Manusmṛti

Kapitel 2

1. Vers 1 - 25

übersetzt und kommentiert von Alois Payer

Zitierweise | cite as:

Payer, Alois <1944 - >: Manusmṛti. -- Kapitel 2. -- 1. Vers 1 - 25. -- Fassung vom 2008-09-25. -- http://www.payer.de/manu/manu02001.htm

Erstmals publiziert: 2008-09-20

Überarbeitungen: 2008-09-25 [Verbesserungen]

Anlass: Lehrveranstaltung HS 2008

©opyright: Dieser Text steht der Allgemeinheit zur Verfügung. Eine Verwertung in Publikationen, die über übliche Zitate hinausgeht, bedarf der ausdrücklichen Genehmigung des Verfassers

Dieser Text ist Teil der Abteilung Sanskrit von Tüpfli's Global Village Library

Falls Sie die diakritischen Zeichen nicht dargestellt bekommen, installieren Sie eine Schrift mit Diakritika wie z.B. Tahoma.

Die Verse sind, wenn nichts anderes vermerkt ist, im Versmaß Śloka abgefasst.

Definition des Śloka in einem Śloka:

śloke ṣaṣṭhaṃ guru jñeyaṃ
sarvatra laghu pañcamam |
dvicatuṣpādayor hrasvaṃ
saptamaṃ dīrgham anyayoḥ |

"Im Śloka ist die sechste Silbe eines Pāda schwer, die fünfte in allen Pādas leicht
Die siebte Silbe ist im zweiten und vierten Pāda kurz, lang in den beiden anderen."

Das metrische Schema ist also:

̽ ̽ ̽ ̽ ˘ˉˉ ̽
̽ ̽ ̽ ̽ ˘ˉ˘ ̽
̽ ̽ ̽ ̽ ˘ˉˉ ̽
̽ ̽ ̽ ̽ ˘ˉ˘ ̽

Zur Metrik siehe:

Payer, Alois <1944 - >: Einführung in die Exegese von Sanskrittexten : Skript. -- Kap. 8: Die eigentliche Exegese, Teil II: Zu einzelnen Fragestellungen synchronen Verstehens. -- Anhang B: Zur Metrik von Sanskrittexten. -- URL: http://www.payer.de/exegese/exeg08b.htm

Dharma

vidvadbhiḥ sevitaḥ sadbhir
nityam adveṣarāgibhiḥ |
hṛdayenābhyanujñāto
yo dharmas taṃ nibodhata |1|

1. Erkennt den Dharma¹, der immer beachtet und im Herzen gutgeheißen² wurde von den Wissenden³, Guten, die frei sind von Hass und Leidenschaft⁴.

Erläuterungen:

¹ dharma: von Wz. dhar = festhalten. dharma ist das, was fest ist und fest hält (was die Welt im Innersten zusammenhält), entspricht also der lex naturae, dem Naturgesetz in physischer und moralischer Bedeutung. Deshalb dharma = moralisches und religiöses Gesetz, Religion, Wirklichkeit (z.B. die dharmas der Buddhistischen Scholastik), Natur, Buddhalehre (als Wiedergabe der Gesetzmäßigkeiten, die Erlösung als Option erlauben).

Medhātithi:

"The term 'dharma' as already explained denotes the performance of the Aṣṭaka and such other prescribed acts. External philosophers regard as 'dharma' also such acts as the wearing of ashes, the carrying of begging-bowls, and so forth;—and it is 'with a view to exclude these from the category of 'Dharma' that the author adds the qualifications —'followed by the learned,' and so forth."

[Übersetzung: Manu-smrti ; the laws of Manu with the bhāsya of Mēdhātithi / translated by Gangā-nātha Jhā [1871 - 1941]. -- [Calcutta] : University of Calcutta, 1920-26. -- Bd. III,1. -- S. 158f.]

² im Herzen gutgeheißen

Medhātithi:

"The present statement refers to the following three cases :—

when a person, without much thought, undertakes an action, through sheer impulse,—it must be right; this is what is meant by 'sanctioned by the heart';
the same expression also includes the case when one acts according to custom, depending upon the dictum 'that is the right path by which great men have gone';
when 'learned' persons, without any ulterior motives, are found to act in a certain manner they are never blamed for it, and even when people do not find their action authorised (by the Veda), they accept the fact that it must be based upon the Veda. In every way the present verse makes men have recourse to activity.

Other people explain this verse as serving the purpose of providing a general definition of 'Dharma'; the sense being—' that which is done by such persons should be regarded as Dharma' ; this definition is applicable to all forms of Dharma,—that which is directly prescribed by the Veda, that which is laid down in the Smṛti and also that which is got at from Right Usage. In accordance with this explanation, however, the right reading would be—'yaḥ etaiḥ sevyate taṃ dharmam nibodhata.'

³ Wissenden

Medhātithi:

"The 'learned' are those whose minds have been cultured by the study of the sciences ; those that are capable of discerning the real character of the means of knowledge and the objects of knowledge. The 'learned' (meant here) are those who know the real meaning of the Veda, and not others. In fact those persons that admit sources other than the Veda to be the 'means of knowledge' in regard to Dharma are 'unlearned,' 'ignorant'; in as much as their notions of the means and objects of knowledge are wrong. That this is so, we learn thoroughly from Mīmāṃsā (Sūtra, Adhyāya I)."

⁴ die frei sind von Hass und Leidenschaft: nach Medhātithi dient das zur Abgrenzung gegenüber den Heterodoxen (Buddhisten usw.):

"' Who are free from love and hate'—What is referred to here is another cause that leads men to take to heterodox dharmas. ' Delusion' having been already described (as leading to the same end), the present phrase serves to indicate greed and the rest; the direct mention of 'love and hate' being meant to be only illustrative; e.g., it is by reason of Greed that people have recourse to magical incantations and rites. Or 'Greed' may be regarded as included (not merely indicated) by 'Love and Hate.' People who are too much addicted to what brings pleasure to themselves, on finding themselves unable to carry on their living by other means, are found to have recourse to such means of livelihood as the assuming of hypocritical guises and so forth. This has been thus described—' The wearing of ashes and carrying of begging bowls, being naked, wearing of discoloured clothes—these form the means of living for people devoid of intelligence and energy.'"

Begierde

kāmātmatā na praśastā
na caivehāsty akāmatā |
kāmyo hi vedādhigamaḥ
karmayogaś ca vaidikaḥ |2|

2. Nicht gepriesen wird, dass etwas als Wesen Begierde hat. Und auf dieser Welt gibt es keine Freiheit von Begierde, denn das Studium des Veda ist begehrlich und ebenso vom Veda vorgeschriebenes Handeln.

Erläuterungen:

¹ Dies ist ein Einwand (ākṣepa, pūrvapakṣa): Dharma ist weder möglich noch nötig, da alles aus dem Puruṣartha (Lebensziel) kāma (Begierde) entspringt. dharma, artha, kāma (trivarga) sind die drei Lebensziele des Menschen (puruṣārtha), als viertes kommt bei den indischen Erlösungsreligionen noch mokṣa - Erlösung dazu.

Bühler (S.B.E. z. St.):

"II. 2. Āp. I, 6, 20, 1-4. 'Is not laudable,' because such a disposition leads not to final liberation, but to new births' (Gov., Kull.)."

saṃkalpamūlaḥ kāmo vai
yajñāḥ saṃkalpasaṃbhavāḥ |
vratāni yamadharmāś ca
sarve saṃkalpajāḥ smṛtāḥ |3|

3. Fürwahr: Begierde wurzelt in Zielvorstellung¹, Opfer entstehen aus Zielvorstellung, ebenso Gelübde und religiöse Selbstzügelung -- alle entstehen aus Zielvorstellung.

Erläuterungen:

Dieser und der nächste Vers sind die Begründung des Einwands.

Bühler (S.B.E. z. St.):

"3. Nand. takes the beginning of the verse differently, 'The desire for rewards is the root of the resolve to perform an act' (saṃkalpa). 'Vows,' i.e. 'acts to be performed during one's whole lifetime, like those of the Snātaka' (chap. IV), Medh., Gov., Nār; 'the vows of a student,' Nand.; 'the laws prescribing restraints,' i.e. 'the prohibitive rules, e. g, those forbidding to injure living beings,' Medh., Gov., Nar.; 'the rules affecting hermits and Saṃnyāsins,' Nand. Kull. refers both terms to the rules in chap. IV."

¹saṃkalpa: Vorstellung und Absicht, entspricht vielleicht am ehesten dem deutschen Begriff "Zielvorstellung"

akāmasya kriyā kācid
dṛśyate neha karhicit |
yad yad dhi kurute kiṃcit
tat tat kāmasya ceṣṭitam |4|

4. In dieser Welt gibt es niemals irgend eine Tat, die ohne Begierde getan wird. Was auch immer jemand tut, ist von Begierde getrieben.

teṣu samyag vartamāno
gacchaty amaralokatām |
yathā saṃkalpitāṃś ceha
sarvān kāmān samaśnute |5|

5. Wer sich in diesen Begierden recht verhält¹, der wird in einer Unsterblichen-Welt² wiedergeboren; und auch in dieser Welt erlangt er alle Sinnesgenüsse wie er sie sich vorgestellt und beabsichtigt hat.

Erläuterungen:

Bühler (S.B.E. z. St.):

"5. 'In the right manner,' i.e. 'as they are prescribed in the Vedas and without expecting rewards.' ' The deathless state,' i.e. 'final liberation.'"

¹ Wer sich gegenüber diesen Begierden recht verhält: dies ist die Antwort auf den Einwand (siddhānta, samādhāna): der Einwand stimmt was die Geleitetheit durch Begierde betrifft, dharma leitet aber dazu an, sich gegenüber diesen Begierden recht (samyag) zu verhalten.

Medhātithi:

"To the above Pūrvapakṣa, the Author replies in this verse. [What is meant is that] one should behave in the right manner in regard to these-—desires.

"What is this right behaviour?"

It consists in doing an act exactly in the manner in which it is found mentioned in the scriptures. That is, in regard to the compulsory acts one should not think of rewards at all, for the simple reason that no rewards have been mentioned in connection with them; while in regard to the voluntary acts, there is no prohibition of thinking of rewards, for the simple reason that these acts are actually mentioned as bringing definite rewards ; in fact what we know of these acts from
the scriptural injunctions is that they are the means of obtaining certain rewards; so that the performance of these by a man who has no desire for those rewards would be doing something that is not enjoined in the scriptures at all. As regards the compulsory acts however, to think of rewards would be a pure mistake ; for when the acts have not been prescribed as leading to any results, no results could proceed from them by merely the man's seeking for them."

"The Brahmavādins (Vedāntins) however regard the words 'it is not right to be absorbed in desires' as a prohibition of the Saurya and all such other acts as are laid down as bringing rewards ; and their reason is that all actions done with a view to rewards become setters of bondage; and it is only when an act is done without any thought of rewards—doing it simply as an offering to Brahman—that the man becomes released. This is what the revered Kṛṣṇa-Dvaipyana has declared in the words

'May there be no action done with a view to rewards '(Bhagavadgita, 2.47),
and again, 'The performance of an act becomes vitiated,
1. by the incompleteness of accessories,
2. by the illiteracy of the performer, and
3. by the thought of rewards.'"

² Medhātithi:

"By doing so [i.e., by behaving rightly in regard to desires] one goes to—attains—the position of Immortals, ' Immortals ' are the Gods ; their 'position' is Heaven ; and by reason of the Gods residing in Heaven, the term 'position' is applied to the gods themselves, the position being identified with the occupier of the position ; just as we have in the expression 'the elevated sheds are shouting' [where the 'sheds' stand for the men occupying them]. Hence the compound 'Amaraloka' is to be expounded as a Karmadhāraya—'the immortal positions'; and with the abstract affix 'tal' we have the form 'amaralokatā,' So the meaning is that 'he obtains the character of a divine being,' 'he attains divinity.' The author has made use of this expression in view of metrical exigencies.

Or, the compound 'amaralokatā' may be explained as one who sees—' lokayati'-—the gods—'amarān' ; the term 'loka' being derived from the root 'loka' with the passive affix 'aṇ' (according to Pāṇini 3.2.1) ; and then the abstract affix tal added to it; so that the meaning is that 'he becomes capable of seeing the Gods'; and this also means that he attains heaven.

Or again, the expression may mean that 'he is looked upon as a God'—'amara iva lokyate' -among men.

This whole passage is mere declamatory Arthavāda; and it does not lay down Heaven as the result actually following from the action spoken of ; because as a matter of fact, the compulsory acts do not lead to any results at all, while the voluntary acts are prescribed as leading to diverse results. So that what the 'attaining of heaven' spoken of in the text means, is the due
fulfilment of what is enjoined in the scriptures; which is only an indirect way of saying that 'that particular end is attained with a view to which the action was done.' Thus in the case of the compulsory acts, the end in view would be either the avoiding of the sin (that might be incurred by the omission of the act), or the due fulfilment of what has been enjoined in the scriptures; and in the case of the voluntary acts, the end is the attaining of rewards thought of, i.e., those contemplated as mentioned in the scriptures ; when a man is going to perform an act, he thinks, in his mind, of that reward which has been mentioned in the scriptures as following from that act; having thought of that reward, he has a desire for it—'May I obtain this reward by the doing of this act'; and then he obtains all those desires—i.e., the desirable things.

In the manner above described we have set aside the difficulty (that had been set up by the Pūrvapakṣa); for what the text prohibits is not the desire for each and everything, but the entertaining of desires only in connection with the compulsory acts; and in regard to these also there must be desire for the obtaining of things necessary for the due performance of them."

Erkenntnisquellen des Dharma

vedo 'khilo dharmamūlaṃ
smṛtiśīle ca tadvidām |
ācāraś caiva sādhūnām
ātmanas tuṣṭir eva ca |6|

6. Wurzel des Dharma¹ ist

der ganzen Veda²
die Überlieferung und die Sitte der Vedakundigen
das Verhalten der Guten
die Zufriedenheit der Seele³

Erläuterungen:

Bühler (S.B.E. z. St.):

"6. Āp. I, I, I, 1-3; Gaut. I, 1-4; XXVIII, 48; Vas. I, 4-63; Baudh. I, I, I, 1-6 ; Yājñ. I, 7.

Śīla, 'virtuous conduct,' i.e. 'the suppression of inordinate affection and hatred,' Medh., Gov. ; ' the thirteenfold Śīla., behaving as becomes a Brahmawa, devotedness to gods and parents, kindliness,' &c., Kull. ; ' that towards which many men who know the Veda naturally incline,' Nar. ; 'that which makes one honoured by good men,' Nand. ' Customs,' e. g. such as tying at marriages a thread round the wrist of the bride (Medh., Gov.), wearing a blanket or a garment of bark (Kull). Though the commentators try to find a difference between śīla and ācāra, it may be that both terms are used here, because in some Dharma-śātras, e.g. Gaut. I, 2, the former and in some the latter (e.g. Vas. I, 5) is mentioned. The 'self-satisfaction,' i.e. of the virtuous (Medh., Gov., Nand.), is the rule for cases not to be settled by any of the other authorities (Nar., Nand.), or for cases where an option is permitted (Medh., Gov., Kull.)."

¹ Dharma:

Medhātithi:

"The term 'dharma' we have already explained above; it is that which a man should do, and which is conducive to his welfare, and of a character different from such acts as are amenable to perception and the other ordinary means of knowledge. Land-cultivation, service, &c, also are conducive to man's welfare ; but this fact of their being so beneficial is ascertained by means of positive and negative induction ; and as regards the sort of cultivation that brings a good harvest of grains, this is ascertained by direct perception and other ordinary means of knowledge. On the other hand, the fact of sacrifices being conducive to welfare, and the manner in which they are beneficial, through the intervention of the 'Apūrva,'—all this is not amenable to perception or other ordinary means of knowledge. 'Welfare' is that which is, in its most general form, spoken of as ' pleasure,' consisting of the attaining what is desirable, in the shape of Heaven, landed property and so forth, and also (b) the avoiding of what is generally spoken of as 'pain,' which consists of illness, poverty, unhappiness, Hell and so forth. Others regard the attaining of Supreme Bliss only as 'welfare.'"

² Veda:

Medhātithi:

"[The opponent raises an initial objection]-—" What is the relevancy of what is stated in this verse ? It is Dharma that has been declared as the subject to be described ; and Dharma can be described only by means of Injunctions and Prohibitions. Now as regards the fact of the Veda being the source of Dharma, this cannot form the subject of any injunction such as 'the Veda should be known as the source of Dharma, as the authoritative means of ascertaining Dharma' ; because this fact can be known without its being enjoined in so many words; certainly the fact of the Veda being the source of Dharma does not stand in need of being notified by any injunctions of such writers as Manu and others ; in fact the authoritativeness of the Veda regarding matters relating to Dharma is as self-evident as that of Direct Perception,—being based upon the facts that

it brings about cognitions that are never sublated,
that it is not the work of any person, and as such it is entirely free of any suspicion of falsity that might be due to the defects of such authors, and
that the words of the Veda itself are free from all defects.

" It might be argued that—' what the text does is to refer to the well-established fact of the Veda being authoritative, with a view to indicate that the Smṛtis of Manu and others are based upon the Veda.'

