Dwarka

“ Bulram replied, “Brother! some great man must have obtained possession of it, who has not brought it and shown it to us. That jewel cannot possibly be concealed; wait a little, and it will turn up somewhere.” Buldeo Jee proceeded to say, “Brother! set out now for Dwarka, and I will go and search for the jewel; which I will bring with me, wherever I may find it.”
Having proceeded thus far in the narrative, Shree Shookdeo Jee said to the Raja Pureechit,—O great king! Shree Krishnù Chund, the root of joy, having killed Sutdhunwa, started for Dwarka ”

“ Many are their devices of evil-doing when abroad; and here I confine the remark to those who are not what they seem to be. Thugs, poisoners and kidnappers are to be found among Jogis. When visiting Dwarka many years ago, I was loudly cursed by a Byragee for not readily enough yielding to his demand for alms, and as I put off from the shore, to give point to his execrations, the angered fellow, stark and gray, seemed a very blue devil, as, standing to his full height and with both arms stretched upwards, he flung dust into the air while uttering his direst maledictions. ”

“ At Karachi I stored much useless kit, motor cycle, and spare saddlery, and notwithstanding a heavy bout of malaria just before, left for service fit and well equipped and with as excellent a horse as one could wish for. We sailed in the tiny mail boat Dwarka for Muscat, Bushire, Basra.
Muscat is a mere safety valve of Satan in his sparest wilderness, a lonely patch of white buildings completely shut in by awful mountains, rocks that in remote ages seem to have frowned themselves into the most fearful convulsions. ”

“ Some days having elapsed, Shree Moorari, the friend of his worshippers, determined to send for Akroor Jee; and coming to Bulram, said, “Brother! bring some calamity on the inhabitants of the city, and send for Akroor.” Buldeo replied, “O great king! do whatever is most agreeable to yourself, and confer happiness on virtuous men.” When Bulram had thus spoken, Shree Krishnù Chund caused fevers and diseases of all kinds to rage in the city of Dwarka. ”

“ He is not beloved by any one, he who has turned his back upon his father and mother; he does not remain an hour without Radha, and it is she, who has made him stay away; again what have you and I gained by leaving our homes, sacrificing all respect for our families, and for the world, abandoning our sons and husbands, and fixing our affections upon Huri; having embarked us on the boat of love, he has altogether left us in the midst of the sea of separation; and we hear, that Krishnù has now gone to Dwarka, and contracted many marriages ”

“ Gujarát Disturbances, 1857–1859. off a wounded man of Her Majesty’s 28th Regiment under a very heavy fire. Treasure valued at 31⁄2 lákhs of rupees was taken on board the Firoz for safe custody. It was eventually restored to the Pujáris of the temples, but most of the temples had been carefully plundered by the Wághers before the entry of the British force.
Dwárka Fort Taken.Many of the fugitives from Bet took refuge in Dwárka, and Colonel Donovan’s force having re-embarked proceeded to Dwárka to await the arrival of Colonel Scobie’s small brigade. ”

“ About this time a learned man, Mulla Mahmúd Samarkandi, on his way from the Dakhan to Central Asia, complained to the king that he had been robbed by the pirates of Jagat or Dwárka.44 On hearing of this outrage Mahmúd Sháh marched to Jagat Destroyed.Jagat, took the fort, and destroyed the idol temples. The pirates, in the first instance, retired to the island of Shankhodára or Bet, but from this, too, after a stout resistance they were driven with great slaughter. The king built a mosque at Jagat, entrusted the government to Farhat-ul-Mulk, and himself returned to Junágaḍh. ”

“ The Raja Nugnujjit then sent for the family priest, and gave his daughter in marriage according to the prescribed injunctions of the Vedas. Her dowry consisted of ten thousand cows, nine lakhs of elephants, ten lakhs of horses, seventy-three lakhs of chariots, and male and female servants without number. When Shree Krishnù Chund departed thence, taking the dowry with him, the Rajas of the country were greatly enraged; and came and surrounded him on his way back. Urjoon destroyed and put them to flight, with arrows; and Huri returned with them all to Dwarka, happy and rejoicing. ”

