DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.614#0023
INTRODUCTION.
XX111
and its chieftains, occurs repeatedly in Sanskrit works
of all but the highest antiquity.1 Of Kasi, in what-
ever sense of the word, we cannot, however, collect,
from indigenous records, materials from which to con-
The expression <* I fa{ <J 0 '*! ('<!*!!<JY, in the Basa-lumdra-cliariia,
means "Varanasi, a city of the Kasis." In. the subjoined verse,
jfrom the Bdmdyana, JMara-Mnda, XXXVIII., YL, 17, Varanasi is
qualified hy an expression meaning, the commentator says, " a city
J in the country of the Kasis:"
rfi^Tpar ^rr^ryct' ^ttt^' ^f i
Finally, in the Mahdlhdrata, Adi-parvan, si. 4083, 4084, we read
of the king of the Kasis as dwelling in the city of Varanasi.
The oldest among them, probably, is Panini, IV., H., 116 ; with
vhich compare IV., II., 113. Then come the S'atapatka-brdhmana, the
Brihad-dranyaha and KausMtaki-irdhmana Upanishads, etc., etc. In
some of these works, the substantive is involved in the adjective
Casya. This word, like Kasika,—for which see the Mah&Vhdrata,
Idyoga-parvan, £1. 5907,—means, etymologically, Kasian. But
commentators on old writings explain it, and rightly, to signify
I king of the Kasis." Kasiraja and Kasya are used of the same
person in the Bhagavad-gitd, I., 5, 17.
The Bigveda affords no warrant for connecting with the Kasis
any person whom it mentions. It speaks of Divodasa, and it speaks
Of Pratardana; but only in later literature are they called father
ad son, and rulers of the Kasis; and, where Katyayana, in his
'iigveddnukramanihd, characterizes the latter as Kdsirdja, he may
lave expressed himself metachronically, under the influence of a
aodern tradition which he and his contemporaries accepted. As to
ihe former, we find, indeed, in post-vaidik books, two Divodasas;
ttto whom a single personage seems to have been parted. One of
fhem is son of Badhryaswa, as in the Bigveda; but it is the other,
.tile son of Bhimaratha, and father of Pratardana, that is called king
of the Kasis. It may be added, that there is no ground for con-
sidering Badhryaswa and Bhimaratha to be two names of one and
the same person. See the English Vishmi-purAna, Vol. IV., pp. 33,
and 145, 146. Badhryaswa, not Bahwaswa, is the reading of the
I Wishnu-purdna. Correct accordingly Professor Wilson's transla-
tion of the Bigveda, Vol. III., p. 504, note 1. See, further, the
Mahdlhdrata, Anusdsana-parvan, Chapter XXX.
XX111
and its chieftains, occurs repeatedly in Sanskrit works
of all but the highest antiquity.1 Of Kasi, in what-
ever sense of the word, we cannot, however, collect,
from indigenous records, materials from which to con-
The expression <* I fa{ <J 0 '*! ('<!*!!<JY, in the Basa-lumdra-cliariia,
means "Varanasi, a city of the Kasis." In. the subjoined verse,
jfrom the Bdmdyana, JMara-Mnda, XXXVIII., YL, 17, Varanasi is
qualified hy an expression meaning, the commentator says, " a city
J in the country of the Kasis:"
rfi^Tpar ^rr^ryct' ^ttt^' ^f i
Finally, in the Mahdlhdrata, Adi-parvan, si. 4083, 4084, we read
of the king of the Kasis as dwelling in the city of Varanasi.
The oldest among them, probably, is Panini, IV., H., 116 ; with
vhich compare IV., II., 113. Then come the S'atapatka-brdhmana, the
Brihad-dranyaha and KausMtaki-irdhmana Upanishads, etc., etc. In
some of these works, the substantive is involved in the adjective
Casya. This word, like Kasika,—for which see the Mah&Vhdrata,
Idyoga-parvan, £1. 5907,—means, etymologically, Kasian. But
commentators on old writings explain it, and rightly, to signify
I king of the Kasis." Kasiraja and Kasya are used of the same
person in the Bhagavad-gitd, I., 5, 17.
The Bigveda affords no warrant for connecting with the Kasis
any person whom it mentions. It speaks of Divodasa, and it speaks
Of Pratardana; but only in later literature are they called father
ad son, and rulers of the Kasis; and, where Katyayana, in his
'iigveddnukramanihd, characterizes the latter as Kdsirdja, he may
lave expressed himself metachronically, under the influence of a
aodern tradition which he and his contemporaries accepted. As to
ihe former, we find, indeed, in post-vaidik books, two Divodasas;
ttto whom a single personage seems to have been parted. One of
fhem is son of Badhryaswa, as in the Bigveda; but it is the other,
.tile son of Bhimaratha, and father of Pratardana, that is called king
of the Kasis. It may be added, that there is no ground for con-
sidering Badhryaswa and Bhimaratha to be two names of one and
the same person. See the English Vishmi-purAna, Vol. IV., pp. 33,
and 145, 146. Badhryaswa, not Bahwaswa, is the reading of the
I Wishnu-purdna. Correct accordingly Professor Wilson's transla-
tion of the Bigveda, Vol. III., p. 504, note 1. See, further, the
Mahdlhdrata, Anusdsana-parvan, Chapter XXX.