"But this explanation cannot be accepted. For this fact also does not need to be stated ; as

every Smṛti, by its very nature, must be dependent upon a previous cognition,
the chances of mistake in the Smṛtis are precluded by the fact of their being accepted by great men,
the super-sensuous things spoken of in the Smṛtis could not be known to Manu and others (by any ordinary means of knowledge), and
every man knows it from his own experience that there is "recollection" of things taught in the Veda ; so that the only possible view that could be entertained regarding the Smṛtis is that they are based upon the Veda [which, therefore, need not have been re-iterated in the Text].
Further, persons who know the Veda cannot stand in need of any Smṛti for learning what they should do ;
and lastly, when the Veda itself is the source of Dharma, there can be no need for postulating any other sources (in the shape of Smṛti, etc.).

[...]

Our answer to the above objection is as follows :— The authors of treatises on Dharma proceed to compose their works for the expounding of their subject for the benefit of such persons as are not learned (in the Vedas). Hence it is that having themselves learnt from the Veda that the Aṣṭakā and such other acts should be performed, they incorporate in their own work the injunctions of these acts, for the purpose of conveying the same knowledge to others ; similarly in the case of such matters as the authoritative character of the Veda [which are known by the Smṛti-writers themselves from the Veda, and yet they proceed to include that information in their work for the edification of persons not equally learned]. As a matter of fact, there are many enquirers who are incapable of ascertaining truth by means of independent reasoning,—not being endowed with an intellect capable of ratiocination ; and for the benefit of these persons even a logically established fact is stated by the writers in a friendly spirit. Hence what is herein stated regarding Veda being the source of Dharma is a well-established fact. What the statement 'Veda is the source of Dharma' means is that 'the fact of Veda being the source of Dharma has been ascertained after due consideration, and one should never doubt its authoritative character.' Even in ordinary experience we find people teaching others facts ascertained by other means of knowledge ; e.g. [when the physician teaches]—' you should not eat before the food already taken has been digested, for indigestion is the source of disease.' It cannot be rightly urged that "those who are unable to comprehend, by reasoning, the fact of Veda being the source of Dharma, can not comprehend it through teaching either" ; for as a matter of fact we find that when certain persons are known to be 'trustworthy,' people accept their word as true, without any further consideration. The whole of the present section therefore is based on purely logical facts, and not on the Veda. In other cases also,—e.g., in the case of Smṛtis dealing with law-suits, &c.—what is propounded is based upon logic, as we shall show later on, as occasion arises. How the performance of the Aṣṭakā, etc., is based upon the Veda we shall show in the present context itself.

The word 'Veda' here stands for the Ṛg, Yajus and Sāman, along with their respective Brāhmaṇas; all these are fully distinguished, by students, from all other sentences (and compositions). Learners who have their intellect duly cultured through series of teachings, understand, as soon as a Vedic passage is uttered, that it is Veda,—their recognising of the Veda being as easy as the recognition of a man as a Brāhmaṇa. This word 'Veda' is applied to the whole collection of sentences,—beginning with 'Agnim īḷe purohitam,' 'Agnir vai devānāṃ varṇa,' and ending with ' Samsamidy uvase,' 'atha mahāvāratam' (Ṛgveda); as also to the several individual sentences forming part of the said collection; and this application of the word is not direct in the one case and indirect in the other,—as is the case with the word 'village' as applied (directly) to the entire group of habitations, and (indirectly) to each individual habitation.

[...]

This Veda is variously divided. The Sāma Veda is said to have a thousand 'paths' (i.e., Recensions), in the shape of 'Sātya, 'Mugri,' 'Rāṇāyanīya' and so forth ; there are a hundred Recensions of the Yajurveda, in the shape of 'Kāṭhaka' 'Vājasaneyaka' and the rest ; there are twenty-one Recensions of the Ṛgveda ; and nine of the Atharva Veda in the shape of 'Modaka' 'Paippalādaka,' and so forth.

[ Objection]—"No one regards the Atharva as a Veda :

'The science is three-fold, consisting of the Ṛk, the Yajus and the Sāman,'
'The Sun moves forward, endowed with the three Vedas' (Taittirīya Brāhmaṇa, 3.12.91),
'One should keep up the observance of studying the three Vedas' ;

[all these speak of only three Vedas]. In fact we also find a prohibition regarding the Atharva—' One should not recite the Atharvaṇas.' It is in view of all these that people regard the followers of the Atharvaṇa as heretics, beyond the pale of the Vedic Triad."

[Answer]—This is not right; all good men agree in regarding the Atharvaṇa as a Veda. In this Smṛti itself (11.33) we find the expression 'śrutīr atharvāṅgirasīḥ,' where the Atharva is spoken of as 'śruti,' and 'śruti' is the same as 'Veda.'

Further [whether a certain Veda is called 'Veda' or not is of no import] ; when certain passages—e.g., those prescribing the Agnihotra and other sacrifices, which all people call 'Veda'—are regarded as authoritative in matters regarding Dharma, they are so accepted, not because they are called by the name of 'Veda';—because the name ' Veda' is sometimes applied to Itihāsa and the Āyurveda also, when, for instance, it is said that 'Itihāsa and Purāṇa are the fifth Veda' (Chandogya Upaniṣad, 7.1.2), [and yet these are not regarded as authorities on Dharma] ;—but because they are independent of human agency, and help to make known our duties, and because they are free from mistakes; and all these conditions are fulfilled by the Atharva: such acts as the Jyotiṣṭoma and the like are prescribed in the Atharva just as they are in the Yajus and the other Vedas.

Some people have fallen into the mistake that the Atharva cannot be Veda because it abounds in teachings of acts dealing with malevolent magic (witchcraft). As a matter of fact, malevolent magic, as leading to the death of living beings, is always prohibited.

[It is described, because] it is employed by the priests of kings who are well versed in magical spells ; but it is deprecated."

"It might be asked why no reason has been given [by Manu, why and how the entire Veda is the root of Dharma] ; but our answer is that this is a work in the form of Precept, and as such states well-established conclusions ; and those persons who seek after the 'why' and 'wherefore' of these conclusions are instructed by Pūrvamīmāṃsā. We have already said that this work is addressed to persons who are prepared to learn things from Precept alone."

³ die Zufriedenheit der Seele: dies entspricht in etwa dem westlichen Begriff des (gebildeten!) Gewissens (conscientia)

Medhātithi:

"'ātmanas tuṣṭir eva ca',—'Self-satisfaction also'—' is source of Dharma' is to be construed here also. This ' self-satisfaction' also is meant to be of those only who are ' learned in the Veda and Good' ('Vedavidāṃ sādhūnām'). The fact of this 'Self-satisfaction' being 'source of Dharma' has been held to he based upon the trustworthy character (of the people, concerned). When such persons as are possessed of the stated qualifications (of being good and learned) have their mind satisfied with a certain act, and they do not feel any aversion towards it, that act is 'Dharma.'

"But it may happen that a man's mind is satisfied with a prohibited (sinful) act; and this would have to be regarded as Dharma. Again, a man may have hesitation (and doubt) regarding what is enjoined in the Veda ; and this latter would have to be regarded as not 'Dharma.' "

As a matter of fact, the ' self-satisfaction' of the high-souled and extremely good men endowed with the said qualifications, is possessed of such tremendous force that, under its influence 'Dharma' may become 'Adharma' and 'Adharma' become 'Dharma'; but this cannot be so in the case of men tainted with love and hate, etc. Whatever goes into a salt-mine, becomes transformed into salt; similarly everything is rendered pure by the unpremeditated 'self-satisfaction' of persons learned in the Veda. [The mere fact of an act being prohibited does dot make it Adharma] for though the 'holding of the Ṣoḍaśi vessel' has been prohibited at the Atirātra sacrifice, yet when the holding comes to be done, in accordance with a Vedic injunction, it is not sinful. But in the present case, there is no question of option, as there is in the case of the 'holding of the Ṣoḍaśi.' What happens in this case is that the Prohibitions take effect in regard to all cases except the one that falls within the purview of the said ' self-satisfaction.'
Or (the second answer to the objection is that), people like those mentioned in the verse can never feel any self-satisfaction at what is 'Adharma.' The mongoose bites only that herb which is an antidote of poison, and not any other herb; hence the notion that 'whatever herb is bitten by the mongoose is destructive of poison.'
(Thirdly) The revered teachers have explained as follows:—What is meant is that, in cases of optional alternatives, that alternative should be adopted in regard to which the mind feels satisfied. It is in accordance with this that the Author will say later on, in connection with the purification of things and expiatory rites—' the penance should be performed until the mind may feel satisfied.'
Or, what is said in the Text may be taken as ruling out the unbelieving Atheist; as a matter of fact, the Atheist
does not feel any 'self-satisfaction' in doing even those acts that are enjoined in the Veda ; hence such acts though done by him are absolutely useless.
Or, what the Text teaches is that in the performance of all acts, one should have a tranquil mind ; i.e., at the time of doing anything one should keep his mind free from anger, stupefaction, grief and so forth, and should remain happy. Hence like 'Śīla ' this also is laid down as pertaining to all acts."

yaḥ kaścit kasyacid
dharmo manunā parikīrtitaḥ |
sa sarvo 'bhihito vede
sarvajñānamayo hi saḥ |7|

7. Was für wen von Manu verkündeter Dharma ist, das alles ist im Veda mitgeteilt, denn dieser besteht und stammt¹ aus Allwissen.

Erläuterungen:

Bühler (S.B.E. z. St.): bezieht das Allwissen auf Manu und übersetzt: "for that (sage was) omniscient"

"7. The last clause is taken differently by Gov., who explains it, 'for that (Veda) is made up, as it were, of all knowledge.' Medh. gives substantially the same explanation."

¹besteht und stammt aus Allwissen: sarvajñānamaya entsprechend der doppelten Bedeutung des Suffixes -maya (bestehen aus, stammen von) doppelt übersetzt

sarvaṃ tu samavekṣyedaṃ
nikhilaṃ jñānacakṣuṣā |
śrutiprāmāṇyato vidvān
svadharme niviśeta vai |8|

8. Fürwahr: Der Wissende/Vedakundige soll all das mit dem Auge der Erkenntnis betrachten und dass seinen eigenen Dharma angehen nach Maßgabe der Śruti (des Veda).

Erläuterungen:

Bühler (S.B.E. z. St.):

"8. 'All this,' i.e. 'the śāstras' (Medh., Gov., Kull.); 'these Institutes of Manu' (Nar.) ; ' these different authorities' (Nand.). 'With the eye of knowledge,' i. e. ' with the help of grammar, of the Mīmāṃsā, &c.' (Medh., Kull.)."

śrutismṛtyuditaṃ dharmam
anutiṣṭhan hi mānavaḥ |
iha kīrtim avāpnoti
pretya cānuttamaṃ sukham |9|

Denn ein Manu-Nachkomme, der den Dharma befolgt, der in Śruti und Smṛti genannt wird, erlangt in diesem Leben Ruhm und nach dem Weggang¹ höchstes Glück.

Erläuterungen:

¹= Tod

śrutis tu vedo vijñeyo
dharmaśāstraṃ tu vai smṛtiḥ |
te sarvārtheṣv amīmāṃsye
tābhyāṃ dharmo hi nirbabhau |10|

10. Unter "Śruti" ist der Veda zu verstehen, "Smṛti" ist das Dharmalehrwerk. Diese beiden darf man unter keinen Umständen kritisieren¹, denn aus ihnen ist der Dharma erschienen.

Erläuterungen:

¹ kritisieren:

Medhātithi:

"Question :—"What is that common function of Revealed Word and Recollection which the present verse seeks to attribute to the Practices of Cultured Men?"

Answer :—'In all matters these two should not be criticised' ;—'These two'—i.e., Revealed Word and Recollection. —'In all matter's'—i.e., even in regard to apparently inconceivable things, such as are entirely beyond the scope of those means of knowledge that are applicable to perceptible things ; e.g.,

the same act of killing leads, in one case, to good, and while in another case it leads to sin ;
the drinking of wine leads to Hell, while the drinking of Soma removes sin.

In such matters, we should not proceed to discuss the various pros and cons. 'Criticism' consists in raising doubts and conceiving of contrary views. For example—-"If the act of killing is sinful, then since the act of killing is the same in all cases, that done in the course of Vedic sacrifices should also he sinful;—if the latter killing is a source of good, ordinary killing also should be conducive to good; the act being exactly the same in both cases."

"What is prohibited here is that 'criticism,' in which we conceive of the form of an act to be quite the reverse of what is declared in the Veda, and proceeding to examine it by means of reasonings based upon false premisses, begin to insist on the conclusion thus arrived at. It is not meant to prohibit such enquiry and discussion as to whether the Prima Facie View or the Established Thesis is in due accord with the Veda. That such an inquiry is not meant to be prohibited is clear from what the author says later on—'He alone, and none else, knows Dharma, who examines it by reasonings.' (Manu, 12.106)"

yo 'vamanyeta te mūle^a
hetuśāstrāśrayād dvijaḥ |
sa sādhubhir bahiṣkāryo
nāstiko vedanindakaḥ |11|

^aOlivelle: tūbhe (aber diese beiden)

11. Wenn ein Zweimalgeborener diese beiden Wurzeln verachtet indem er sich auf heterodoxe Lehrwerke¹ stützt, dann müssen ihn die Guten exkommunizieren als Ungläubigen und Veda-Verspötter.

Erläuterungen:

Bühler (S.B.E. z. St.):

"11. 'Relying on the Institutes of dialectics,' i.e. 'relying on the atheistic institutes of reasoning, such as those of the Bauddhas and Cārvākas' (Medh); 'relying on methods of reasoning, directed against the Veda' (Kull., Nār.)."

¹heterodoxe Lehrwerke: hetuśāstra: wörtlich: Begründungs-Lehrwerke, Lehrwerke der Dialektik. Könnte sich auf die buddhistische Sophistik beziehen.

Medhātithi:

"On the ground of 'untruthfulness' and 'unreliability' if a twice-born person, relying upon the science of dialectics ;— the 'science of dialectics' here stands for the polemical works written by Atheists, treatises of Bauddhas and Carvākas, in which it is repeatedly proclaimed that "the Veda is conducive to sin" ;—relying upon such a science, if one should scorn the Veda ; i.e., when advised by some one to desist from a certain course of action which is sinful according to the Veda and the Smṛti, in the words—'Do not do this, it is prohibited by the Veda,'—if he disregards this advice and persists in doing it, saying, 'what if it is prohibited in the Veda or in the Smṛtis ? They are not at all authoritative';— even without saying this, if he should even think in this manner,—and if he is found to pay much attention to the science of dialectics ;—such a person should be east out by the good—despised by all cultured persons—out of such acts as 'officiating at sacrifices,' 'teaching,' 'honours of a guest' and so forth. Since the text docs not specify the acts (from which the man should be kept out), it follows that he should he kept out of all those acts that are fit for the learned. And the reason for this lies in the fact that it is only the ignorant man, whose mind is uncultured and who smacks of the polemic, that can speak as above (in deprecation of the Veda) ; and to the said acts (of officiating, etc.) it is only the learned man that can be entitled. It is in view of this that such 'criticism' has been prohibited in the preceding verse,—such criticism being due to want of respect,—and it does not deprecate such inquiry as might be instituted for the purpose of elucidating the true meaning of the Veda."

vedaḥ smṛtiḥ sadācāraḥ
svasya ca priyam ātmanaḥ |
etac caturvidhaṃ prāhuḥ
sākṣād dharmasya lakṣaṇam |12|

12. Der Veda, die Smṛti, das Verhalten der Guten und das was der eigenen Seele lieb ist -- dies ist das vierfache unmittelbare Kennzeichen¹ des Dharma.

Erläuterungen:

Bühler (S.B.E. z. St.):

"12. The first half of this verse agrees literally with Yājñ. I, 7."

¹unmittelbare Kennzeichen = selbstevidente Erkenntnisquelle

arthakāmeṣv asaktānāṃ
dharmajñānaṃ vidhīyate |
dharmaṃ jijñāsamānānāṃ
pramāṇaṃ paramaṃ śrutiḥ |13|

13. Für die, die nicht mit zweckrationalen Handeln und den Sinneslüsten beschäftigt sind, wird die Kenntnis des Dharma angeordnet. Für die, die den Dharma kennen wollen, ist das höchste Erkenntnismittel die Śruti (der Veda).

Erläuterungen:

Bühler (S.B.E. z. St.):

13. According to 'another' commentator, quoted by Medh., and according to Gov., Kull., and Nār., the meaning of the first half is, 'the exhortation to learn the sacred law applies to those only who do not pursue worldly objects, because those who obey (or learn, Nār.) the sacred law merely in order to gain worldly advantages, such as wealth, fame, &c., derive no spiritual advantage from it (because they will not really obey it,' Nār.). Medh., on the other hand, thinks that vidhīyate, ' is prescribed,' means ' is found with.'"

