--- In
cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "frabrig" <frabrig@...> wrote:
> I wrote;
>
> > In certain passages of the Mbh king Bhagadatta is said to be
> > ruling "in the west" (not in Assam, which is in the northeast!).
> >
> > From Ganguli's translation of the Mbh:
> >
> > http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m02/m02014.htm
> > "He also that beareth on his head that gem which is known as the
> > most wonderful on earth, that king of the Yavanas, who hath
> > chastised Muru and Naraka, whose power is unlimited, and who ruleth
> > the west like another Varuna, who is called Bhagadatta, and who is
> > the old friend of thy father..."
>
> Shivraj replied:
>
> > No. Please check the primary sources. In most passages Bhagadatta
> > is mentioned as ruling the east (purvasagaravasine in udyog parva
> > 4.11) or the ruler of northern forests (Stree Parva 23.10). Same is
> > true for his capital city, Pragjyotishpur which is described as in
> > the north (Sabha Parva) or the east (Markandeya Purana). So in 2.14
> > word west is just a scribal error.
>
> LOL! A "scribal error"? You're a phenomenon, Sivraj.
>
> This is the concerned verse taken directly from the "primary source" (Mbh 2.13.13):
>
The other two references from udyog parva 4.11 where the yavan Bhagdatta is mentioned as dweller of the eastern sea and of northern forests in stree parva 23.10 are also from the same primary source!
Question is why is Bhagdatta called a ruler of the west? Is it a scribal error? If not then is there a reasonable explanation? In Hindu kingdoms, as kings assemble before a war, each king is introduced by their bard, who sing songs about the glorious deeds of that king's ancestors. (Such songs you can still here if you were to visit the forts of rajasthan. For example at Jaisalmer you will hear bardic songs praising the ancestors of Bhati rajputs, at Chittor Sisodiyas etc.).
Bhagadatta was from the line of the demon Naraka who had defeated Varuna and stolen his "Chattri" or Umbrella:
Indra complains to Krishna "He (Narakasur) has taken away Varuna's umbrella, the celestial nectar-dropping earrings of my mother Aditi, and now demands my elephant."
Since Bhagadatta's ancesctor, Naraka, had defeated Varuna the ruler of west, the bard of Mahabharata heaping this praise on Bhagadatta is not surprising.
Eastern sea of Bhagdatta's dwelling is identified with the bay of Bengal. The sea referred to is the low-lying and water logged region immediately south of the Assam range which perhaps in olden days was connected by estuaries of Brahmaputra. The low lying areas of Sylhet and Mymensingh are still called Haor by the local people which in Sanskrit means Sagar or Sea. There is myth amongst people of Bhagalpur in Bihar that this town was established by Bhagadatta and was originally called Bhagadattapur. It may also be noted that the epigraphic records of kings of ancient assam speak of Lauhitya or Brahmaputra as the sea.
Near modern Gauhati in Assam are mountain ranges named after Naraka the ancestor of Bhagadatta.
Furthermore you are still picking and choosing bits from MbH and not looking at everything that is written about the King Bhagdatta.
a) Bhagdatta fights Bharata war sitting on an elephant. Assam was one of the chief source of supplying elephants. Elephant fighting was a mainstay of Indic people and not Greeks.
b) Bhagadatta wears a turban while fighting.
"His breast, being pierced through by the diadem-decked (Arjuna), king Bhagadatta, deprived of life, threw down his bow and arrows. Loosened from his head, the valuable piece of cloth that had served him for a turban, fell down, like a petal from a lotus when its stalk is violently struck." (From:
http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m07/m07027.htm).
Greeks did not wear turbans while fighting.
c) He has yellow complexioned chinas and kiratas in his army. These are mongloid races.
----Francesco wrote:
> Therefore, this "king of the Yavanas", Bhagadatta, ruled simultaneously in the west, in the north, and in the east; as I wrote in an earlier message, *how* powerful must he have been? :^)
>
No he did not. That is your misunderstanding. This yavan king bhagadatta only ruled in the east.
----Francesco wrote:
>
No doubt, Pragjyotisha was identified with Kamarupa (Assam) in the Puranas; yet, in the Ramayana the city of Pragjyotishapura, capital of Bhagadatta's father Naraka, is stated to be situated "on the Varaha mountain in the sea," while in the Mahabharata itself king Bhagadatta is called Purvasagaravasin (dwelling by the Eastern Sea'). Do you think that Assam lies in the sea?
>
Sea connection explained above. Besides PragJyotishpur is a compound word formed from Prag + jyotish + pur. Prag means former or East i.e a city (pur) in the east.
Regards,
Shivraj