Page:The Indian Antiquary, Vol. 4-1875.djvu/224

 Jilt, 1875.] SEVEN LINGAYTA LEGENDS. 211 oa Monday the first day of the bright fortnight of the month Pushya of the Rakshasa *fl sara which was the year of the Saka 907, he laved the feet of the holy Purnanandabhatta- raka, who was the chief (saint) of that place, and set apart, — with oblations of water and as a grant to be respected by all, — for the decoration of the temple of the god the holy Nirasimhadeva, who was located above the bank of the tank called Pergatta* of tho capital of Balligfive, and for the worship of the god, — the one (town) of Knndavige, a town which was near tof the JIugund Twelve which was a ~kcmtpana% of the Banavase Dis- trict Whosoever preserves this act of piety shall obtain as much religious merit as if he were to cause the horns and hoofs of a thousand tawny- col oured cows to be fashioned out of the five jewels § at Gaye, or Gange, or Kurukshetra, or Varanasi, or Prayuge, and were to give them to Brahmans thoroughly well versed in the Vedas ! They say that poison is not poison, but the pro- perty of a god is called poison; for, poison slays only one, but the property of a god, (if confiscat- ed), destroys one's children and their posterity. SEVEN LINGAYTA LEGENDS. BY Utr. P. KTTTEL, ME1IK AI1A. The following legends, of which a literal translation is given, are taken from the Anu- hhavaiikhumani, a popular Lihgayta composition In Kannada (Canarese). It was finished on a Monday (somuvdra) which was the fifth lunar day (pttichcwri) of the dark lunar fortnight (bahulti) of the sixth lunar month (bdhdra- pada) of the sarvadhari year* One of our copies dates from 1844 A.D. Its contents, however, as the author states, are based on a work by the Liiigayta poet R a gha va, who lived about 1300 a.d., and was the nephew and pupil of the guru and poet H a r i, called also H a r i Kara and Hari Dcva. At least three of the legends are alluded to in the 54th chapter of the Kannada Bat m •« I'linim of l.'it>9 A.D., the author of which knew the celebrated R'ighava and his uncle. The allusions are contain the following sentences :— " Parvat'svara (as Virabhadra) took the form of Sarah ha, de- stroyed the Narahari (Narasiihha), ami put ..mi the drift-doth." (v. 42; No. 5.) u Wm l liar S aii a t a u t a (Sanatkumara) became proud in tho presence of 6ri Sadnsiva, did he not become a Camel P" (No.l.) " When the master Vyiisa, from rudeness, said: K : a*u- dera is god!' and raised his band, did not • • The tank .T 0u luge BigM « ghaut',— i being a Tadhuara corruption of 'ghat^n'. t ' Atjij/a'. t I. Iitivi- ."limvn that* kampana.' « a QOUTSltible with 'odrfja' in it- No. VII of the Ktifia inscnptt":- Tftdbhavn' corruption of the Sanskrit " I ' . town or village, fence, trail, hadge, pe., occurs hew m ita Hfondikeia become angry, and squeeze and break his arms ? " (v. 49 ; conf. 57, 24; No. 6.) Besides, the author of the Purdna pnts these words into the mouth of the Liiigayta Soddala B a ch ia - rasa (Bachi raja, B.lchi avya), a contemporary of B a s a v a at Kalyana in the Nizam's country who was the founder of the Lingiiyta sect; Bachi at the time is represented as being angry with king Bijjala for his setting up an image of Govinda. The author therefore refers the existence of the legends to tho end of the 12th century A.r>. Captain Mackenzie (vol. d. page 49 of this journal) says that the story brought forward by him concerning YyAsa'sarm is from the Skanda Purdna ; to a BaSfikril version of the story the slokns interwoven with the present Kannada version also point. Further, the Vaishnava dasa soug quoted in vol. H. p. 311 of this journal (conf. vol. II. p. 133), seems to indicate that I •" and Na staff were already in existence in Rama- n u j a ' s time, about 1127 A.d. So the legends give us some insight into the time when the Vlra Saivas and Vira Vaishnavas in the south were fighting with each other for supremacy, using all o( weapons ; that about tlu- j I d fotfr I (janvi) is waning of tttown; it uecurs frequently as ' tho termination of the modern names of viil-ii unj'iki»iiur uiscriptionB %w «^.- — jKOUt!, the only instance in which I ha«! y&t met with it in that form. or, gold, aihrer, coral, the pearl, and the Bagapatta.
 * Hold, the diamond, the sapphire, Ui ft ruby, and ttu