Der Fall von einem Widerspruch in der Śruti

śrutidvaidhaṃ tu yatra syāt
tatra dharmāv ubhau smṛtau |
ubhāv api hi tau dharmau
samyag uktau manīṣibhiḥ |14|

14. Wo die Śruti widersprüchlich ist, dort ist beides als Dharma überliefert. Denn beides ist auch von den Weisen richtig als Dharma benannt worden.

udite 'nudite caiva
samayādhyuṣite tathā |
sarvathā vartate yajña
itīyaṃ vaidikī śrutiḥ |15|

15. Dies ist eine vedische Śruti: Das Opfer¹ findet jederzeit statt: nach Sonnenaufgang, vor Sonnenaufgang und während der Dämmerung².

Erläuterungen:

Bühler (S.B.E. z. St.):

"15. The Agnihotra, here referred to, consists of two sets of oblations, one of which is offered in the morning and the other in the evening. The expression samayādhyuṣite, rendered in accordance with Kull.'s gloss, 'when neither sun nor stars are visible,' is explained by Medh. as 'the time of dawn' (uṣasaḥ kālaḥ), or 'as the time when the night disappears,' with which latter interpretation Gov. agrees."

¹ Opfer: nämlich das Agnihotra-homa

²samayādhyuṣite:

Medhātithi:

"By the compound word 'samayādhyuṣita' the time of early dawn is meant. Others have taken it as consisting of two words: 'samayā' meaning near, requires its correlative in the shape of something that is near ; and since the two points of time mentioned in the sentence are those 'before' and 'after sunrise,' the required correlative in the present instance is the time of twilight. 'Adhyuṣita' stands for the time of departure of the night, and means 'at the departure of night.' [So the compound means 'that twilight which comes after the departure of night.']"

Wer zu diesem Lehrwerk befugt ist

niṣekādiśmaśānānto
mantrair yasyodito vidhiḥ |
tasya śāstre 'dhikāro 'smiñ
jñeyo nānyasya kasyacit |16|

16. Zu diesem Lehrwerk ist nur befugt, für wen für die Saṃskāras¹ von Niṣeka² bis zur Leichenverbrennung³ mit Mantras⁴ vorgeschrieben sind; kein anderer⁵.

Erläuterungen:

Bühler (S.B.E. z. St.):

"16. The persons meant are the males of the three Āryan varṇas. The sacraments may be performed for women and Śūdras also, but without the recitation of mantras (II, 66 ; X, 127)."

¹ Saṃskāras = Übergangsriten. Siehe zu Manu 2,26

²Niṣeka = garbhādhāna

"Garbhādhāna :—The beginnings of this ceremony are found very early. Atharvaveda V. 25 appears to be a hymn intended for the garbhādhāna rite. Atharva V. 25. 3 and 5 are verses which occur in the Bṛ. Up. VI. 4. 21; the passage of the Bṛ. Up. VI. 4. 13, 19-22 may be rendered thus:

' At the end of three days (after menstruation first appears) when she (wife ) has bathed, the husband should make her pound rice ( which is then boiled and eaten with various other things according as he desires a fair, brown or dark son or a learned son or a learned daughter) … and then towards morning, after having according to the rule of the Sthālīpāka performed the preparation of the clarified butter, he sacrifices from the Sthālīpāka little by little, [S. 202] saying ' This is for Agni, svāhā; this is for Anumati, svāhā; this is for divine Savitṛ the true creator, svāhā ! Having sacrificed he takes out the rest of the rice, eats it and after having eaten he gives some of it to his wife. Then he washes his hands, fills a water jar and sprinkles her thrice with water saying ' Rise, oh Viśvāvasu, seek another blooming girl, a wife with her husband.' Then he embraces her and says ' I am Ama, thou art Sā. Thou art Sā, I am Ama. I am the Sāman, thou art the Ṛk. I am the sky, thou art the earth. Come, let us strive together that a male child may be begotten '

(VI. 4. 21-22 cannot be literally translated for reasons of decency).

Briefly the husband has intercourse with her and repeats certain mantras 'may Viṣṇu make ready your private parts, may Tvaṣṭā frame your beauty, may Prajāpati sprinkle and may Dhātā implant an embryo into you ; Oh Sinīvāli ! Oh Pṛthuṣṭukā ! implant embryo ( in her ), may the two Asśins who wear a garland of lotuses plant in thee an embryo … As the earth has fire inside it, as heaven has Indra inside it, as the wind is inside (as the embryo of) the quarters, so I plant a garbha in thee, oh, so and so (the name of the woman being taken)'.

In the Āśv. gṛ. (I. 13. 1 ) it is expressly stated that in the Upaniṣad the ceremonies of Garbhālambhana (conceiving a child), Puṃsavana (securing a male child) and Anavalobhana (guarding against dangers to the embryo ) are mentioned. Evidently this is a reference to the Bṛ. Up. quoted above ( where four mantras used in the garbhādhāna saṃskāra by Hir. and other gṛhya sūtras occur ).

The rite called caturthīkarma is described in the Śāṅkhāyana gṛ. (1.18-19, S. B. E. vol. 29, pp. 44-46) as follows

"Three [S. 203] nights after marriage having elapsed, on the fourth the husband makes into fire eight offerings of cooked food to Agni, Vāyu, Sūrya (the mantra being the same for all three except the name of the deity ), Aryaman, Varuṇa, Pūṣan (mantras being the same for these three), Prajāpati (the mantra is Ṛg. X. 121. 10 ), to (Agni) Sviṣṭakṛt. Then he pounds the root of Adhyaṇḍā plant and sprinkles it into the wife's nostril with two verses ( Ṛg. X. 85. 21-22) with svāhā at the end of each. He should then touch her, when about to cohabit, with the words 'the mouth of the Gandharva Viśvāvasu art thou '. Then he should murmur 'into the breath I put the sperm, Oh ! so and so (the name of the wife) or he repeats the verse' as the earth has fire inside &c.' ( quoted above from Bṛ. Up, VI. 4. 22 ) or several other verses in this strain ' may a male embryo enter thy womb as an arrow into the quiver; may a man be born here, a son, after ten months ".

The Pār. gṛ. (I. 11, S. B. E. vol. 29, pp. 288-290 ) also has a similar procedure. Āp. gṛ. ( 8. 10-11. S. B. E, vol, 30, pp. 267-268), Gobhila II. 5 ( S. B. E. vol. 30, pp. 51-52) give briefly a similar procedure, but refer to mantras given in the Mantrapāṭha ( e. g. Āp. M. P. I. 10. 1. to I. 11. 11 ). To modern minds it appears strange that intercourse should have been surrounded by so much of mysticism and religion in the ancient sūtras. But in ancient times every act was sought to be invested with a religious halo; so much so that according to Hir. gṛ. I. 7. 25. 3. (S. B. E. vol. 30, p. 200) Ātreya held that mantras were to be repeated at each cohabitation throughout life, while Bādarāyaṇa prescribed that this was necessary only at the first cohabitation and after each monthly course. The Hir. gṛ. ( I. 7, 23. 11 to 7, 25, S. B. E. vol. 30 pp 197-200) gives a very elaborate rite, but on the same lines as the above gṛhyasūtras. One of the mantras is interesting on account of its reference to the cakravāka birds (I. 7. 24. 6),

'The concord that belongs to the cakravāka birds, that is brought out of the rivers of which the divine Gandharva is possessed, thereby we are concordant' (S. B. E. vol. 30, p. 198 ).

The Vaik. (III. 9 ) calls this ceremony ṛtusaṃgamana and is similar to Āp. gṛ. and Hir. gṛ. It will be seen that the [S. 204] caturthīkarma is treated by the gṛhya writers as part of the marriage rites and the rite was performed irrespective of the question whether it was the first appearance of menses or whether the wife had just before the marriage come out of her monthly illness. This indicates that it was taken for granted that the wife had generally attained the age of puberty at the time of marriage. As the marriageable age of girls came down it appears that the rite of caturthīkarma was discontinued and the rite was performed long after the ritual of marriage and appropriately named garbhādhāna.

The smṛtis and nibandhas add many details some of which will have to be noticed. Manu (III. 46) and Yāj. I. 79 say that the natural period (for conception) is sixteen nights from the appearance of menses. Āp. gṛ. 9. 1 says that each of the even nights from the 4th to 16th (after the beginning of the monthly illness) are more and more suited for excellence of (male) offspring. Hārīta also says the same. These two appear to allow garbhādhāna on the fourth night, but Manu (III. 47 ), Yāj. ( I. 79) lay down that the first four nights must be omitted. Kātyāyana, Parāśara (VII. 17) and others say that a woman in her menses is purified by bathing on the 4th day. Laghu-Āśvalāyana (III. 1) says that the garbhādhāna ceremony should be performed on the first appearance of menses after the 4th day hat elapsed. The Sm. C. suggests that the 4th may be allowed if there is entire cessation of the flow. Manu ( IV. 128 ) and Yāj. I. 79 added further restrictions viz. that new moon and full moon days and the 8th and 14th tithis of the month were also to be omitted. Astrological details were added by Yāj. I. 80 (that the Mūla and Maghā constellations must be avoided and the moon must be auspiciously placed) and other later smṛtis like Laghu-Āśvalāyana III. 14-19 and in nibandhas like the Nirṇayasindhu and Dharmasindhu elaborate discussions are held about the months, tithis, week-days, [S. 205] nakṣatras, colour of clothes, that were deemed to be inauspicious for the first appearance of menses and about the śāntis (propitiatory rites) for averting their evil effects. Āp.gṛ., Manu (III. 48), Yāj. (T. 79), Vaik. III. 9 hold that a man desirous of male issue should cohabit on the even days from the 4th day after the appearance of menses and if he cohabits on uneven days a female child is born. Hir. gṛ. I. 7. 24. 8 (S. B. E. vol. 30 p. 199) and Bhāradvāja gṛ. (I. 20) prescribe that a woman in her menses who takes a bath on the 4th day should attire herself in white (or pure ) clothes, should ornament herself and talk with (worthy) brāhmaṇas (only). The Vaik. (III. 9) further adds that she should anoint herself with unguents, should not converse with a woman, or a śūdra, should see no one else except her husband, since the child born becomes like the male whom a woman taking a bath after the period looks at. Śaṅkha-Likhita convey a similar eugenic suggestion, viz.

'Women give birth to a child similar in qualities to him on whomsoever their heart is set in their periods.'

A debatable question is whether garbhādhāna is a saṃskāra of the garbha (the child in the womb) or of the woman. Gaut. VIII. 24, Manu. I. 16, and Yāj. I. 10 indicate that it is a saṃskāra of the garbha and not of the woman. Viśvarūpa on Yāj. I. 11 expressly asserts that all saṃskāras except Sīmantonnayana have to be performed again and again (as they are the saṃskāras of the garbha), while Sīmantonnayana being a saṃskāra of the woman has to be performed only once and this opinion was in consonance with the usage in his days. Laghu-Āśvalāyana (IV. 17 ) also holds the same view. Medhātithi on Manu II. 16 says that the garbhādhāna rite with mantras was performed after marriage only once at the time of the first cohabitation according to some, while according to [S. 206] others it was to be performed after every menstruation till conception. Later works like the Mit. (on Yāj. I. 11 ) the Sm. C, the Saṃskāratattva (p. 909) hold that garbhādhāna, puṃsavana and sīmantonnayana are saṃskāras of the woman and are to be performed only once and quote Hārīta in support. Aparārka holds that sīmantonnayana is performed only once at the first conception, while puṃsavana is repeated at each conception. He relies on Pār. gṛ. I. 15; and the Saṃskāra-mayūkha and the Saṃskāraprakāśa (pp. 170-171) hold the same opinion. Sm. C. (I. p. 17) quotes a verse of Viṣṇu that according to some even sīmantonnayana is repeated at each conception. About the rules for women who are rajasvalā (in their monthly course ) vide later on.

According to Kullūka (on Manu II. 27), the Sm. C. (I. p. 14) and other works garbhādhāna is not of the nature of homa. The Dharmasindhu says that when garbhādhāna takes place on the first appearance of menses, homa for garbhādhāna is to be performed in the gṛhya fire, but there is no homa when the cohabitation takes place on the second or later appearance of menses; that those in whose sūtra no homa is prescribed should perform the garbhādhāna rite on the proper day after the first appearance of menses by reciting the mantras but without homa. The Saṃskārakaustubha (p. 59) relying on Gṛhyapariśiṣṭa prescribes homa in which cooked food is to be offered to Prajāpati and seven offerings of ājya are to be offered in fire, three with the verses ' Viṣṇur-yonim ' ( Ṛg. X. 184. 1-3 ). three with ' nejameṣa' ( Āp. M. P. I. 12. 7-9) and one with Ṛg. X. 121. 10 ( prajāpate na ).

All saṃskāras other than garbhādhāna can be performed by any agnate in the absence of the husband (vide Saṃskāra-prakāśa p. 165)."

[Quelle: [Kane, Pandurang Vaman <1880 - 1972>: History of Dharmasastra : (ancient and mediaeval, religious and civil law). -- Poona : Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute. -- Vol. II,1. -- 2. ed. -- 1974. -- S. 201 - 206]

³ Leichenverbrennung (śmaśāna): = antyeṣṭi

⁴ mit Mantras: dadurch werden Frauen ausgeschlossen (siehe Manu 2, 66)

⁵ kein anderer: d.h. kein Śūdra, geschweige denn ein "Dalit"

Medhātithi:

"Objection :—"When the Śūdra is not entitled to study the scripture and learn its meaning, how can he he entitled to the performance of the acts therein prescribed ? Unless the man knows the exact form of the act, he cannot do it;
unless he studies the scriptures, he cannot know what is contained in them ; and no unlearned person is entitled to the performance of any (religious) act."

True; but the requisite knowledge can be obtained from the advice of other persons. The Śūdra may be dependent upon a Brāhmaṇa; or a Brāhmaṇa may he doing the work of instructing people for payment; and such a Brāhmaṇa might very well instruct the Śūdra to 'do this, after having done that' and so forth. So that the mere fact of the Śūdra performing the acts does not necessarily indicate that he is entitled to the study and understanding of the scriptures; as performance can be accomplished, even on the strength of what is learnt from others ; as is done in the case of women; what helps women (in the performance of their duties) is the learning of their husbands, which becomes available to them through companionship. Then again, the texts laying down the acts do not imply the direct knowledge (of the injunctive texts). It is only in the case of men, to whom is addressed the injunction of Vedic study—contained in the words 'one should study the Veda'—that the performance of duties proceeds upon the basis of their own learning ; and this injunction is meant only for the male members of the three higher castes. But in the case of these also their study and understanding of the scriptures is not prompted by their knowledge of what is contained in them ; it is prompted entirely by the two injunctions—(1) the injunction of having recourse to a duly qualified teacher, and (2) the injunction of Vedic study."

Geographische Eingrenzung

sarasvatīdṛśadvatyor
devanadyor yad antaram |
taṃ devanirmitaṃ deśaṃ
brahmāvartaṃ pracakṣate |17|

17. Die von den Göttern geschaffene Gegend zwischen den Götterflüssen Sarasvatī¹ und Dṛṣadvatī² heißt Brahmāvarta³.

Erläuterungen:

¹ Sarasvatī: heiliger Fluss zwischen Yamunā und Sutudrī (Sutlej) im Punjab, der versickert, aber nach der Vorstellung der Inder unterirdisch weiterläuft und bei Prayāga (heute: Allahābād / इलाहाबाद / الہ آباد Ilāhābād) sich mit Gaṅgā und Yamunā vereinigt (Triveni Sangam). Vielleicht etwa der heutige Ghaggar-Hakra

"Saraswati (i).—River of the Punjab, rising in Sirmur State close to the borders of Ambala District. It debouches on the plains at Adh Badri, a place held sacred by all Hindus. A few miles farther on it disappears in the sand, but comes up again about three miles to the south at the village of Bhawanipur. At Balchhapar it again vanishes for a short distance, but emerges once more and flows on in a southwesterly direction across Karnal, until it joins the Ghaggar in Patiala territory after a course of about no miles. A District canal takes off from it near Pehowa in Karnal District. The word Saraswati, the feminine of Saraswat, is the Sanskrit form of the Zend Haragaiti (Arachosia) and means 'rich in lakes.' The name was probably given to the river by the Aryan invaders in memory of the Haragaiti of Arachosia, the modern Helmand in Seistan."

[Quelle: The Imperial gazetteer of India / published under the authority of His Majesty’s Secretary of State for India in Council. -- New ed. -- Oxford : Clarendon Press, 1907-1909. -- 25 Bde. ; 22 cm. -- Bd. 22. -- 1908. -- S. 97. -- Online: http://www.archive.org/details/imperialgazettee22greauoft . -- Zugriff am 2008-06-16]

"The Ghaggar-Hakra River is a believed to be an intermittent river in India and Pakistan that flows only during the monsoon season.

It is often identified with the Vedic Sarasvati River, but it is disputed whether all Rigvedic references to the Sarasvati should be taken to refer to this river. Many references to this river are mythical and refer to the Indian Epics and Puranas.

Abb.: Lage von Ghaggar-Hakra
[Bildquelle: fr.Wikipedia. -- GNU FDLicense]

Ghaggar River

The Ghaggar is an intermittent river in India, flowing during the monsoon rains. It originates in the Shivalik Hills of Himachal Pradesh and flows through Punjab and Haryana to Rajasthan; just southwest of Sirsa in Haryana and by the side of talwara jheel in Rajasthan, this seasonal river feeds two irrigation canals that extend into Rajasthan.