“ Shree Krishnù Chund, the root of joy, taking with him Jamwutee and the jewel, came forth from the cave. And now be pleased to listen to what befel the descendants of Judoo, and companions of Pursen and Shree Krishnù, who were standing at the mouth of the cave. When twenty-eight days had elapsed and Huri did not return, they went thence, devoid of all hope; and came to Dwarka, troubled with all kinds of perplexing thoughts, and shedding tears. The descendants of Judoo were very much alarmed at the intelligence they brought ”

“ In a.d. 1816, at the time of occupation, the Bombay Government informed the Baroda administration that they had no wish to permanently establish themselves at so distant a spot, which contained, moreover, a much frequented shrine of Hindu worship, and that they were willing to put the Gáikwár in possession if he would engage to keep up a sufficient force in the district to protect the neighbouring ports and shores from the pirates and wreckers that infested the island of Dwárká and the adjoining mainland. ”

“ Blessed are those children who have such a father enshrined in their memory. It is no wonder that a family in which a mother has once been worshipped as a goddess had a scion like Dwarkanath, so respectful to his mother in spite of the flame of persecution she kindled. It was for this excellent trait in his character, that during the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857, when the Christians in Agra — European and Indian — were foully massacred, Dwarkanath was screened from the fury of the fanatics by the Hindu residents of the city. ”

“ Riding upon a golden car, the hero then set out for Dwaraka, the capital of the Yadavas. And, O Janamejaya, for honouring the son of Kunti, the city of Dwaraka, was well-adorned, even all the gardens and houses within it. The citizens of Dwaraka, desirous of beholding the son of Kunti, began to pour eagerly into the public thoroughfares by hundreds of thousands. In the public squares and thoroughfares, hundreds and thousands of women, mixing with the men, swelled the great crowd of the Bhojas, the Vrishnis, and the Andhakas, that had collected there. ”

“ Nagdragore is one with a thousand nameless ruins; a crumbling mass of shattered stone and broken marble, lost in the waving green deeps of the blind crawling jungle.
This tale is of the times of Nagdragore's lost splendor, before she decayed and fell before the ravages of White Hun, Tatar and Mogul; a tale of the Age that saw her gleam like a scintillant jewel on the dusky breast of India, when her imperial towers rose golden, white and purple in the blue, gazing with the pride of assured destiny across the green-girdling, white-foaming Gulf of Cambay. ”

“ Was it not the Smuggler who told us to order the Malay to enter the ajoupa of Djalma, to surprise him during his sleep, and, instead of killing him as he might have done, to trace the name of Bowanee upon his arm? Djalma will thus learn to judge of the resolution, the cunning and obedience of our brethren, and he will understand what he has to hope or fear from such men. Be it through admiration or through terror, he must become one of us. ”

“ Durga, as worshipped, is represented as a female with ten arms and hands, in which she grasps various warlike weapons. She is in the act of thrusting a spear into the breast of a giant, while a serpent, held in one of her hands, is striking its fangs into the prostrate wretch, who is also being torn by a lion at the goddess' feet. On her right hand stand two of her children, the god Ganesha and the goddess Lachmy ”

“ Durga! Durga!”
One day, being very sad, he went to a forest many miles distant from the village in which he lived, and indulging his grief wept bitter tears. He prayed in the following manner:—“O Durga! O Mother Bhagavati! wilt thou not make an end of my misery? Were I alone in the world, I should not have been sad on account of poverty; but thou hast given me a wife and children. Give me, O Mother, the means to support them.” It so happened that on that day and on that very spot the god Siva and his wife Durga were taking their morning walk. ”

“ One [Pg 322] day Narada, the sage, stood before Yudhishthira and told that a great fire had swept through the jungle, and that Dhritarashtra, and Gandhari, and Pritha, and all who were with them, had perished.
Soon afterwards the Pandavas came to know, by reason of dread omens which appeared, that a great calamity was drawing nigh, but no man could tell what it was or when it would take place.
Ere long it became known that the city of Dwaraka was doomed to be destroyed. A horror in human shape was beheld in the night ”

