vishnu-Purana," ed. Wilson, p. 440. Lassen, "Ind. Alterth." 12, 68 ff.

In Panini Krishna is called a god, but also a hero. M. Müller, "Hist. of anc. Sanskrit Lit." p. 45 n.

On the form of the Rama legend in the Daçaratha-Jataka, cf. A. Weber, "Abh. Berl Akad." 1870. The Vishnu-Purana enumerates 33 kings of the Koçalas from Daçaratha to Brihadbala, who falls in the great battle on the side of the Kurus. Including these this Purana makes 60 kings between Manu and Daçaratha. For the same interval the Ramayana has only 34 names, of which some, like Yagati, Nahusha, Bharata, are taken from the genealogical table of the kings of the Bharata, others, like Pritha and Triçanku, belong to the Veda. We have already seen that the series of the Bharata kings give about ten generations between the time when they gained the upper hand on the Yamuna and upper Ganges, i. e. the time of Kuru and Duryodhana. The Koçalas forced eastward by the Bharatas would thus have existed on the Sarayu from 23 generations before Kuru. Wilson, "Vishnu-Purana," p. 386.

Cunningham, "Survey," 1. 301 ff.

Lassen, loc. cit. 12, 168 n.

Lassen, "Ind. Alterth." 12, 168.

Lassen, loc. cit. 12, 671, 951.

Manu, 1. 91.

Lassen, loc. cit. 12, 966 n.

"Samaveda," 1, 6, 1, 4, 5, in Benfey's translation.

Muir, "Sanskrit Texts," 5, 266 ff.

"Rigveda," 1, 40, 5, in Muir, loc. cit. 5, 272 ff.

"Rigveda," 10, 68, 8 ff. Roth, "Z. D. M. G." 1. 75.

Brahmán , from the root barh , connected with the root vardh (to become, to grow), means to raise, to elevate. The masc. brahmán means "he who elevates, makes to increase;" the neuter bráhman means first, "growth," the "creative power," and then, "the elevating and elevated mood," the prayer and sacred form of words, the creative, reproducing power. A. Weber, "Ind. Studien," 2, 303; 9, 305.

Roth, loc. cit. 1. 73.

Muir, loc. cit. 5, 382.

So in Manu, e. g. 6. 65. Atman means " breathing ;" paramatman "the highest breathing."

"Rigveda," 10, 72, 1-3; 10, 129, 1-6, in Muir, loc. cit. 5, 48 ff. 356.

Manu, 1, 28, 29.

"Rigveda," 10, 90; Manu, 1, 31 and in the Puranas; Muir, "Sanskrit Texts," 5, 371. A. Weber, "Ind. Studien," 9, 7.

Manu, 1, 88-91, and in many other places.

In Manu, 4, 88-90 (cf. 12, 75, 76) eight hells are mentioned and described, in each of which the torments grow worse as the offences are more serious. The Buddhists retain these eight hot hells, and add eight cold; Burnouf, "Introduction à l'histoire du Bouddhisme," p. 320, 366, 367, 201. The Singhalese have increased the number to 136, the Siamese to 462. Koppen, "Relig. des Buddha," s. 244. Cf. A. Weber, in "Z. D. M. G." 9, 237.

e. g. Manu, 9, 335.

Manu, 12, 43, 44.