The present-day Sarsuti Sarasvati River originates in a submontane region (Ambala district) and joins the Ghaggar near Shatrana in PEPSU. Near Sadulgarh (Hanumangarh) the Naiwal channel, a dried out channel of the Sutlej, joins the Ghaggar. Near Suratgarh the Ghaggar is then joined by the dried up Drishadvati (Chautang) river.

The wide river bed (paleo-channel) of the Ghaggar river suggest that the river once flowed full of water, and that it formerly continued through the entire region, in the presently dry channel of the Hakra River, possibly emptying into the Rann of Kutch. It supposedly dried up due to the capture of its tributaries by the Indus and Yamuna rivers, and the loss of rainfall in much of its catchment area due to deforestation and overgrazing.[citation needed] This is supposed by some to have happened at the latest in 1900 BCE, but is much earlier [1] [2]

Puri and Verma (1998) have argued that the present-day Tons River was the ancient upper-part of the Sarasvati River, which would then had been fed with Himalayan glaciers. The terrain of this river contains pebbles of quartzite and metamorphic rocks, while the lower terraces in these valleys do not contain such rocks.[3] However, a recent study shows that Bronze Age sediments from the glaciers of the Himalayas are missing along the Gagghar-Hakra, indicating that it did not have its sources in the high mountains.[4]

In India there are also various small or middle-sized rivers called Sarasvati or Saraswati. One of them flows from the west end of the Aravalli Range into the east end of the Rann of Kutch.

Hakra River

The Hakra is the dried-out channel of a river in Pakistan that is the continuation of the Ghaggar River in India. Several times, but not continuously, it carried the water of the Sutlej during the Bronze Age period [5]

Many settlements of the Indus Valley Civilisation have been found along the Ghaggar and Hakra rivers.

Palaeogeography

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Many hymns in all ten Books of the Rig Veda (except the 4th) extol or mention a divine and very large river named the Sarasvati [3], which flows mightily "from the mountains to the samudra, which some take as the Indian Ocean ” Talageri states that "the references to the Sarasvati far outnumber the references to the Indus" and "The Sarasvati is so important in the whole of the Rigveda that it is worshipped as one of the Three Great Goddesses". However these three goddesses (Bharati, etc.) are closely linked with the Bharata tribe that settled in the Sarasvati area after its victory in the "Ten Kings Battle", late in the Rigvedic period. They are missing in the old RV books 4, 6, 8.

According to palaeoenvironmental scientists the desiccation of Sarasvati came about as a result of the diversion of at least two rivers that fed it, the Satluj and the Yamuna. "The chain of tectonic events … diverted the Satluj westward (into the Indus) and the Palaeo Yamuna eastward (into the Ganga) … This explains the ‘death’ of such a mighty river (the Sarasvati) … because its main feeders, the Satluj and Palaeo Yamuna were weaned away from it by the Indus and the Gangaa respectively”. This ended at c 1750 b.c., but it started much earlier, perhaps with the upheavals and the large flood of 1900 b.c., or more probably 2100 b.c. [11][12]. P H Francfort, utilizing images from the French satellite SPOT, finds that the large river Sarasvati is pre-Harappan altogether and started drying up in the middle of the 4th millennium BC; during Harappan times only a complex irrigation-canal network was being used in the southern region of the Indus Valley. With this the date should be pushed back to c 3800 BC. R. Mughal (1997), summing up the evidence, concludes that the Bronze Age Gagghar-Hakra sometimes carried more, sometimes less water (for example from the Sutlej). The latter point agrees with a recent isotope study [6]

The Rig Vedic hymn X, however, gives a list of names of rivers where Sarasvati is merely mentioned while Sindhu receives all the praise. It is agreed that the tenth Book of the Rig Veda is later than the others. Some think that this may indicate that the Rig Veda could be dated to a period after the first drying up of Sarasvati (c. 3500) when the river lost its preeminence.[6] The assumption is contradicted by the appearance of horses and chariots all over the RV, which was possible only after their introduction after 2000 BCE.

The 414 archeological sites along the bed of Sarasvati dwarf the number of sites so far recorded along the entire stretch of the Indus River, which number only about three dozen. However most of the Harappan sites along the Sarasvati are found in desert country, undisturbed since the end of the Indus Civilization. This contrasts with the heavy alluvium of the Indus and other large Panjab rivers that have obscured Harappan sites, including part of Mohenjo Daro. About 80 percent of the Saravati sites are datable to the fourth or third millennium B.C.E., suggesting that the river was flowing during this period.

The ancient Ghaggar-Hakra and the Harappan civilization

Some estimate that the period at which the river dried up range, very roughly, from 2500 to 2000 BC, with a further margin of error at either end of the date-range. This may be precise in geological terms, but for the mature Indus Valley Civilization (2600 to 1900 BC) it makes all the difference whether the river dried up in 2500 (its early phase) or 2000 (its late phase). Similarly, for the Gandhara grave culture, often identified with the early influx of Indo-Aryans from ca. 1600 BC, it makes a great difference whether the river dried up a millennium earlier, or only a few generations ago, so that by contact with remnants of the IVC like the Cemetery H culture, legendary knowledge of the event may have been acquired.

Along the course of the Ghaggar-Hakra river are many archaeological sites of the Indus Valley Civilization; but not further south than the middle of Bahawalpur district. It has been assumed that the Sarasvati ended there in a series of terminal lakes, and some think that its water only reached the Indus or the sea in very wet rainy seasons. However, satellite images contradict this: they do not show subterranean water in reservoirs in the dunes between the Indus and the end of the Hakra west of Fort Derawar/Marot.[7] It may also have been affected by much of its water being taken for irrigation.[citation needed]

In a survey conducted by M.R. Mughal between 1974 and 1977, over 400 sites were mapped along 300 miles of the Hakra river.[8] The majority of these sites were dated to the fourth or third millennium BCE.[9]

S. P. Gupta however counts over 600 sites of the Indus civilization on the Hakra-Ghaggar river and its tributaries.[10][11] In contrast to this, only 90 to 96 Indus Valley sites have been discovered on the Indus and its tributaries (about 36 sites on the Indus river itself.)[12][13][14] V.N. Misra[15] states that over 530 Harappan sites (of the more than 800 known sites, not including Late Harappan or OCP) are located on the Hakra-Ghaggar.[16] The other sites are mainly in Kutch-Saurashtra (nearly 200 sites), Yamuna Valley (nearly 70 Late Harappan sites) and in the Indus Valley, in Baluchistan, and in the NW Frontier Province (less than 100 sites).

Most of the Mature Harappan sites are located in the middle Ghaggar-Hakra river valley, and some on the Indus and in Kutch-Saurashtra. However, just as in other contemporary cultures, such as the BMAC, settlements move up-river due to climate changes around 2000 BCE. In the late Harappan period the number of late Harappan sites in the middle Hakra channel and in the Indus valley diminishes, while it expands in the upper Ghaggar-Sutlej channels and in Saurashtra. The abandonement of many sites on the Hakra-Ghaggar between the Harappan and the Late Harappan phase was probably due to the drying up of the Hakra-Ghaggar river.

Painted Grey Ware sites (ca. 1000 BCE) have been found on the bed and not on the banks of the Ghaggar-Hakra river.[17][18]

Because most of the Indus Valley sites known so far are actually located on the Hakra-Ghaggar river and its tributaries and not on the Indus river, some archaeologists, such as S.P. Gupta, have proposed to use the term "Indus Sarasvati Civilization" to refer to the Harappan culture which is named, as is common in archaeology, after the first place where the culture was discovered.

The Ghaggar-Hakra and its ancient tributaries

Satellite photography has shown that the Ghaggar-Hakra was indeed a large river that dried up several times (see Mughal 1997). The dried out Hakra river bed is between three and ten kilometers wide. Recent research indicates that the Sutlej and possibly also the Yamuna once flowed into the Sarasvati river bed. The Sutlej and Yamuna Rivers have changed their courses over the time.[19]

Paleobotanical information also documents the aridity that developed after the drying up of the river. (Gadgil and Thapar 1990 and references therein). The disappearance of the river may have been caused by earthquakes which may have led to the redirection of its tributaries.[20] It has also been suggested that the loss of rainfall in much of its catchment area due to deforestation and overgrazing in what is now Pakistan may have also contributed to the drying up of the river. However, a similar phenomenon, caused by climate change, is seen at about the same period north of the Hindu Kush, in the area of the Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex.

The Ghaggar-Hakra and the Sutlej

There are no Harappan sites on the Sutlej in its present lower course, only in its upper course near the Siwaliks, and along the dried up channel of the ancient Sutlej,[10] which indicates the Sutlej did flow into the Sarasvati at that period of time.

At Ropar the Sutlej river suddenly flows away from the Ghaggar in a sharp turn. The beforehand narrow Ghaggar river bed itself is becoming suddenly wider at the conjunction where the Sutlej should have met the Ghaggar river. And there is a major paleochannel between the point where the Sutlej takes a sharp turn and where the Ghaggar river bed widens.[21][22]

In later texts like the Mahabharata, the Rigvedic Sutudri (of unknown, non-Sanskrit etymology [23] is called Shatudri (Shatadru/Shatadhara), which means a river with 100 flows.[24] The Sutlej (and the Beas and Ravi) have frequently changed their courses.[24] The Beas has also probably sometimes flown into the Sutlej further downstream from where it joins that river today. Before that Sutlej is said to have flown into Ghaggar[25][24]

The Ghaggar-Hakra and the Yamuna

There are also no Harappan sites on the present Yamuna river. There are however Painted Gray Ware (1000 - 600 BC) sites on the Yamuna channel, showing that the river must have flowed in the present channel during this period.[26] The distribution of the Painted Gray Ware sites in the Ghaggar river valley indicates that during this period the Ghaggar river was already partly dried up.

Scholars like Raikes (1968) and Suraj Bhan (1972, 1973, 1975, 1977) have shown that based on archaeological, geomorphic and sedimentological research the Yamuna may have flowed into the Sarasvati during Harappan times.[27] There are several dried out river beds (paleochannels) between the Sutlej and the Yamuna, some of them two to ten kilometres wide. They are not always visible on the ground because of excessive silting and encroachment by sand of the dried out river channels. [28] The Yamuna may have flowed into the Sarasvati river through the Chautang or the Drishadvati channel, since many Harappan sites have been discovered on these dried out river beds.[29]

Identification with the Rigvedic Sarasvati

Main article: Sarasvati River

The identification with the Sarasvati River is based the mentionings in Vedic texts (e.g. in the enumeration of the rivers in Rigveda 10.75.05, the order is Ganga, Yamuna, Sarasvati, Sutudri Sutlej), Parusni, etc., and other geological and paleobotanical findings. This however, is disputed. The Victorian era scholar C.F. Oldham (1886) was the first to suggest that geological events had redirected the river, and to connect it to the lost Saraswati: "[it] was formerly the Sarasvati; that name is still known amongst the people, and the famous fortress of Sarsuti or Sarasvati was built upon its banks, nearly 100 miles below the present junction with the Ghaggar."[30][31]

References

^ Mughal, M. R. Ancient Cholistan. Archaeology and Architecture. Rawalpindi-Lahore-Karachi: Ferozsons 1997, 2004
^ J. K. Tripathi et al., “Is River Ghaggar, Saraswati? Geochemical Constraints,” Current Science, Vol. 87, No. 8, 25 October 2004
^ Puri, V. M. K.; Verma, B.C. (1998). "Glaciological and Geological Source of Vedic Saraswati in the Himalayas". Itihas Darpan IV (2): 7–36.
^ Tripathi, J. K.; Bock, Barbara; Rajamani, V.; Eisenhauer, A. (October 2004). "Is River Ghaggar, Saraswati? Geochemical constraints". Current Science 87 (8): 1141–1145.
^ (Mughal 1997)
^ Tripathi et al. 2004
^ Valdiya, K. S. (2003). Saraswati, the River that Disappeared, plate 4.
^ (M. R. Mughal in Gupta 1995)
^ (Bryant 2001)
^ ^a ^b Gupta, S. P. (1999). in Pande, G. C. (ed.): The dawn of Indian civilization, D.P. Chattophadhyaya (ed.): History of Science, Philosophy and Culture in Indian Civilization, I (1). New Delhi: Centre for Studies in Civilizations.
^ (Gupta 1995, p. 183)
^ Misra, Virendra Nath (1992). Indus Civilization, a special Number of the Eastern Anthropologist, 1–19.
^ (Gupta 1995)
^ V.N. Misra has noted that in the Indus Valley and the valleys of its main tributaries 50 Early and Mature IVC sites were found. And 40 Early and 174 Mature IVC sites were found at Cholistan (in Pakistan) in the Hakra valley. (1994) "Indus Civilization and the Rigvedic Sarasvati", in Parpola, Asko et al. (eds.): South Asian Archaeology 1993. (Cited from Lal 2002)
^ (in Gupta 1995, p. 144)
^ An earlier survey (Joshi; et al. (1984). "The Indus Civilization", in Lal, B. B., et al. (eds.): Frontiers of the Indus Civilization. ) found 137 Early and 109 Mature sites in the valleys of the GHR and its tributaries.
^ (Bryant 2001, p. 168)
^ Gaur, R. C. (1983). Excavations at Atranjikhera, Early Civilization of the Upper Ganga Basin.
^ (see for example Studies from the Post-Graduate Research Institute of Deccan College, Pune, and the Central Arid Zone Research Institute (CAZRI), Jodhpur. Confirmed by use of MSS (multi-spectoral scanner) and Landsat satellite photography. Note MLBD NEWSLETTER (Delhi, India: Motilal Banarsidass), Nov. 1989.)
^ (Lal 2002, p. 24)
^ (Bryant 2001)
^ Yash Pal; et al. (1984). "Remote Sensing of the "Lost" Sarasvati River.", in Lal, B. B., et al. (eds.): Frontiers of the Indus Civilization, 494. “Our studies thus show that the Satluj periodically was the main tributary of the Ghaggar and that subsequently the tectonic movements may have forced the Satluj westward and the Ghaggar dried.”
^ Mayrhofer, Manfred. Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Altindoarischen, 646.
^ ^a ^b ^c Agarwal, Vishal (2003). "A Reply to Michael Witzel's ‘Ein Fremdling im Rgveda’". Journal of Indo-European Studies 31 (1–2): 107–185.
^ (Mughal 1997)
^ (V. N. Misra in Gupta 1995, p. 153)
^ (V. N. Misra in Gupta 1995, p. 149)
^ (V. N. Misra in Gupta 1995, pp. 149–50)
^ (V. N. Misra in Gupta 1995, p. 155)
^ (Oldham 1893, pp. 51–52)
^ Agarwal, Vishal (2003). "A Reply to Michael Witzel's ‘Ein Fremdling im Rgveda’". Journal of Indo-European Studies 31 (1–2): 107–185. “It may be noted that the Nara is still called the Sarasvati by rural Sindhis and its dried up delta in Kutch is still regarded as that of Sarasvati by the locals.”

Bibliography

Bryant, Edwin (2001). The Quest for the Origins of Vedic Culture. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-513777-9.
Frawley, David (2001). The Rig Veda and the History of India. Aditya Prakashan. ISBN 81-7742-039-9.
Gupta, S. P. (ed.) (1995). The lost Sarasvati and the Indus Civilisation. Jodhpur: Kusumanjali Prakashan.
Kalyanaraman, S, 1995, SarasvatiSindhu civilization: evidence from the veda, archaeology, geology and satellite, 10th Wold Sanskrit Conference, Bangalore.
Kalyanaraman S. 1997, A project to revive the Sarasvati river: Role of GIS, National Seminar on Geographic Information Systems for Development Planning, Chennai, 10-12 January, 1997, Renganathan Centre for Information Studies
Kalyanaraman S, 1999, SarasvatiRiver, Godess and Civilization, in: Memoir 42, Vedic Sarasvati, Geological Survey of India, Bangalore, pp. 25-29.
Kalyanaraman, S, 2000, River Sarasvati: Legend, Myth and Reality, All India Sarasvat Association, Mumbai
Kalyanaraman S., 2001, Sarasvati, Babasaheb Apte Smarak Samiti, Bangalore (1100 pages, 600 illustrations); part of 6 vol. Encyclopaedia on Sarasvati
Kalyaanaraman S., 2004, Sarasvati (an encyclopaedic work in 7 volumes: Civilization, River, Bharati, Technology, Epigraphs, Language), Bangalore, Babasaheb Apte Smarak Samiti, Bangalore
Kalyanaraman S., 2008, Indus script encodes mleccha speech (5 volumes)
Kazanas, Nicholas (1999). "The Rgveda and Indo-Europeans". Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute LXXX: 15–42.
Macdonell, Arthur Anthony; Keith, Arthur Berriedale (1912). Vedic Index of Names and Subjects.
Mughal, Mohammed Rafique (1997). Ancient Cholistan: Archaeology and architecture.
Lal, B. B. (2002). The Sarasvati flows on: the Continuity of Indian Culture. New Delhi: Aryan Books International.
Oldham, R. D. (1893). "The Saraswati and the Lost River of the Indian Desert". Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society: 49–76.
Shaffer, Jim G. (1995). "Cultural tradition and Palaeoethnicity in South Asian Archaeology", in Erdosy, George (ed.): Indo-Aryans of Ancient South Asia. ISBN 3-11-014447-6.
Scharfe, Hartmut (1996). "Bartholomae's Law Revisited". Studien zur Indologie und Iranistik XX (Festschrift Paul Thieme): 351–377. "

[Quelle: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghaggar-Hakra_river. -- Zugriff am 2008-09-14]

"Triveni Sangam is the confluence of three rivers (Ganga, Yamuna and the legendary Saraswati River) near Allahābād, India.