“ Durga stands with one foot on a lion whose Sanskrit name is Hari, the god of day, the sun, and the other on the demon Darkness, for Dawn may be said to stand on both. The left foot of Durga, with which she crushes the demon, is raised a little in the attitude of employing force, for Dawn virtually makes the demon Darkness bear her weight. ”

“ The Kalika Purana says, whoever in the great festival of Durga does not worship the Devi whether from ignorance, vanity, or jealousy, or from any other cause, the wrath of the Goddess falls on him and destroys all his wishes. ”

“ According to certain interpretations of the Puranas and Tantras, Durga has been made to assume a different character, that is Force, Prakrti, Sakti. But when it is remembered that man's idea of the godhead in the infancy of the world was derived from the manifestations of the sun, moon and stars, the identification of Durga with Dawn, it is to be hoped, will not appear altogether extravagant. Indeed, this theory finds a remarkable confirmation in the Invokation to the Goddess sung by Kalidasa in his Sakuntala or the Lost Ring quoted in the title-page. ”

“ You are riding in a palanquin and I am trotting by you on a red horse.
It is evening and the sun goes down. The waste of Joradighi lies wan and grey before us. The land is desolate and barren.
You are frightened and thinking--"I know not where we have come to."
I say to you, "Mother, do not be afraid."
The meadow is prickly with spiky grass, and through it runs a narrow broken path.
There are no cattle to be seen in the wide field; they have gone to their village stalls.
It grows dark and dim on the land and sky, and we cannot tell where we are going. ”

“ The Maráthás had still to seek for soldiers in the rugged and barren country on the Gháts and in the Konkan, where the people could only look for a hand-to-mouth existence if they remained at home. The warlike tribes of Gujarát were, as has been already seen, too proud by birth and position to engage themselves to fight for any but their own race and interest. The aboriginal races were not likely to prove effective allies even if they had been willing to move from their own woods and fortresses. ”

“ The white road serpentines down the mountain side, and far below lies the green valley and its tiny village, Dobrsko Selo; on all sides rise the crags wild and majestic; away in the distance gleams the great silver lake of Skodra. Beyond it the blue Albanian mountains, their peaks glittering with snow even in June, show fainter and fainter, and the land of mystery and the unspeakable Turk fades into the sky—a scene so magnificent and so impressive that it is worth all the journey from England just to have looked at it. ”

“ Once when Gujarát was suffering from famine Bhíma heard that Bhoja was coming with a force against Gujarát. Alarmed at the news Bhíma asked Dámara his minister of peace and war to prevent Bhoja coming. Dámara went to Málwa, amused the king by witty stories, and while a play was being acted in court degrading and joking other kings, something was said regarding Tailapa of Telingana. On this Damara reminded the king that the head of his grandfather Muñja was fixed at Tailap’s door. Bhoja grew excited and started with an army against Telingana. ”

“ The people here are much fairer skinned than the Afghans, are differently clothed, and appear a more orderly community.
Duroh is a flourishing little village surrounded by corn-fields and walled gardens. It is supplied with water from a spring in the hills hard by, and is protected by a couple of fortified towers on some rocky heights overlooking the village. Below it is a wide sandy ravine, and beyond lies a long level valley extending north and south between hills, and covered with a profusion of pasture herbs, on which we found some large herds of cattle at graze. ”

“ He was overtaking Durgádás when Durgádás’ grandson praying his grandfather to make good his escape, stayed behind with a band of followers, charged the pursuers, and after a gallant combat, he and his Rájputs were slain. The grandson of Durgádás was killed in a hand-to-hand fight with Salábat Khán, the son of Safdar Khán Bábi. Emerald rings are to this day worn by youths of the Bábi families of North Gujarát in memory of the emerald earrings which adorned the young Rájput and were afterwards worn by Salábat as trophies of this fight. ”

“ After Rachel’s adventure in the flooded river she and her parents pursued their journey by slow and tedious marches, and at length, though in those days this was strange enough, reached Natal unharmed. At first they went to live where the city of Durban now stands, which at that time had but just received its name. It was inhabited by a few rough men, who made a living by trading and hunting, and surrounded themselves with natives, refugees for the most part from the Zulu country. ”