India as Known to Panini: A Study of the Cultural Material in the Ashtadhyayi c11.s1.9

c11.s1.9

*MAHĀRĀJA.* Besides referring to the *bhakti* shown to Mahārāja as stated above, Pāṇini also mentions that Mahārāja was a *devatā* (IV.2.35), to whom oblations were offered. According to Patañjali *bali* offered to Mahārāja was called *mahārāja-bali* (I.388, cf. also *Kāśikā*, II.1.36). This deity may be identified with those mentioned as a group of Four Great Kings, *Chattāro Mahārājāno*, who dwell in the *Chātummahārājika* or the lowest *deva* world as guardians of the four quarters. In *Jātaka* VI.265, Vessavaṇa is called a Mahārāja and in the *Mahāsutasoma Jātaka* Śakra and the other three Lokapālas are called *Mahārājāno* (VI.259). They also stand at the head of the list of gods and other superhuman beings in the *Āṭānāṭiya Sutta* (*Dict. Pāli Proper Names*, I.242; 861). From *bhakti* to Mahārāja deity, it is clear that Vāsudeva as an object of *bhakti* is also to be taken as a deity as stated by Patañjali.