Anuradhapura

“ The city of Anuradhapura is now totally deserted in the midst of an almost uninhabited jungle. Its public buildings must have suffered severely from the circumstances under which it perished, exposed for centuries to the attacks of foreign enemies. Besides this, the rank vegetation of Ceylon has been at work for 1000 years, stripping off all traces of plaster ornaments, and splitting the masonry in many places. ”

“ Anuradhapura was the first capital, but owing to many vicissitudes and several invasions of the Malabars of Southern India, the capital was moved many times, Kandy being the sixth; it preceded Cotta, near Colombo, the latter being the present capital. In 1532, on the landing of the Portuguese at Colombo, the last blow was struck, and soon the great cities of the Empire were deserted and left in the hands of foreigners. The best dagobas were crumbling, immense tanks broken, and general devastation succeeded where splendor had long reigned. ”

“ The cultus of the tooth flourished exceedingly in the next few centuries and it came to be regarded as the talisman of the king and nation. Hence when the court moved from Anuradhapura to Pollunaruwa it was installed in the new capital. In the troubled times which followed it changed its residence some fifteen times. Early in the fourteenth century it was carried off by the Tamils to southern India but was recovered by Parâkrama Bâhu III and during the commotion created by the invasions of the Tamils, Chinese and Portuguese it was hidden in various cities. ”

“ Remains of the monastic buildings are to be found in every direction in the shape of raised stone platforms, foundations and stone pillars. The most famous is the Brazen Palace erected by King Datagamana about 164 B.C. The pokunas are bathing-tanks or tanks for the supply of drinking-water, which are scattered everywhere through the jungle. The city also contains a sacred Bo-tree, which is said to date back to the year 245 B.C. The railway was extended from Matale to Anuradhapura in 1905. Population: town, 3672 ”

“ Story of Anangarati in a former birth when she was a Vidyádhari named Anangaprabhá.:— There is a city on the Himálayas named Vírapura; and in it there dwells a sovereign of Vidyádharas named Samara. He had a daughter, named Anangaprabhá, born to him by his queen Anangavatí. When, in the pride of her youth and beauty, she refused to have any husband, her parents, enraged at her persistence, cursed her— "Become a human being, and even in that state you shall not enjoy the happiness of married life. When you are a maiden of sixteen years, you shall abandon the body and come here. ”

“ Arjuna, disguised as a Brahman, performs the feat with ease, and his youth and grace win the heart of Draupadí more completely than his skill. The princess henceforth follows the fortunes of the brothers, and, by a strange ancient custom, lives with them in common. The Pandavas, now allied to the King Draupada and become strong, are so much dreaded by the Kauravas that they are invited back again, for safety's sake, to Hastinapura, and settle near it in the city of Indraprastha, now Delhi. The reign of Yudhishthira and his brothers is very prosperous there ”

“ First she abandoned the splendour of the Vidyádharas, then of a throne, and now she put herself under the shelter of a bard’s fortune; alas! fickle is the mind of women! And so Anangaprabhá went with the teacher of dancing, and reached a distant city named Viyogapura. There she dwelt in happiness with him, and the distinguished dancer thought that by obtaining her his name of Labdhavara12 had been justified.
And in the meanwhile king Harivara, finding out that his beloved Anangaprabhá had gone somewhere or other, was ready to abandon the body out of grief. ”

“ But Anangaprabhá, seated on the plank, was piloted to the shore of the sea in one day by Ságaravíra. And there that chief of the fishermen, consoling her, took her to his own palace in the city of Ságarapura. There Anangaprabhá, reflecting that that chief of the fishermen was a hero who had saved her life, and was equal to a king in opulence, and in the prime of youth and good looks, and obedient to her orders, made him her husband: a woman who has lost her virtue does not distinguish between high and low. ”

“ Worshipped by the sons of Vrishni's race, Arjuna, sporting there as he pleased, passed a whole year in Dwaraka. The last year of his exile the exalted one passed at the sacred region of Pushkara. After the twelve years were complete he came back to Khandavaprastha. He approached the king first and then worshipped the Brahmanas with respectful attention. At last the hero went unto Draupadi. Draupadi, from jealousy, spoke unto him, saying 'Why tarriest thou here, O son of Kunti ? Go where the daughter of the Satwata race is ! A second tie always relaxeth the first one upon a faggot ! ”