Background

Sangama is the Sanskrit word for confluence. The Triveni Sangam in Allahābād is a confluence of three rivers, the Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati. Of these three, the river Saraswati is invisible and is said to flow underground and join the other two rivers from below. The point of confluence is a sacred place for Hindus. A bath here is said to wash away all one's sins and free one from the cycle of rebirth. The sight of the Sangam is a treat to the eyes. One can see the muddy and pale-yellow waters of Ganga merging with the blue waters of Yamuna. The Ganga is only 4 feet deep, while Yamuna is 40 feet deep near the point of their nexus. The river Yamuna merges into the Ganges at this point and the Ganges continues on until it meets the sea at the Bay of Bengal. At the confluence of these two great Indian rivers, where the invisible Saraswati conjoins them, many tirtha yatris take boats to bathe from platforms erected in the Sangam. This, together with the migratory birds give a picturesque look to the river during the kumbh, in the month of January. It is believed that all the gods come in human form to take a dip at the sangam and expiate their sins.

The pollution of this great river is a grave cause of concern for all religious-minded people. Although on paper the Government has spent crores of rupees to cleanse the Ganga, corruption has left the river in no better state, despite the river being venerated by all those high-placed industrialists, judges and politicians. Above all, the common man has never given thought to keeping it clean. This was the river where an earlier Prime minister of India, Indira Gandhi used to come for a holy dip. The people should take urgent steps to stop the pollution of this great, holy river, where the "nectar pot" was kept, as stated in the Puranas. On the bank of Ganga at Daraganj, just before the confluence of ganga and Yamuna,the well known statistician Ravindra Khattree, spent his early years when he attended Ewing Christian College, situated on the bank of Yamuna few miles before the confluence. On the other bank of the river Ganga at Arail is located the Maharshi Institute of Management, named for Maharshi Mahesh Yogiwho was a student at the University of Allahābād. The Harish Chandra Research Institute, named after the famous mathematician Harish Chandra, from Allahābād is also located on the same side in the village of Jhusi.

Religious significance

The Triveni Sangam is believed to be the same place where drops of Nectar fell from the pitcher, from the hands of the Gods. So it is believed that a bath in the Sangam will wash away all one's sins and will clear the way to heaven. Devout Hindus from all over India come to this sacred pilgrimage point to offer prayers and take a dip in the holy waters. The sacred Kumbh Mela is held every 12 years on the banks of the Sangam. According to myth, the Prakrista Yajna was performed here by Lord Brahma. That is how Allahābād received its ancient name, Prayāg. Allahābād is also called Tirtha-Raja (Prayāg Raj), king of all holy places. It is said that Lord Rama visited Allahābād when he was in exile."

[Quelle: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sangam_at_Allahābād. -- Zugriff am 2008-09-14]

² Dṛṣadvatī: ("die Felsige")

"The Drsadvati River (dṛṣad-vatī, meaning "she with many stones") is a river already mentioned in the Rig Veda (RV 3.23.4) together with Sarasvati and Apaya. In later texts, Vedic sacrifices are performed on this river and on the Sarasvati River (Pancavimsa Brahmana; Katyayana Sratua Sutra; Latyayana Srauta Sutra).

In the Manu Smriti, this river and the Sarasvati River define the boundary of Brahmavarta.

Manu 2.17. That land, created by the gods, which lies between the two divine rivers Sarasvati and Drishadvati, the (sages) call Brahmavarta.

The Drsadvati River has often been identified with the Chautang River.[1] Talageri (2000) identifies it with the Hariyupiya and the Yavyavati.

References

^ e.g. Keith and Macdonell. 1912. Vedic Index of Names and Subjects.; Oldham: Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, 25, 58; see Amal Kar and Bimal Ghose 1984

Amal Kar, Bimal Ghose: Drishadvati River System of India: An assessment and new findings. The Geographical Journal, Vol 150, No 2, 1984.
Shrikant G. Talageri, The Rigveda, a historical analysis, Aditya Prakashan, New Delhi (2000), chapter 4"

[Quelle: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drishadvati. -- Zugriff am 2008-09-14]

"Chautang.—River in the Ambala and Karnal Districts of the Punjab, rising in the plains a few miles south of the Saraswati, to which it runs parallel for a distance. Near Balchhapar the two rivers apparently unite in the sands, but reappear in two distinct channels farther down, the Chautang running parallel to the Jumnā, and then turning westward towards Hansi and Hissar. The bed in this part of its course affords a channel for the Hissar branch of the Western Jumnā Canal. Traces of the deserted waterway are visible as far as the Ghaggar, which it formerly joined some miles below Bhatnair, after a course of about 260 miles : but the stream is now entirely diverted into the canal. In former days it lost itself in the sand, like others of the smaller cis-Sutlej rivers. Some authorities consider that the Chautang was originally an artificial channel. Cultivation extends along its banks in a few isolated patches, but for the most part a fringe of dense jungle lines its course."

[Quelle: The Imperial gazetteer of India / published under the authority of His Majesty’s Secretary of State for India in Council. -- New ed. -- Oxford : Clarendon Press, 1907-1909. -- 25 Bde. ; 22 cm. -- Bd. 10. -- 1908. -- S. 186. -- Online: http://www.archive.org/details/imperialgazettee10greauoft . -- Zugriff am 2008-06-16]

³ Brahmāvarta: Brahma-āvarta: "Wo sich Brahman, der Veda, zuwendet" und "Tummelplatz des Veda"

tasmin deśe ya ācāraḥ
pāramparyakramāgataḥ |
varṇānāṃ sāntarālānāṃ
sa sadācāra ucyate | 18 |

18. Das Verhalten, das in dieser Gegend durch ununterbrochene Überlieferung für die Stände samt Zwischenständen überkommen ist, nennt man Verhalten der Guten.

kurukṣetraṃ ca matsyāś
ca pañcālāḥ śūrasenakāḥ |
eṣa brahmarṣideśo vai
brahmāvartād anantaraḥ |19|

19. Unmittelbar anschließend an Brahmāvarta liegt Brahmarṣideśa¹, bestehend aus Kurukṣetra² und den Ländern der Matsya³, der Pañcāla⁴ und der Śūrasenaka⁵.

Erläuterungen:

¹ Brahmarṣideśa: "Land der Brahma-Ṛṣis" = "Veda-Ṛṣis" bzw. Brahmanische Ṛṣis (die Liste ist unterschiedlich) = die höchste Gruppe der Ṛṣis.

Abb.: Ungefähre Lage von Kurukṣetra, Matsya, Pañcāla und Śūrasena
[Bildquelle: Wikipedia, GNU FDLicense]

² Kurukṣetra: heute mit dem Distrikt "Kurukshetra" in Haryana identifiziert. Medhātithi zitiert folgende Volksetymologie von Kuru-kṣetra: kuru sukṛtam atra kṣipraṃ trāṇaṃ bhavati "Tue (kuru) Gutes hier und schnell kommt Erlösung."

"Kurukshetra.—A sacred tract of the Hindus, lying between 29° 15' and 30° N. and 76° 20' and 77° E., in the Karnāl District and the Jīnd State of the Punjab. According to the Mahābhārata, which contains the oldest account of the tract, it lay between the Saraswatī and Drishadwatī (now the Rakshī), being watered by seven or nine streams, including these two. It was also divided into seven or nine bans or forests. The circuit of Kurukshetra probably did not exceed 160 miles ; and it formed an irregular quadrilateral, its northern side extending from Ber at the junction of the Saraswatī and Ghaggar to Thānesar, and its southern from Sinkh, south of Safīdon, to Rām Rai, south-west of Jīnd. The name, 'the field of Kuru,' is derived from Kuru, the ancestor of the Kauravas and Pāndavas, between whom was fought the great conflict described in the Mahābhārata ; but the tract was also called the Dharmakshetra or 'holy land,' and would appear to have been famous long before the time of the Kauravas, for at Thānesar Parasu Rāma is said to have slain the Kshattriyas, and the lake of Sarvanavat on the skirts of Kurukshetra is alluded to in the Rig-veda in connexion with the legend of the horse-headed Dadhyanch. Nardak is another name for Kurukshetra, probably derived from nirdukh, 'without sorrow.' The Chinese pilgrim, Hiuen Tsiang, who visited it in the seventh century, calls it 'the field of happiness.' Kurukshetra contains, it is said, 360 places connected with these legends or with the cults of Siva and the Sun-god, which have long been places of pilgrimage. Of these the principal are Thānesar, Pehowa, Jīnd, Safīdon, and Kaithal ; but numerous other sites preserve their ancient names and sanctity."

[Quelle: The Imperial gazetteer of India / published under the authority of His Majesty’s Secretary of State for India in Council. -- New ed. -- Oxford : Clarendon Press, 1907-1909. -- 25 Bde. ; 22 cm. -- Bd. 16. -- 1908. -- S. 54f. -- Online: http://www.archive.org/details/imperialgazettee16greauoft . -- Zugriff am 2008-06-16]

"Kurukshetra (Sanskrit, m., कुरुक्षेत्र, kurukṣetra, "das Feld der Kurus") ist eine Stadt im indischen Bundesstaat Haryana. Sie zählt 154 000 Einwohner (Stand 2005) und ist Verwaltungssitz des Distrikts Kurukshetra.

Kurukshetra liegt etwa 160 Kilometer nördlich von Delhi, 39 Kilometer nördlich von Karnal und 40 Kilometer südlich von Ambala. 6 Kilometer von der Stadt entfernt bei Pipli liegt der National Highway 1, bekannt als Grand Trunk Road. Die Stadt hat eine Universität (Kurukshetra University).

Mythologie

Auf dem "Feld Kurus" fand der Überlieferung des Mahabharata zufolge eine große Schlacht statt, die den Hintergrund für die Bhagavadgita bildete.

In dieser 18 Tage dauernden Schlacht kämpften die Kauravas, Nachkommen der Kuru Dynastie gegen die Pandavas, die ebenfalls zu den Kurus gehörten. Die Pandavas waren zuvor von den Kauravas um ihr Königreich betrogen worden und verlangten nach einer 13-jährigen Verbannung ihren Anteil zurück. In der daraus resultierenden Schlacht kämpften die nahen Blutsverwandten aus drei Generationen gegeneinander sowie als Verbündete die größten Krieger ihrer Zeit. In dieser schwierigen Situation - vor Beginn des Kampfes - erläutert der göttliche Krishna als Wagenlenker von Arjuna, dem großen Helden der Pandavas, warum er kämpfen muss. Diese philosophischen Erläuterungen fassen das Wissen der verschiedenen geistigen und religiösen Strömungen der Vergangenheit zusammen. Dieser "Gesang des Erhabenen", die Bhagavadgita, zählt auch heute noch zu den meistgelesenen heiligen Büchern Indiens.

Es wird immer wieder behauptet, die Schlacht habe vor ca. 3000 v.Chr. stattgefunden. Die im Mahabharata erwähnten Sternenkonstellationen lassen eine derartige Deutung zwar zu, allerdings sprechen die beschriebenen Waffen und Streitwagen für eine deutlich spätere Zeit (1. Jahrtausend v.Chr.). Trotz aller Unsicherheiten sehen viele Hindus diese Schlacht als historische Begebenheit, aber auch als Allegorie. So wie etwa Aurobindo in seinem Essays on the Gita, interpretieren sie die kriegerischen Auseinandersetzungen in Kurukshetra auch als Sinnbild für das 'Schlachtfeld' des Yogas und die Auseinandersetzung zwischen den Kräften der göttlichen Ordnung und denen des Egos.

Sehenswürdigkeiten

In einem Sri-Krishna-Museum sind Arbeiten von Hunderten von Künstlern aus ganz Indien ausgestellt, die Krishna in Holz, Stein, Bronze, Elfenbein und auf andern Materialien modern oder traditionell porträtiert haben. In einem Kurukshetra Panorama & Science Center wird die Schlacht aus dem Mahabharata in Modellen nachgebildet. In der Nähe von Kurukshetra in Jyotisar befindet sich ein Tempel mit einem Banyanbaum, welcher der Spross des Baumes sein soll unter dem Krishna Arjuna die Bhagavadgita offenbarte."

[Quelle: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurukshetra. -- Zugriff am 2009-09-14]

³ Matsya:

"Matsya or Machcha (Sanskrit for fish) was the name of a tribe and the state of the Vedic civilization of India. It lay to south of the kingdom of Kurus and west of the Yamuna which separated it from the kingdom of Panchalas. It roughly corresponded to former state of Jaipur in Rajasthan, and included the whole of Alwar with portions of Bharatpur. The capital of Matsya was at Viratanagara (modern Bairat) which is said to have been named after its founder king Virata. In Pāli literature, the Matsya tribe is usually associated with the Surasena. The western Matsya was the hill tract on the north bank of Chambal. A branch of Matsya is also found in later days in Visakhapatnam region.

In early 6th century BCE, Matsya was one the solasa (sixteen) Mahajanapadas (great kingdoms) mentioned in the Buddhist text Anguttara Nikaya, but its political clout had greatly dwindled and had not much of political importance left by the time of Buddha. The Mahabharata (V.74.16) refers to a King Sahaja, who ruled over both the Chedis and the Matsyas which implicates that Matsya once formed a part of the Chedi Kingdom. Meenas are considered the brothers and kinsmen of Virata, the ruler of Virat Nagar. They ruled this area (near to Virat Nagar) till 11th century CE."

[Quelle: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matsya_Rajya. -- Zugriff am 2008-09-14]

⁴ Pañcāla:

"Panchāla.—An ancient kingdom of Northern India, forming the centre of the Madhya-Desa or 'middle country.' There were two divisions : Northern Panchāla, with its capital at Ahīchhattra or Adikshetra, in Bareilly ; and Southern Panchāla, with its capital at Kampil, in Farrukhābād. They were divided by the Ganges, and together reached from the Himālayas to the Chambal. In the Mahābhārata we find the Pāndava brothers, after leaving Hastināpur (in Meerut District) and wandering in the jungles, coming to the tournament at the court of Drupada, king of Panchāla, the prize for which was the hand of his daughter, Draupadī. The scene of the contest is still pointed out west of Kampil, and a common flower in the village lanes bears the name of draupadī. In the second century B.C. Northern Panchāla appears to have been a kingdom of some importance, for coins of about a dozen kings inscribed in characters of that period are found in various parts of it, but not elsewhere. It has been conjectured that these were the Sunga kings who, according to the Purānas, reigned after the Mauryas ; but only a single name, Agni Mitra, is found both in the Purānic lists and on the coins, though many others are compounds with Mitra ('friend'). The coins point to an absence of Buddhistic tendencies. Varāha Mihira, the Sanskrit geographer of the sixth century A. D., mentions a people, the Panchālas, who evidently inhabited the region described above.

[Lassen, Ind. Alt., vol. i, p. 598 ; Cunningham, Coins of Ancient India, p. 79; Fleet, Ind. Ant., 1893, p. 170]"

[Quelle: The Imperial gazetteer of India / published under the authority of His Majesty’s Secretary of State for India in Council. -- New ed. -- Oxford : Clarendon Press, 1907-1909. -- 25 Bde. ; 22 cm. -- Bd. 19. -- 1908. -- S. 377f. -- Online: http://www.archive.org/details/imperialgazettee19greauoft . -- Zugriff am 2008-06-16]

"Panchala (Sanskrit: पांचाल) corresponds to the geographical area around the Ganges River and Yamuna River, the upper Gangetic plain in particular. This would encompass the modern-day states of Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh.

During ancient times, it was home to an Indian kingdom, the Panchalas, one of the Mahajanapadas.

The Panchalas occupied the country to the east of the Kurus, between the upper Himalayas and the river Ganga. It roughly corresponded to modern Budaun, Farrukhabad and the adjoining districts of Uttar Pradesh. The country was divided into Uttara-Panchala and Dakshina-Panchala. The northern Panchala had its capital at Adhichhatra or Chhatravati (modern Ramnagar, Uttarakhand in the Nainital District), while southern Panchala had it capital at Kampilya or Kampil in Farrukhabad District. The famous city of Kanyakubja or Kannauj was situated in the kingdom of Panchala.

Panchala was the second "urban" center of Vedic civilization, as its focus moved east from the Punjab, after the focus of power had been with the Kurus in the early Iron Age. This period is associated with the Painted Grey Ware culture, arising beginning around 1100 BC, and declining from 600 BC, with the end of the Vedic period. The Shaunaka and Taittiriya Vedic schools were located in the area of Panchala.

Originally a monarchical clan, the Panchals appear to have switched to republican corporation around 500 BC. The 4th century BC Arthashastra also attests the Panchalas as following the Rajashabdopajivin (king consul) constitution.

