Page:Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Volume 3.djvu/489

Rh rises in a common ratio with other commodities in a time of scarcity.

From the accounts given by them, it appears that the Koravas claim to have originated in mythological ages. The account varies slightly according to the locality, but the general outlines agree more or less with the story related in the Bhāgavātham. The purōhits, or priests, are the safest guides, and it was one of them who told the following story, culled, as he admitted, from the Sāstras and the Rāmāyana. When the great Vēnudu, son of Agneswathu, who was directly descended from Brahma, ruled over the universe, he was unable to procure a son and heir to the throne, and, when he died, his death was looked on as an irreparable misfortune. His body was preserved. The seven ruling planets sat in solemn conclave, and consulted as to what they should do. Finally they agreed to create a being from the right thigh of the deceased Venudu, and they accordingly fashioned and gave life to Nishudu. But their work was not successful, for Nishudu turned out to be not only deformed in body, but repulsively ugly in face. It was agreed at another meeting of the planets that he was not a fit person to be placed on the throne. So they set to work again, and created a being from the right shoulder of Vēnudu, and their second effort was crowned with success. They called the second creation Proothu Chakravarthi, and, as he gave general satisfaction, he was placed on the throne. This supersession naturally caused the first-born Nishudu to be discontented, and he sought a lonely place, in which he communed with the gods, begging of them the reason why they had created him if he was not to rule. The gods explained that he could not now be placed on the throne, as Chakravarthi had already been installed, but