“ When even gods have to endure so much suffering by associating with the wives of others, what must be the result of it to inferior beings?
In the meanwhile Anangaprabhá became head-queen in Harivara, the city of the king Harivara. And the king remained day and night with his mind fixed on her, and entrusted the great burden of his kingdom to his minister named Sumantra. And once on a time there came to that king from Madhyadeśa,10 a fresh teacher of dancing, named Labdhavara. ”

“ But one is left at Anaradhapura more precious than rubies—the famous image of the Buddha seated alone in a forest glade, the true presentment of a God, to whom beneath his closed eyes eternity is visible and time the shadow of a dream. Around him surged once the clamour of a great city, around him now the growth of the forest, both to his vision alike—and nothing. Some wayfarer had laid a flower at his feet when I stood there, and a white tassel of the areca palm. The sun and moon circle before him in this lonely place and the centuries pass like seasons.
“Forgetful is green earth ”

“ The Anamalai hills, in Southern Madras, form the refuge of many non-Aryan tribes. The long-haired, wild-looking Puliars live on jungle products, mice, or any small animals they can catch; and worship demons. Another clan, the Mundavers, have no fixed dwellings, but wander over the innermost hills with their cattle. They shelter themselves in caves or under little leaf sheds, and seldom remain in one spot more than a year. The thick-lipped, small-bodied Kaders, 'Lords of the Hills,' are a remnant of a higher race. ”

“ The city so founded was known variously as Kusumapura, Pushpapura, or Pataliputra, and rapidly developed in size and magnificence, until, under the Maurya dynasty, it became the capital, not only of Magadha, but of India.
Buddha, as has been mentioned above, died early in the reign of Ajatasatru. Shortly before his death, Kapilavastu, his ancestral home, was captured by Virudhaka, King of Kosala, who is alleged to have perpetrated a ferocious massacre of the Sakya clan to which Buddha belonged. ”

“ Then Duhsasana, blushing with shame, addressed his brother softly and said, ‘If Arjuna had not disguised himself as a Brahmana, he could never have succeeded in obtaining Draupadi. It was for this disguise, O king, that no one could recognise him as Dhananjaya. Fate, I ween, is ever supreme. Exertion is fruitless; fie on our exertions, O brother! The Pandavas are still alive!’ Speaking unto one another thus and blaming Purochana (for his carelessness) , they then entered the city of Hastinapura, with cheerless and sorrowful hearts. ”

“ When Anangadeva had said this to king Vikramáditya, though the king recollected accomplishing that difficult rescue of the Yakshiṇí, he did not consider it worth a straw, when he heard of the return she had made for it; great-souled men, even when they have done much, think it worth [586] very little. And, being much pleased, he loaded25 Anangadeva for the second time, with elephants, horses, villages, and jewels, and bestowed similar gifts on the ambassador of the king of Sinhala. ”

“ Too soon has the Happy One departed. Too soon is the World’s Light darkened.”
But the great Arhats bore their sorrow calm and self-possessed, saying:
“Transient are all earth’s things. How is it possible they should not be dissolved?”
And all that night did the great Sariputta and Anuruddha spend in high discourse but Ananda wept nor could be comforted.
And in the morning the great Anuruddha addressed the sorrowing Assembly.
“Enough, my brethren. Weep not nor lament. Has not the Blessed One declared to us that it is in the very nature of things near and dear to us that we and they must part? ”

“ Beyond them again lived the Andaroi, in whom it is impossible not to recognize the Andhras of Southern India. The Andhras were a great and powerful nation who had settled originally between the Godavari and the Krishna, but who before the time of Megasthenes had extended their kingdom as far north as the Narmada. Megasthenes writes that they were a powerful race, possessed numerous villages and thirty walled towns, and supplied their king with 100,000 infantry, 2,000 cavalry, and 1,000 elephants. ”