In the Indian Hindu epic Mahabharata, Draupadi (wife of the five Pandava brothers) was the princess of Panchala; Panchali was her other name."

[Quelle: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panchala. -- Zugriff am 2008-09-14]

⁵ Śūrasenaka: Bevölkerung von Śūrasena rund um Mathurā

"Sūrasena.—The ancient name of a tract of country in Northern India, round Muttra. According to the Purānas it was the name of the grandfather of Krishna, whose history is closely connected with Muttra. The inhabitants of the tract were called Saurasenas, and Arrian mentions the Saurasenoi as possessing two large cities, Methora (Muttra) and Cleisobora or Cyrisobora (not certainly identified)¹, while the Jobares river (Jumnā) flowed through their territory. Pliny describes the Jomanes as flowing between Methora and Carisobora. Varāha Mihira, the Sanskrit geographer of the sixth century A.D., makes several references to the Saurasenas, who are placed in the Madhya Desa or 'middle country.' The name has been applied to a variety of Prakrit, called Saurasena, which appears to have been the ancestor of the present language described as Western Hindī in the Linguistic Survey of India. In later times part of this tract was called Braj or Braj Mandal, a name which still survives (see Muttra District).

¹ Lassen (Ind. Alt., vol. i, p. 127 n. 3) suggests that this is equivalent to Krishnapura, which he places at Agra. Cunningham (Ancient Geography of India, p. 375) identifies it with Brindāban. Muttra, Agra, and Brindāban are all on the right bank of the Jumnā. See also Mr. Crindle, Ancient India as described by Mcgasthenes and Arrian, pp. 140-1 and note."

[Quelle: The Imperial gazetteer of India / published under the authority of His Majesty’s Secretary of State for India in Council. -- New ed. -- Oxford : Clarendon Press, 1907-1909. -- 25 Bde. ; 22 cm. -- Bd. 19. -- 1908. -- S. 149f. -- Online: http://www.archive.org/details/imperialgazettee23greauoft. -- Zugriff am 2008-06-16]

etaddeśaprasūtasya
sakāśād agrajanmanaḥ |
svaṃ svaṃ caritraṃ śikṣeran
pṛthivyāṃ sarvamānavāḥ |20|

20. Alle Nachkommen Manus auf der Erde sollen ihr spezifisches rechtes Verhalten persönlich von einem Brahmanen lernen, der in dieser Gegend geboren ist.

himavadvindhyayor madhyaṃ
yat prāg vinaśanād api |
pratyag eva prayāgāc ca
madhyadeśaḥ prakīrtitaḥ |21|

21. Das Land zwischen Himalaja und Vindhyagebirge¹ östlich von Vinaśana² und westlich von Prayāga³ heißt Madhyadeśa⁴.

Erläuterungen:

¹Vindhyagebirge:

Abb.: Lage des Vindhyagebirges
[Bildquelle: Wikipedia]

"Das Vindhyagebirge ist ein bis zu 1100 Meter hoher Gebirgszug in Zentralindien. Er erstreckt sich über rund 1000 Kilometer in West-Ost-Richtung vom äußersten Osten des Bundesstaates Gujarat bis in den Südosten Uttar Pradeshs. Dabei verläuft er größtenteils durch Madhya Pradesh und parallel zum südlich gelegenen Satpuragebirge. Außerdem bildet er die nördliche Grenze des Dekkan-Hochlandes. Die Südabdachung zum Graben des Flusses Narmada ist steil, nach Norden fällt das Vindhyagebirge sanfter ab. Entwässert wird es im Norden von Nebenflüssen des Ganges, im Süden von der Narmada.

Das Vindhya-Plateau ist nördlich des mittleren Abschnittes des Vindhyagebirges gelegen. Die beiden größten Städte Madhya Pradeshs, Indore und die Hauptstadt Bhopal, befinden sich dort."

[Quelle: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vindhyagebirge. -- Zugriff am 2008-09-14]

"Vindhya Hills (Ouindion of Ptolemy).—A range of hills separating the Gangetic basin from the Deccan, and forming a well-marked chain across the centre of India. The name was formerly used in an indefinite manner to include the Sātpurā Hills south of the Narbadā, but is now restricted to the ranges north of that river. The Vindhyas do not form a range of hills in the proper geological sense of the term, that is, possessing a definite axis of elevation or lying along an anticlinal or synclinal ridge. The range to the north of the Narbadā, and its eastern continuation the Kaimur to the north of the Son valley, are merely the southern scarps of the plateau comprising the country known as Mālwā and Bundelkhand. The features of the Vindhyas are due to sub-aerial denudation, and the hills constitute a dividing line left undenuded between different drainage areas. From a geographical point of view, the Vindhyan range may be regarded as extending from Jobat (22° 27' N. and 74° 35' E.) in Gujarāt on the west to Sāsarām (24° 57' N. and 84° 2' E.) in the south-western comer of Bihār on the east, with a total length of nearly 700 miles. Throughout the whole length as thus defined the range constitutes the southern escarpment of a plateau. The Rājmahāl Hills, extending from Sāsarām to Rājmahāl and forming the northern escarpment of the Hazaribāgh highlands, cannot be correctly considered as a part of the Vindhyas.

The range commencing in Gujarāt crosses the Central India Agency from Jhābua State in the west, and defines the southern boundary of Saugor and Damoh Districts in the Central Provinces. From here the Kaimur branch of the range runs through Baghelkhand or Rewah and the United Provinces into Bihār. The Kaimur Hills rise like a wall to the north of the Son valley, and north of them a succession of short parallel ridges and deep ravines extends for about 50 miles. At Amarkantak the Vindhyas touch the Sātpurā Hills at the source of the Narbadā. Westward from Jubbulpore District they form the northern boundary of the valley of that river. Their appearance here is very distinctive, presenting an almost uninterrupted series of headlands, with projecting promontories and receding bays, like a weather-beaten coast-line. In places the Narbadā washes the base of the rocks for miles, while elsewhere the hills recede and are seen from the river only as a far-off outline with the plains of Bhopal or Indore spread out below them. The rocks are sandstone of a pinkish colour and lie in horizontal slabs, which commonly testify to their origin by curious ripple marks plainly formed by the lapping of water on a sandy shore. To the north of this escarpment lies the Bundelkhand or Mālwā plateau, with a length of about 250 miles and a width at its broadest part of about 225 miles. The plateau is undulating and is traversed by small ranges of hills, nil of which are considered to belong to the Vindhyan system.

The most northerly of these minor ranges, called the Bindhāchal, cuts across Jhānsi, Bandā, Allahābād, and Mirzāpur Districts in the United Provinces, nowhere rising above 2,000 feet. The range here presents the appearance of a series of plateaux, each sloping gently upward from south to north, and ending abruptly in the steep scarp which is characteristic of these hills. Many outlying isolated hills are found in these Districts, standing out on the plains beyond the farthest scarp. One small hill, called Pabhosā, rises on the left bank of the Jumnā, the only rock found in the Doāb. The Bhānrer or Pannā hills, which form the south-eastern face of the Vindhyan escarpment, bound the south of Saugor and Damoh Districts and the north of Maihar State in continuation of the Kaimur, thus being a part of the main range. They run from north-west to south-east for about 120 miles. Their highest peak is that of Kalumar (2,544 feet). Two other branches of the range lie in Mālwā, starting respectively near Bhīlsa and Jhābua with a northerly direction, and bounding the plateau to the east and west.

The general elevation of the Vindhyan range is from 1,500 to 2,000 feet, and it contains a few peaks above 3,000, none of which is of any special importance. The range forms with the Sātpurās the watershed of the centre of India, containing the sources of the Chambal, Betwā, Sonār, Dhasān, and Ken rivers, besides others of less importance. The Son and Narbadā rise at Amarkantak, where the Vindhyan and Sātpurā ranges meet. The rivers generally rise near the southern escarpment and flow north and north-east.

Geologically, the hills are formed principally of great massive sandstones of varying consistency, alternating with softer flags and shales, the whole formation covering an area not greatly inferior to that of England. The range has given its name to the Vindhyan system of geological nomenclature. Over a great part of the Mālwā plateau the sandstone is covered by the overflowing Deccan trap, while from Ginnurgarh in Bhopāl to near Jobat the range itself is of basaltic formation, and the last 60 miles to the west from Jobat to near Jambhughorā consist of metamorphic rocks. In the north, the underlying gneiss is exposed in a great gulf-like expanse. Economically, the Vindhyan rocks are of considerable value, the sandstone being an excellent building material which has been extensively used for centuries ; the Buddhist topes of Sānchi and Bhārhut, the eleventh-century temples of Khajrāho, the fifteenth-century palaces of Gwalior, and numerous large forts at all important positions on the plateau having been constructed of this material. At Nāgod and other places limestone is found in some quantity, the pretty coralline variety, extracted from the Bāgh cretaceous beds, having been extensively employed in the palaces and tombs at Māndū ; and at Pannā, in the conglomerate which underlies the shales, diamonds are met with, though none of any great value is known to have been extracted. Iron, manganese, and asbestos are also found in various parts of the range. The lofty flat-topped hills and bold scarps which are such a marked feature of this range were early recognized as ideal sites for fortresses ; and, besides the historical strongholds of Gwalior, Narwar, Chanderī, Māndū, Ajaigarh, and Bāndhogarh, the hills are studded with the ruined castles of marauding Girāsiā and Bundelā chiefs.

The hills are generally covered with a stunted forest growth of the several species found in the dry forests of Central India. Teak occurs only in patches and is of small size, while the forests are generally noticeable for their poverty in valuable timbers.

The term Vindhya in Sanskrit signifies 'a hunter'; and the range occupies a considerable place in the mythology of India, as the demarcating line between the Madhya Desa or 'middle land' of the Sanskrit invaders and the non-Aryan Deccan. The Vindhyas are personified in Sanskrit literature, where they appear as a jealous monarch, the rival of king Himālaya, who called upon the sun to revolve round his throne as he did round the peak Meru. When the sun refused, the mountain began to rear its head to obstruct that luminary, and to tower above Himālaya and Meru. The gods invoked the aid of Agastya, the spiritual guide of Vindhya. This sage called upon the Vindhya mountain to bow down before him, and afford him an easy passage to and from the South. It obeyed and Agastya passed over. But he never returned, and so the mountain remains to the present day in its humbled condition, far inferior to the Himālaya. Another legend is that when Lakshmana, the brother of Rāma, was wounded in Ceylon by the king of the demons, he wished for the leaves of a plant which grew in the Himālayas to apply to his wound. Hanumān, the monkey-god, was sent to get it ; and not knowing which plant it was, he took up a part of the Himālayas and carried them to Ceylon. He happened to drop a portion of his load on the way, and from this the Vindhyan Hills were formed."

[Quelle: The Imperial gazetteer of India / published under the authority of His Majesty’s Secretary of State for India in Council. -- New ed. -- Oxford : Clarendon Press, 1907-1909. -- 25 Bde. ; 22 cm. -- Bd. 24. -- 1908. -- S. 315 - 317. -- Online: http://www.archive.org/details/imperialgazettee24greauoft. -- Zugriff am 2008-06-16]

² Vinaśana: "das Verschwinden" = der Ort, wo die Sarasvatī versickert. Vielleicht bei Hanumāngarh/हनुमानगढ़ in Rajasthan

³ Prayāga: "die Opferstätte" heute Allahābād (Hindi: इलाहाबाद, Urdu: الہ آباد Ilāhābād) in Uttar Pradesh

"Allahābād City (Ilahābād).—Head-quarters of the District of the same name, and also the seat of government for the United Provinces and a cantonment. It is situated in 25 26' N. and 81° 50' E., on the left bank of the Jumnā, on the wedge of land formed by its confluence with the Ganges ; distant by rail 564 miles from Calcutta and 844 from Bombay. The city is the fifth largest in the United Provinces. At the last four enumerations its population (including cantonments) was as follows: (1872) 143,693, (1881) 160,118, (1891) 175,246, and (1901) 172,032. In 1901 the population included 114,679 Hindus, 50,274 Muhammadans, and 6,000 Christians, more than half of whom were Europeans or Eurasians. The population in municipal limits was 159,545, and in cantonments 12,487.

The ordinary Hindu name of the place is Prayāg or Prāg ('place of sacrifice'), and for many centuries the junction of the two great rivers has been a holy spot. According to ordinary belief, a third river, the Saraswatī, which disappears in the sand south-west of the Punjab, reappears here, to unite with the Ganges and the Jumnā. The earliest monument of antiquity is a pillar, now situated in the fort, which bears an inscription of Asoka of the third century B.C., another recording the victories of Samudra Gupta in the fourth century A.D., and a third of the Mughal emperor, Jahāngīr. There is, however, reason to believe that the pillar was erected by Asoka some distance from its present position, as it contains an address to the rulers of Kausāmbhi (see Kosam). The Chinese pilgrim, Hiuen Tsiang, in the seventh century, found Prayāg inhabited by many heretics (i.e. Hindus), who regarded the place as very holy. He describes a large temple with a great tree before it, from which people threw themselves down. Muhammadan writers repeat the story of suicide from this tree as late as the sixteenth century ; but Jahāngīr is said to have cut it down. The priests in the famous underground temple in the fort still exhibit the stump of a tree, called the undying banyan, which shows a few sickly leaves when the great bathing fair is held, and, according to the sceptical, is renewed every year.

In the early days of Muhammadan rule Prayāg was included in the province of Karā, and was not of much political importance. Akbar, however, erected the magnificent fort, and from his time the place was known as Alhābās, Ilahābās, or Ilahābād, and became the capital of a Sūbah or province. Towards the end of Akbar's reign, prince Salīm, afterwards the emperor Jahāngīr, held the governorship of the province and resided in the fort. Throughout the eighteenth century the town and province experienced the usual reverses of Upper India during the disastrous period of Mughal decline. From 1720 to 1729 they were held by Muhammad Khān, Nawāb of Farrukhābād ; but he was recalled, as he had failed to repel the Bundelās, who had gained part of the province with the help of the Marathas. A few years later, in 1739, a Maratha raid reached the city itself; but in 1747 the government passed to Safdar Jang, Nawāb of Oudh. After his victory over the Oudh forces at Khudāganj in 1750, Ahmad Khān of Farrukhābād advanced on Allahābād, and burnt the town, but had not reduced the fort when news of a Marāthā advance on his own state caused his withdrawal in 1751. The town and adjacent territory were transferred from the Nawāb of Oudh to the emperor, Shāh Alam II, after the battle of Buxar in 1764, and the fort was garrisoned by British troops. A few years later the emperor joined the Marāthās and granted the Allahābād territory to them, whereupon the British declared it to have escheated and sold it to the Nawāb of Oudh for 50 lakhs. In 1801 the city, with the District and other territory, was ceded to the British. The growth of administrative needs led to the establishment of a Board of Revenue and Chief Civil and Criminal Courts at Allahābād in 1831, and in 1834 the city became the head-quarters of a separate administration ; but in the following year the capital was removed to Agra, though the Board of Revenue and Chief Courts were not transferred till 1843. After the suppression of the Mutiny Allahābād again became the Provincial capital.

During the Mutiny of 1857, Allahābād was the scene of one of the most serious outbreaks which occurred in the United Provinces. The news of the mutiny at Meerut reached Allahābād on May 12. The native troops in the cantonment consisted of the 6th Bengal Native Infantry, a wing of a Sikh regiment, and two troops of Oudh Irregular Horse. A small body of European artillerymen were brought in from Chunār fort when news of the spread of the rebellion arrived. Disquieting rumours soon prevailed in Allahābād; but precautionary measures were taken in the fort and approaches to the city, and affairs remained quiet for some time. The sepoys volunteered to march against the rebels at Delhi, and at the sunset parade on June 6 the thanks of the Governor-General were read to the regiment for their loyalty. At nine o'clock that very evening they rose in open rebellion, fired upon and murdered most of their officers, and plundered the treasury. Many military and civil officers were in the fort at the time of the rising. The city rabble joined in the plunder and bloodshed ; the jail was broken open, the dwellings of the Christian residents sacked and burnt, and every European and Eurasian captured was murdered in cold blood. The work of destruction only ceased from want of anything further to destroy, and a sort of provisional insurgent government was established in the city, under a man called 'The Maulvi,' who proclaimed the restored rule of the Delhi emperor. The little garrison of Europeans and loyal Sikhs held together in the fort until the arrival of Colonel Neill with a party of the Madras Fusiliers on June 11. On the morning after his arrival, Colonel Neill assumed the offensive against an insurgent rabble in the suburb of Dārāganj, which was carried and destroyed. On June 15, after having dispatched the women and children to Calcutta by steamer, Neil opened the guns of the fort upon the suburbs of Kydganj and Mutthīganj, which were occupied after some opposition. On June 17 the Magistrate proceeded to the city kotwālī and re-established his authority. The rebel leader, the Maulvi, escaped ; and on the morning of the 18th, Neill with his whole force marched into the city, which he found deserted. Havelock arrived shortly after, and the united force moved on to Cawnpore. Although the surrounding country remained for a time in rebellion, there was no further disturbance in Allahābād itself.

