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On Kalayavana from Vishnu Purana
(As translated from original sanskrit by Horace Hayman Wilson, printed in
February 1840 for Oriental Translation fund instituted in
1828 under patronage of William the Fourth)
Punthi Pustak, Calcutta, Reprinted 1979
Book IV, Chapter XXIII, pages 448 to 451
(Also there are three footnotes by Prof. Wilson
(specially, last sentence of Note 2)
in the context of Guy Vincent's Lecture.)
Parasara: Syala, having called Gargya the brahmin, whilst at the
cow-pens,
impotent, in an assembly of the Yadavas, they all
laughed; at which he was highly offended, and repaired to the shores of the
Western
sea, where he engaged in arduous penance
to obtain a son, who should be terror to the tribe of Yadu. Propitiating
Mahadeva,
and living upon Iron sand for twelve years, the
deity at last was pleased with him, and gave him the desired boon. The King
of the
Yavanas who was childless became the friend
of Gargya; and the latter begot a son by his wife, who was as black as a
bee, and
was thence called Kalayavana (1). The Yavana King
having placed his son, whose breast was as hard as the point of thunderbolt,
upon
the throne, retired to the woods. Inflated with
conceit of his prowess, Kalayavana demanded of Narada who were the most
mighty
heroes on earth. To which the sage answered:
"The Yadavas". Accordingly, Kalayavana assembled many myriads of
Mlechchhas and
barbarians (2) and with a vast armament of
elephants, cavalry, chariots, and foot, advanced impatiently against Mathura
and the
Yadavas; wearying everyday the animals
that carried him, but insensible of fatigue himself.
When Krishna knew of his approach, he reflected that if the Yadavas
encountered
Yavana, they would be so much weakened
by the conflict, that they would then be overcome by the King of Magadha,
that their
force was much reduced by the war with
Magadha, whilst that of kalayavana was unbroken; and that the enemy might be
therefore victorious. Thus the Yadavas were
exposed to a double danger. He resolved therefore to construct a citadel for
the
Yadava tribe, that should not be easily taken;
one that even women might defend and in which therefore the heroes of the
house of
Vrishni should be secure: one in which
the male combatants of the Yadavas should dread no peril though he himself
should be
drunk or careless, asleep or aborad.
Thus reflecting Krishna solicited a space of twelve furlongs from the ocean
and
there he built the city of Dwaraka (3) defended by
high ramparts, and beautified with gardens and reservoirs of water, crowded
with
houses and buildings and splendid as the capital
of Indra, Amaravati. Thither Janardana conducted the inhabitants of Mathura
and
awaited at that city the approach of Kalayavana.
While the hostile army encamped round Mathura, Krishna unarmed went forth
and beheld
the Yavana King. Kalayavana, the
strong armed, recognising Vasudeva, pursued him; him whom the thoughts of
perfect
ascetics can not overtake. Thus pursued
Krishna entered a large cavern, where Muchukunda, the king of men, was
asleep. The
rash Yavana entering the cave, and beholding
a man lying asleep there, concluded it must be Krishna, and kicked him; at
which
Muchukunda awoke, and casting on him
an angry glance, the Yavana was instantly consumed; and reduced to ashes.
For in a
battle between the gods and demons
Muchukunda had formerly contributed to the defeat of the latter; and being
overcome
with sleep, he solicited of the gods as a
boon that he should enjoy a long repose. "Sleep long and soundly", said
the gods,
" and whoever disturbs you shall be instantly
burnt to ashes by fire emanating from your body" (4)
Foot notes by Prof. Wilson:
(1) This legend of the origin of Kalayavana is given also by the Hari
Vamsa. The
Bhagavata like our text, comes at once to
the siege of Mathura by this Chief; but the Hari Vamsa suspends the story,
for more
than thirty chapters to narrate the origin of
the Yadavas and sundry adventures of Krishna and Rama to the south west.
Most of
these have no authority; and are no doubt
inventions of the Dakhini compiler; and the others misplaced.
(2) So the Bhagavata describes him as leading a host of Mlechchhas, or
barbarians,
against Krishna; but in the Mahabharata,
Sabha Parvan, where Krishna describes the power of Jarasandha, he admits
that he and
the Yadavas fled from Mathura to the
west through the fear of that King, but no account is given of any siege of
Mathura
by Kalayavana. The only indication of such a person
is the mention that Bhagadatta, the Yavana King who rules over Muru and
Naraka, in
the west and south is one of his most
attached feudatories. This King in various other places is called King of
Pragjyotish, as he is in the subsequent passage of the
same book, Sabha Parvan and this name is always appended to the west of
Assam. His
subjects are however still
Yavanas and Mlechchhas and he presents horses, caps set with jewels and
swords with
ivory hilts: articles scarcely to be
found in Assam, which can not well be the sovereignity. It seems most likely
therefore that the story may have originated
in some knowledge of the power and position of the Greek-Bactrian princes or
their
Scythian successors, although in the
latter compilations, it has been mixed with allusions to the first
Mohammedan
aggressions. See As. Res. V 506 and XV 100.
(3) According to Mahabharata, he only enlarged and fortified the ancient
city of
Kusasthali, founded by Raivata;
Sabha Parvan, see also Book IV, Chapter I of our text.