“ With subdued senses and regulated diet one should next proceed to Svargadwara. Sojourning thither, one obtaineth the merit of the Agnishtoma sacrifice and goeth to the abode of Brahma. The pilgrim should then, O king, proceed to the tirtha called Anaraka. Bathing there, O king, one never meeteth with distress hereafter. There, O king, Brahma himself with the other gods having Narayana at their head, is ever present, O tiger among men! And, O royal son of the Kuru race, the wife also of Rudra is present there. Beholding the goddess, one never meeteth with distress hereafter. ”

“ Ananta paused for a dramatic moment; then spoke slowly and seriously.
"I propose that I send you and your fellow disciple Jitendra this morning to the near-by city of Brindaban. You must not take a single rupee; you must not beg, either for food or money; you must not reveal your predicament to anyone; you must not go without your meals; and you must not be stranded in Brindaban. If you return to my bungalow here before twelve o'clock tonight, without having broken any rule of the test, I shall be the most astonished man in Agra!" ”

“ It passed along the north side of the Kallamma and Rangasvami temples, leaving the imperial office enclosure with its lofty walls and watch-towers, and the elephant stables, on the left, skirted the Jain temple and the temple numbered "35" on the plan, and passed along under the rocky hills that bound this plain on the north till it debouched on the main road above mentioned. This street would be the direct approach from the old city of Anegundi to the king's palace.
In A.D. 1430 the king made a grant to a temple far in the south in the Tanjore district. ”

“ The king, who was helpless from the loss of his elephant, gave her to him; for kings, who know times and seasons, bend like canes, if it is expedient to do so. "So, by the sagacity of that minister Mantragupta, the king Bhadrabáhu obtained Anangalílá. And in the same way I must obtain that wife by wisdom." When Mrigánkadatta said this, his minister Vichitrakatha said to him— " You will succeed in all by the favour of Śiva which was promised you in a dream. What will not the effective favour of the gods accomplish? ”

“ From the Mahabharata we learn that there were Naga kingdoms between the Jumna and the Ganges about the 13th century B. C. When the kings of the Lunar race of Aryas wanted to found a second capital near the spot where Delhi stands at present, they had to dislodge the Nagas who occupied it. Arjuna, the hero of the poem, in his banishment, is said to have married first Ulipi, the daughter of a Naga king, then Chitrangadai, daughter of Chitravahana, the Naga king of Manipura. ”

“ But the king did not die. The son being born the Rishis said—"Who will be its nurse". There appeared the king of the celestials and said "He shall have me for his nurse (mamayan dhāsyati) ". He was thence called Māndhāta. Indra put his fore-finger into the mouth of the infant, who sucked it and drew it from heavenly nectar. And he grew up and became a powerful king and brought the seven continents into his subjection. It is said of him "From the rising of the setting sun all that is lighted by his rays is the land of Māndhāta the son of Yuvanāswa". ”

“ Annabhāra returned to his master's house and said to him: "I present thee, my lord, with a share of the bliss of my offering. Deign to accept it."7
Sumana accepted it and offered his slave a sum of money, but Annabhāra replied: "Not so, my lord; if I accept thy money it would appear as if I sold thee my share. Bliss cannot be sold; I beg thou wilt accept it as a gift."8
The master replied: "Brother Annabhāra, from this day forth thou shah be free. ”

“ Andh.1—A low cultivating caste of Berār, who numbered 52,000 persons in 1911, and belong to the Yeotmal, Akola and Buldāna Districts. The Andhs appear to be a non-Aryan tribe of the Andhra or Tamil country, from which they derive their name. The territories of the Andhra dynasty extended across southern India from sea to sea in the early part of the Christian era. This designation may, however, have been given to them after migration, emigrants being not infrequently called in their new country by the name of the place from which they came, as Berāri, Purdesi, Audhia (from Oudh) , and so on. ”

“ While Arjuna was in the heaven of Indra, King Yudhisthira passed some time in the forest of Kamyaka, in company with his three younger brothers and Draupadi, attended by his family priest, Dhaumya, and a number of faithful Brahmans. Here he learned, from an illustrious Rishi, Vrihadaçwa, “the science of dice in its entirety,” ignorance of which science had cost him so dear. ”