The native city occupies a well-drained site along the high bank of the Jumnā some distance west of the fort, which crowns the point at which the Ganges and Jumnā unite. The houses are not, as a rule, of striking appearance, and they are arranged in a network of narrow streets, intersected by a few main roads. North of the city lie the civil lines and cantonments, most of which were laid out after the Mutiny in fine broad streets, extending to the bank above the low alluvial land bordering on the Ganges. The suburb called Dārāganj, which lies north of the fort along the Ganges, contains the modern mansions of some of the wealthy merchants. Many changes have been made in the fort, which have greatly detracted from its picturesque appearance as a relic of antiquity. It now contains barracks, a magazine, and arsenal. A magnificent building which dates from Mughal times, and has hitherto been used as part of the arsenal, is now being restored, as far as possible, to its original condition. Below the fort stretches a wide expanse of sand on which is held the annual fair in January. Large crowds of pilgrims assemble to bathe at the junction of the great rivers, and in 1904 it was estimated that 250,000 were present on the great bathing day. Every twelve years the gathering is much larger, and in 1894 a million people were present. West of the native city is situated a garden originally laid out by Jahāngīr, which contains the tomb of prince Khusru, whose name the garden now bears, and the tombs of his mother and sister. Khusru was the eldest son of Jahāngīr, and after the death of Akbar attempted to seize the throne at Agra, but was defeated and imprisoned. The buildings are plain but massive, and the interior of the principal mausoleum is adorned with painted flowers and birds. Among noteworthy modern buildings are the Government Offices, the High Court and Bar Library, the District Courts, the European Barracks, the Anglican and Roman Catholic Cathedrals, several churches, the Muir Central College, the Mayo Memorial Hall, and the Thornhill and Mayne Memorial, which contains a public library and is situated in a beautiful park. Government House stands in a fine park-like enclosure, on slightly rising ground, and has a central suite of public rooms, with a long curved wing on either side containing the private apartments. The Central jail is situated at Nainī on the south bank of the Jumnā, and the workhouse for European vagrants is opposite the Collector's court. Besides being the seat of government, Allahābād is the head-quarters of a Superintending and of an Executive Engineer of the Roads and Buildings branch, and of an Inspector of Schools. Bishops of the Anglican and Roman Catholic Sees of Lucknow and Allahābād reside here ; and there are branches of the Church Missionary Society, the American Presbyterian and Methodist Missions, and two Zanana missions. A village inhabited by native Christians, named Muirābād after Sir William Muir, a former Lieutenant-Governor, lies north of the civil lines. A Volunteer rifle corps and a squadron of Light Horse have their head-quarters at Allahābād.

Allahābād has been a municipality since 1863. During the ten years ending 1901 the income averaged 3.5 lakhs and the expenditure 3.7 lakhs. The former, however, included loans from Government, and the latter capital expenditure on water-works. In 1903-4 the income was 4.5 lakhs, chiefly derived from octroi (1.9 lakhs), water rate (Rs. 84,000), rents (Rs. 46,000), fees from markets, &c. (Rs. 6,000), sale of water (Rs. 20,000), and a grant from Government of Rs. 59,000. The expenditure was 4.5 lakhs, comprising 1 lakh for interest and repayment of debt, Rs. 90,000 for conservancy, Rs. 61,000 for water-works maintenance, Rs. 41,000 for administration and collection, Rs. 33,000 for public safety, and Rs. 31,000 for roads and buildings. An excellent water-supply has been obtained from the Jumnā, at a total capital cost of 17-2 lakhs, and the average daily consumption of filtered water amounted to 10 gallons per head in 1903-4.

The Allahābād cantonments are divided into three portions, and are ordinarily garrisoned by British and native infantry, native cavalry, and field and garrison artillery. The income and expenditure of the cantonment fund averaged Rs. 24,000 during the ten years ending 1901. In 1903-4 the income was Rs. 32,000, and the expenditure Rs. 30,000. The successful working of a grass-farm and dairy, in connexion with the Allahābād cantonment, has led to the establishment of similar institutions in many parts of India.

Allahābād is not famous for any particular trade or manufacture, but it has long been a mart of considerable general importance. Its position on the East Indian Railway giving direct access to Calcutta, with a branch towards Bombay, adds to the trade involved in supplying a large population. The construction of branches of the Oudh and Rohilkhand Railway from Allahābād to Fyzābād and Jaunpur, with a bridge over the Ganges, will add to the importance of the city. At present it exports grain and oilseeds ; and the chief imports include grain, sugar, ghī, oilseeds, piece-goods, and metals, some of which are re-exported in small quantities. Printing is the most important organized industry. In 1903 the Government Press employed 1,031 hands, and its branches in the Nainī jail 287, while the Pioneer Press employed 606, and there were about 35 smaller presses. Large brick and tile works situated just outside the boundaries of the city employed 700 to 800 workers, an iron foundry gave employment to 135, and a coach-building and furniture factory to 178. Flour-mills are now under construction.

Allahābād is the most important educational centre in the United Provinces. The Muir College was founded in 1872, and the foundations of the fine buildings in which it is housed were laid in the following year. Spacious chemical and physical laboratories have recently been opened. The number of students in 1904 was 340, of whom 21 were reading in the M.A. classes and 131 in law classes. Several hostels are attached to this institution, and efforts are being made to establish others. It is proposed to make this college the nucleus of a teaching university. College classes are also held in three schools, with an average attendance of about 75. A training college for teachers, originally founded in Lucknow, was removed to Allahābād in 1900. It contained 48 students in 1904. The Allahābād Christian College, managed by the American Presbyterian Mission, was opened in 1902 and had 70 pupils in 1904. There is also a normal school with 117 pupils. The municipality maintains 8 schools and aids 15 others, with a total attendance of 1,545. The largest institution is the Kāyastha Pāthshāla, which contains both school and college classes and has 370 students, of whom 53 are in college classes. A number of schools make provision for the education of Europeans and Eurasians, including one free school.

Several English and vernacular newspapers are published at Allahābād, the Pioneer being the most important."

[Quelle: The Imperial gazetteer of India / published under the authority of His Majesty’s Secretary of State for India in Council. -- New ed. -- Oxford : Clarendon Press, 1907-1909. -- 25 Bde. ; 22 cm. -- Bd. 16. -- 1908. -- S. 234. -- Online: http://www.archive.org/details/imperialgazettee05grea. -- Zugriff am 2008-09-14]

⁴ Madhyadeśa: Mittelland

"Madhya Desa ('the middle country').—At present this name is not infrequently used by Hindus for the Ganges and Jumnā Doāb. It had a more extended meaning formerly ; and in early times it probably included the tract lying between the place (at Bhatner in Rājputāna) where the Saraswatī disappears on the west and Allahābād on the east, stretching to the Himālayas on the north and the Vindhyas on the south. This was the area within which Brahmanism had its rise and full development, and it is still regarded as a holy land of Hinduism. But according to Varāha Mihira, the Sanskrit geographer of the sixth century a. D., the Madhya Desa extended as far west as Mārwār, while the Yāmunas, or people living on the banks of the Jumnā, were partly in this and partly in the northern country, and the Vindhyas are wholly excluded. Albirūnī explained it as the country lying round Kanauj.

[Lassen, Ind. Alt. vol. i, p. 92 ; Fleet, Ind. Ant. 1893, p. 169.]"

[Quelle: The Imperial gazetteer of India / published under the authority of His Majesty’s Secretary of State for India in Council. -- New ed. -- Oxford : Clarendon Press, 1907-1909. -- 25 Bde. ; 22 cm. -- Bd. 16. -- 1908. -- S. 234. -- Online: http://www.archive.org/details/imperialgazettee05greauoft. -- Zugriff am 2008-06-16]

ā samudrāt tu vai pūrvād
ā samudrāc ca paścimāt |
tayor evāntaraṃ giryor
āryāvartaṃ vidur budhāḥ |22|

22. Das Land zwischen diesen beiden Gebirge bis zum¹ östlichen und bis zum¹ westlichen Ozean kennen die Weisen als Āryāvarta².

Erläuterungen:

Bühler (S.B.E. z. St.):

"22. Vas. I, 9; Baudh. I, 2, 10."

¹ bis zum: ā hier in der Bedeutung bis zu, nicht in der Bedeutung "bis und mit", d.h. Inseln im Ozean gehören nicht zu Āryāvarta

² Āryāvarta: Ārya-āvarta: "Wo Āryas auftauchen", "Tummelplatz der Ārya"

"Āryāvarta—One important question that is very much canvassed in works on dharmaśāstra is about the country or territory which should be called āryāvarta or which was a fit habitation for those who called themselves the followers of the Vedic religion. Therefore a few words on this subject would be quite relevant. The Ṛgveda shows that the centre of Āryan culture in the times of the Ṛgveda was the land of the seven [S. 12] rivers, viz. North-west India and Punjab. We find that the rivers

from Kubhā (the Kabul river, in Ṛg. V. 53. 9; X. 76. 6 ),
Krumu (the modern Kurram, Ṛg. V. 53. 9, X. 75. 6),
Suvāstu ( modern Swat, in Ṛg. VIII. 19. 37),
the seven Sindhus ( Ṛg. II. 12. 12, IV. 28. 1, VIII. 24. 27, X. 43. 3 )
up to the Yamunā ( Ṛg. V. 52. 17, X. 75. 5 ),
the Ganges ( Ṛg. VI. 45. 31, X. 75. 5 )
and Sarayu (probably in modern Oudh, in Ṛg. IV. 30. 18 and V. 53. 9 )

figure in the Ṛgveda.

Among the rivers of the Punjab the following are individually mentioned :—

Sindhu ( Ṛg. II. 15. 6 ' he made the Sindhu flow northwards ', Ṛg. V. 53. 9, Ṛg. IV. 30. 12, Ṛg. VIII. 20. 25 where reference is made to the medicine in the Sindhu, in the Asiknī, in the seas and on mountains ),
Asiknī ( Ṛg. VIII. 20. 25, X. 75. 5 ),
Paruṣṇī (Ṛg. IV. 22. 2, V. 52. 9),
Vipāś and Śutudri (Ṛg. III. 33. 1 where their confluence is spoken of), Vipāś alone in Ṛg. IV. 30. 12, Śutudri alone in Ṛg. X. 75. 5,
Dṛṣadvatī, Āpayā and Sarasvatī ( as very holy in Ṛg. III. 23. 4 ), Sarasvatī alone ( Ṛg. VII. 95, the whole hymn is addressed to it of which verse 2 says it springs from the mountains; Ṛg. VI. 61 is another hymn addressed to it, v. 10 of which says it has seven sisters),
Gomatī ( Ṛg. VIII. 24. 30, X. 75. 6 ),
Vitastā ( Ṛg. X. 75. 5 ).

Gradually the Āryans spread southwards and eastwards. The Kāṭhaka S. X. 6. speaks of Kurupañcālas. In the Brāhmaṇas the centre of Āryan activities and culture shifted to the countries of the Kurus and Pañcālas and Kosala-Videhas. For example, the Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa remarks that in the lands of Kurupañcālas speech is at its best. In Śat. Br. XL 4. 1. 1 Uddālaka Āruṇi is called a Kurupañcāla brāhmaṇa and contrasted with brāhmaṇas of the north ( S. B. E. vol. 44 p. 51 ). Similarly the Kauṣītaki-br. ( VII. 6 ) remarks that those who want to learn (best) speech go northwards or wait upon him who comes from that direction. In the Śatapatha we have the story of Videgha Māṭhava who went beyond the country of Kosala-Videha, crossed the river Sadānīrā that came down from the Himālaya, and settled to the east of that river, where the country was a cultivated and civilized one in the times of that work, while in former ages it had been uncultivated (I. 4. 1. 4-17, S. B. E. vol. 12 pp. 105-106). Even in the Buddhist [S. 13] Jātakas we see that being an 'udicca brāhmaṇo' was a source of great pride (vide Fick's work p. 40 ). The Tai. Br. speaks of the vedi of the gods as being in Kuru-kṣetra. Even in the Ṛgveda itself the country through which the rivers Dṛṣadvatī, Āpayā and Sarasvatī flowed is spoken of as the best spot (Vide III. 23.4). The Tai. Br. says that the Kurupañcālas go east in the winter and westwards in the last month of summer. In the times of the Upaniṣads also the Kurupañcāla country appears to have occupied a pre-eminent place. The Bṛ. Up. (III. 1.1.) says that when Janaka, king of Videha, performed a sacrifice the brāhmaṇas of Kurupañcāla flocked there in large numbers. Vide also Bṛ. Up. III. 9. 19. The Bṛ. Up. VI. 2. 1 and Chāndogya V. 3. 1 say that Śvetaketu went to the assembly of the Pañcālas. Kauṣītaki Br. Up. (IV. 1.) names the countries of Uśīnara, Matsya, Kurupañcāla and Kāśivideha as centres of intellectual activity and in II. 13 refers to two mountains one in the North and the other in the South (meaning probably Himavat and Vindhya). According to the Nirukta ( II. 2 ), the country of Kamboja was outside the limits of the country of Āryas, though the language spoken there seems to have been the same. The Mahābhāṣya lends support to this and adds that Surāṣṭra was not an Ārya country (vol.1, p. 9 ). In the times of the Dharmaśāstras great divergence of opinion prevailed on the question of the location of Āryāvarta. The Vasiṣṭha-dharma-sūtra says,

'Āryāvarta is to the east of the disappearance (of Sarasvatī in the desert ), to the west of Kālakavana, to the north of the mountains Pāriyātra and Vindhya and to the south of the Himālaya '.

It then refers to two more views held by other authors viz.,

'Āryāvarta is in the region between the Ganges and the Jumna'

and

'where the black antelope roams about there is spiritual pre-eminence '.

The Baud. D. S. (I. 1.27) gives the same limits of Āryāvarta as Vasiṣṭha [S. 14] substituting the word 'vinaśana 'for ' ādarśa '.

Patañjali in his Mahābhāṣya defines Āryāvarta several times in the same terms as Vasiṣṭha does.

The Dharmasūtra of Śaṅkha-Likhita gives somewhat similar limits by remarking

'spotless spiritual pre-eminence is to be found (in the country) to the east of the countries of Sindhu and Sauvīra, to the west of the city of Kāmpilī, to the south of Himālaya and to the north of Pāriyātra '.

The extant Manusmṛti ( II. 22 ) makes Āryāvarta coterminos with the whole of India north of the Vindhya by saying that the territory between the Himālaya and the Vindhya and extending up to the eastern and western oceans is known by the wise as Āryāvarta.

The second view (viz. Āryāvarta is the region between the Ganges and the Jumna ) occurs in Baud. Dh. S. (I. 1. 28). In the Tai. Ār. II.20 special honour is shown to those who dwell between the Gaṅgā and the Yamunā.

The third view (viz. Āryāvarta is the country where the black antelope roams about naturally) is the one given in most smṛtis. Both Vasiṣṭha (I. 14-15 ) and Baud. Dh. S. ( I. 1. 29-30 ) quote an ancient gāthā from the Nidān work of the Bhāllavins to the effect that wherever the black antelope roams about in the country lying between the Sindhu in the west and the rising mountain in the east, there is spiritual pre-eminence. So this view is a very ancient one and probably [S. 15] arose from some mythological account as is indicated by the commentary of Viśvarūpa on Yāj. I. 2 which quotes a prose passage of the Śvetāśvataras

'Sacrifice became a black antelope and wandered over the earth; dharma followed it in its wanderings'.

This view of the limits of Āryāvarta is maintained by Śaṅkha (as quoted by Viśvarūpa on Yāj. I. 2), Viṣṇudharmasūtra 84.4, Manu II. 23, Yāj. 1. 2, Saṃvarta 4, Laghu-Hārīta (I. p. 178), Veda-Vyāsa (1.3), Brṛat-Parāśara (p. 56) and several other smṛtis.

The Manusmṛti (II. 17-24 ) defines Brahmavarta as the country between the holy rivers Sarasvatī and Dṛṣadvatī, says that the traditional mode of conduct observed in that country is called sadācāra, that the countries of Kurukṣetra, Matsya, Pañcāla and Śūrasena are styled Brahmarṣideśa and are slightly less (in holiness) than Brahmāvarta, that Madhyadeśa is between the Himālaya and the Vindhya and to the east of Vinaśana and to the west of Prayāga, that Āryāvarta is the country between the Himālaya and Vindhya up to the eastern and western oceans, that that territory where the black antelope roams about naturally is the country fit for sacrifices and the countries beyond constitute mlecchadeśa, that men of the three higher varṇas should endeavour to live in these countries (viz. Brahmāvarta, Brahmarṣideśa, Madhyadeśa, Āryāvarta &c.) while a śūdra, when distressed for his livelihood, may stay in any country whatever.

The Viṣṇudharmasūtra (84. 4) says that the country where the system of the four varṇas is not established is to be known as Mleccha country and Āryāvarta is beyond that. This is explained by Aparārka (p. 5) as follows: one who desires to practise Vedic religion should live in one of the four countries viz. Brahmāvarta and others ; if that is not possible, then in a country where there is establishment of the four varṇas and the black antelope roams about naturally; if both these cannot be had, then one should dwell in a country where at least one of the two (cāturvarṇya and black antelope) is found. The above discussion shows that in very ancient times the country south of the Vindhya was looked upon as beyond the pale of Āryan culture.

Baud. Dh. S. (I. 1. 31) says that the countries of Avanti, Aṅga, Magadha, Surāṣṭra, Dakṣiṇāpatha, Upāvṛt, Sindhu [S. 16] and Sauvīra are of mixed origin (i. e. not of pure Āryan ancestry ), that a person who goes to Āraṭṭaka, Kāraskara, Puṇḍra, Sauvīra, Aṅga, Vaṅga, Kaliṅga and Prānūna (?) has to offer a solemn sacrifice like the Sarvaprṣṭha and that for going to Kaliṅga the prāyaścitta is an offering to Vaiśvānara Agni.

The Mit. on Yāj. III. 292 quotes a verse of Devala to the effect that if a man goes to Sindhu, Sauvīra, Saurāṣṭra, the border lands (or Mleccha countries), Aṅga, Vaṅga, Kaliṅga and Andhra he has to perform the Upanayana saṃskāra over again. The Mit. adds a remark that this is so only if the man goes to these countries for some purpose other than pilgrimage. Gradually however as Āryan culture spread over the whole of what is now called India the view of the sages about the countries pre-eminently Āryan had to be given up.

Medhātithi on Manu II. 22 explains that Āryāvarta is so called

'because Āryas again and again spring up there and because the Mlecchas even if they overrun it from time to time do not abide there for long '

and then makes the following very sensible observation ( on II. 23 )

'if a kṣatriya king of excellent conduct were to conquer the Mlecchas, establish the system of four varṇas ( in the Mleccha country ) and assign to Mlecchas a position similar to that of cāṇḍālas in Āryāvarta, even that ( Mleccha ) country would be fit for the performance of sacrifices, since the earth is not by itself impure, but becomes impure through contact (of impure persons or things ).'

As a result of the spread of Āryan culture eastwards and southwards and the frequent invasions of non-Āryan tribes on the northwest, the countries on the rivers of the Punjab came to be looked upon in the whirligig of time as unworthy of the Āryas to live in. Karṇaparva 43. 5-8 abuses those who live on the Sindhu and the five rivers of the Punjab as impure and dharmabāhya."

kṛṣṇasāras tu carati
mṛgo yatra svabhāvataḥ |
sa jñeyo yajñiyo deśo
mlecchadeśas tv ataḥ paraḥ |23|

23. Das Land wo die Hirschziegenantilope¹ natürlich weidet, ist das Land, das geeignet ist für Opfer. Jenseits davon ist das Land der Mleccha².

Erläuterungen:

Bühler (S.B.E. z. St.):

"23. Vas. I, 13-15 ; Baudh. I, 2, 12-15 ; Yagii. I, 2."

¹ Hirschziegenantilope: kṛṣṇasāra mṛga = "schwarzgescheckte Antilope": Antilope cervicapra L. Kam ursprünglich auf dem ganzen indischen Subkontinent vor von Punjab und Sind bis Bengalen und von Nepal bis Kanyakumari (Cape Comorin) (Tamil: கன்னியாகுமரி) Siehe:

Walker's mammals of the world / Ronald M. Nowak. -- 6. ed. -- Baltimore [u.a.] : Johns Hopkins Univ. Pr., 1999. -- 2 Bde. -- ISBN 0-8018-5789-9. -- Bd. 2. -- S. 1193f.

Abb.: Hirschziegenantilope -- Antilope cervicapra L., Bock
[Bildquelle: Wikipedia, public domain]

Abb.: Hirschziegenantilope -- Antilope cervicapra L., Bock
[Bildquelle: Wikipedia, GNU FDLicense]

Abb.: Hirschziegenantilope -- Antilope cervicapra L., Weibchen
[Bildquelle: Wikipedia, GNU FDLicense]

"Blackbuck (Antilope cervicapra) is a species of antelope found mainly in India, but also in parts of Pakistan and Nepal. There are also introduced populations in various parts of the world including numerous ranches in Texas in the United States of America; free-ranging populations also exist in Argentina (pampas in southern Buenos Aires, Santa Fe and Entre Ríos provinces).

Local names for the species include Kala hiran, Sasin, Iralai Maan, Krishna Jinka, Krishna Mriga in Kannada and Kalveet in Marathi. It is often simply called "Indian antelope" though this term might also be used for other Antilopinae from the region.

Description

The horns of the Blackbuck are ringed with 1 to 4 turns, rarely more than 4 turns, and can be as long as 28 inches. A trophy Blackbuck is 18+ inches. In the male, the upper body is black (dark brown), and the belly and eye rings are white. The light-brown female is usually hornless. Blackbucks usually roam the plains in herds of 15 to 20 animals with one dominant male.

There are four subspecies or geographic races

Antilope cervicapra cervicapra
Antilope cervicapra rajputanae
Antilope cervicapra centralis
Antilope cervicapra rupicapra

Native habitat

Originally spread over large tracts of India (except in North East India). Today the Blackbuck population is confined to areas in Punjab, Rajasthan, Haryana and Gujarat with a few small pockets in Central India. Its original habitat is open plain and not dense jungles. On the open plain, the Blackbuck is one of the fastest animals and can outrun most predators over long distances.

The diet of the Blackbuck consists mostly of grasses, although it does eat pods, flowers and fruits to supplement its diet. The maximum life span recorded is 16 years and the average is 12 years.

Threats

The main threats to the species are

Poaching
Predation
Habitat destruction
Overgrazing
Diseases
Inbreeding
Visitors

The Blackbuck is hunted for its flesh and its skin. Although Indian law strictly prohibits the hunting of these endangered animals, there are still occasional incidents of poaching. The remaining populations are under threat from inbreeding. The natural habitat of the Blackbuck is being encroached upon by man's need for arable land and grazing ground for domesticated cattle. Exposure to domesticated cattle also renders the Blackbuck exposed to bovine diseases. Once large herds freely roamed in the plains of North India, where they thrive best, but no longer. During the eighteenth, nineteenth and the first half of the twentieth centuries, Blackbuck was the most hunted wild animal all over India. Until India's independence, many princely states used to hunt this antelope and the other local Indian gazelle, the Chinkara with specially trained pet Asiatic Cheetah. With their habitat of vast grasslands converted into farmlands due to human population explosion the Asiatic Cheetahs are now sadly extinct in India since its independence and in most of Asia, the very last few fight for survival in Iran. Fortunately the population is still stable with 50,000 native individuals, with an additional 43,000 introduced individuals to Texas and Argentina, the species could be seen in zoos."

[Quelle: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antilope_cervicapra. -- Zugriff am 2008-09-14]

"The true antelopes form a very important portion of the Indian Mammalia, because three genera out of the four occurring in the Peninsula are peculiar to the area and no antelopes are found elsewhere in the Indo-Malay region. These three Indian antelopes are the

Nilgai (Boselaphus tragocamelus)

the Four-horned Antelope (Tetracerus quadricornis),

and the Indian Antelope or 'black buck' (Antilope cervicapra).

All these inhabit a large part of India, and the Hindus themselves sometimes define their country (Hindustan) as corresponding with the range of the Indian antelope. This antelope is found in suitable localities, chiefly open plains with grass of moderate height, from the Indus to Assam, and from the base of the Himalayas to the neighbourhood of Trichinopoly. Formerly it was far more abundant, and in the first half of the nineteenth century it was seen occasionally

in vast herds 8,000 to 10,000 in number ; but its numbers have been greatly reduced since rifles have become common. The Nilgai is an inhabitant of open forest more often than of grassy plains, though in places it haunts cultivated tracts, and when numerous it is met with in herds ;

while the Four-horned Antelope is chiefly found in hilly countries covered with brushwood or forest, and is usually solitary or in pairs. A variety with only two horns, the anterior pair not being developed, is said to be common locally in the Madras Presidency, and certainly adult two-horned individuals are occasionally found, but all young males possess only the posterior pair.

In the Nilgai, Four-horned, and Indian Antelopes the females are hornless.

The Tibetan Antelope (Pantholops hodgsoni), with fine sub-lyrate horns, is found only on the higher Tibetan plateaus, and is said never to descend much below about 15,000 feet. It occurs in the higher portions of Ladakh."

[Quelle: The Imperial gazetteer of India / published under the authority of His Majesty’s Secretary of State for India in Council. -- New ed. -- Oxford : Clarendon Press, 1907-1909. -- 25 Bde. ; 22 cm. -- Bd. 1. -- 1907. -- S. 234f. -- Online: http://www.archive.org/details/imperialgazettee01grea. -- Zugriff am 2008-06-16]

² Mleccha: "Barbaren", sind noch unterhalb der Pratiloma-Mischsstände (Kinder aus der Verbindung einer Frau aus höherem Stand mit einem Mann niedereren Standes).

"One word that is of striking importance is mleccha. The Śat. Br. (III. 2. 1. 23-24, S. B. E. vol. 26 p. 32) states that the asuras were defeated because they spoke on incorrect and corrupt dialect and that a brāhmaṇa should not, therefore, utter such a corrupt speech and so should not become a mleccha and an asura. Gaut. IX. 17 enjoins that one should not speak with mlecchas, impure or irreligious persons and Haradatta explains that mlecchas are the inhabitants of Ceylon and similar countries where there is no system of varṇas and āśramas. Viṣṇu Dh. S. 64. 15 is to the same effect. Viṣṇu Dh. S. 84. 1-2 and Śaṅkha 14. 30 prescribe that one should not perform śrāddha in a mleccha country nor should one visit such a country (except on a pilgrimage). Viṣṇu Dh. S. 84. 4 states that that country where the system of the four varṇas is not in vogue is mleccha territory and Āryāvarta is beyond it, while Manu II. 23 states that the mleccha country is beyond Āryāvarta which land is fit for sacrifices and in which the black deer wanders naturally. Viśvarūpa on Yāj. I. 15 quotes Bharadvāja to the effect 'one should not study the language of the mlecchas, for it is declared (in the Brāhmaṇas) that a corrupt word is indeed mleccha '. Vas. Dh. S. VI. 41 also enjoins that one should not learn the mleccha dialect. Manu X. 43-44 knew that many of the tribes called Puṇḍrakas, Yavanas, Śakas spoke mleccha languages and also the language of the Āryas (mlecchavācaś-caryavācaḥ sarve te dasyavaḥ smṛtāḥ). In Parāśara IX. 36 mlecchas are referred to as eaters of cow's flesh. That the mlecchas had affected the Sanskrit language by lending to it certain words follows from the discussion in Jaimini I. 3. 10 whether words like pika (a cuckoo), nema (half), sata (a wooden vessel), tāmarasa (a red lotus) are to be understood in the sense in which mlecchas use them or certain meanings are to be assigned to them by deriving them from some root according to the rules of grammar, Nirukta and Nighaṇṭu and Jaimini's conclusion is that they are to be understood in the same sense in which mlecchas employ them."

Medhātithi:

"All that is meant is that the country spoken of is 'fit for sacrifices'; the meaning being that 'this country is fit for sacrificial performances' ; and this 'fitness for sacrifices' is possible even without a direct injunction (of the actual performance). The fact of the matter is that it is only in the countries mentioned that the several sacrificial accessories, in the shape of the kuśa-grass, the Palāśa, the Khadira and other trees, are mostly found ; and sacrificial performers also, in the shape of persons belonging to the three higher castes and learned in the three Vedas, are found only in these countries; and it is on the basis of these facts that the countries have been described as 'fit for sacrifices.' The verb 'jñeyaḥ' ending in the verbal affix ('yat') also has the sense of the injunctive only imposed upon it, and in reality it is only an Arthavāda resembling an injunction ; just like the passage 'jartilayavāgvā vā juhuyāt,' ('one should offer either the wild seasamum or the wild wheat') [which, even though containing the injunctive word 'juhuyāt,' has been regarded as an Arthavāda resembling an injunction].

When again it is said that 'beyond this is the land of the mlecchhas,' this also is purely descriptive of the usual state of things; the sense being that in these other lands it is mostly mlecchhas that are born; it does not mean that people inhabiting them are all (on that account) ' mlecchhas'; because what is a 'mlecchha' is well known, just like the 'Brāhmaṇa' and other well known castes. In fact, the name 'mlecchhadeśa' is to be taken literally, in the sense that it is 'the country of mlecchhas' ; so that if mlecchhas happen to conquer a part of Āryāvarta itself and take their habitation there, that also would become 'mlecchhadeśa.' Similarly if a certain well-behaved king of the Kṣattriya-caste should happen to defeat the mlecchhas and make that land inhabited by people of the four castes, relegating the indigenous mlecchhas to the category of 'Cāṇḍāla,' as they are in Āryāvarta, then that which was a 'country of the mlecchhas' would become a 'land fit for sacrifices.' And this for the simple reason that no land is by itself defective ; it is only by association that it becomes defective, just as it is when soiled by impure things. Hence, even apart from the countries designated here as 'fit for sacrifices,' if, in a certain place, all the necessary conditions are available, one should perform his sacrifices, even though it be a place where the spotted deer does not roam."

etāṇ dvijātayo deśān
saṃśrayeran prayatnataḥ |
śūdras tu yasmin kasmin vā
nivased vṛttikarśitaḥ |24|

24. Zweimalgeborene sollen sich zielstrebig in diese Gegenden begeben¹. Ein Śūdra mag, von der Möglichkeit des Lebenserwerbs gezogen, irgendwo wohnen.

Erläuterungen:

¹ sich begeben:

Medhātithi:

"'The twice-born people.' even though they be born in another country, should 'resort to these countries,' i.e. to Brahmāvarta, etc. Abandoning the country of their birth, they should make every effort to reside in Brahmāvarta and the other countries just described."

Zusammenfassung

eṣā dharmasya vo yoniḥ
samāsena prakīrtitā |
saṃbhavaś cāsya sarvasya
varṇadharmān nibodhata |25|

25. Dies ist euch als Quelle des Dharma¹ kurz verkündet, ebenso die Entstehung dieses Alls. Erfahrt nun die Pflichten der Stände.

Erläuterungen:

Bühler (S.B.E. z. St.):

"25. Gov. explains dharma, 'the sacred law,' by 'spiritual merit.'"

¹ Dharma:

Medhātithi:

"In this connection, the author of the Smṛtivivaraṇa describes five kinds of Dharma or Duty :

'Varṇa-dharma,' 'duties pertaining to caste ;'
'Āśrama-dharma,' ' Duties pertaining to Life-stages,'
'Varṇāśrama-dharma,' 'duties pertaining to caste and life-stage' ;
'Naimittika-Dharma,' ' Occasional Duties,' and
'Guṇa-Dharma,' 'Duties pertaining to qualification.'

Of these, that which proceeds entirely on the basis of caste, and takes no account of age, life-stage or any such circumstances, is called 'duty pertaining to castes ;' e.g., what is laid down in such rules as—' the Brāhmaṇa should not he killed,' ' wine shall not be drunk by the Brāhmaṇa'— refers to a particular caste only, and is meant to apply to
every person of that caste till his very last breath.
'Duty pertaining to life-stage' is that which does not depend upon caste only, but takes account of a particular life-stage also ; e.g., 'Fire-kindling and alms-begging are the duties of the Vedic student' (Gautama 2.8).
'Duty pertaining to caste and life-stage' is that which is related to both ; e.g., when it is prescribed that 'the bow-string made of murvā grass is the girdle for the Kṣattriya student,' it means that what is mentioned does not apply to any other life-stage (than that of the student), nor to any other caste (except the Kṣattriya) ;—what is meant to be the example here is the wearing of the girdle during student-life, not the first taking of it, which forms part of the Upanayana-rites, and does not pertain to the particular life-stage ; and the Upanayana itself is what ushers in a particular life-stage, and it is not a 'duty pertaining to the life-stage.'
The 'Occasional Duty' consists of such acts as the purifying of things and so forth.
'Duty pertaining to qualifications' is that which is prescribed in connection with special qualifications ; e.g., what is laid down in such rules as 'he should be absolved from six' is with reference to the qualification of 'vast learning ;' to this same category belong also all those duties that are laid down for the 'annointed' Ksattriya.

All these are meant to be included under the 'duties of the castes' (mentioned in the text) ; and hence the text mentions those only ; and it does not make mention of the sub-divisions, because in the first place there are endless subdivisions, and secondly, (if the text went about mentioning all possible kinds of duties) it would have to mention those many duties also which are laid down for men in general, without reference to any particular caste. Similarly with other varieties of 'Duty.' In fact the ' Duties pertaining to castes 'have been mentioned only as an indication ; it does not mean that the duties of the mixed castes are excluded from consideration; because this latter has also been promised (in 1.2) as the subject to be expounded ; and the present statement is only meant to be the reiteration of that promise."

Zu Manu 2, 26 - 35

Manusmṛti

Kapitel 2

1. Vers 1 - 25

übersetzt und kommentiert von Alois Payer

Dharma

Begierde

kāmātmatā na praśastāna caivehāsty akāmatā |kāmyo hi vedādhigamaḥ karmayogaś ca vaidikaḥ |2|

Erkenntnisquellen des Dharma

Der Fall von einem Widerspruch in der Śruti

Wer zu diesem Lehrwerk befugt ist

Geographische Eingrenzung

Zusammenfassung

kāmātmatā na praśastā
na caivehāsty akāmatā |
kāmyo hi vedādhigamaḥ
karmayogaś ca vaidikaḥ |2|