Ancient Indian Historical Tradition c16.71

c16.71

Such similarities were nothing uncommon. Manu iii, 9 gives the plainest proof that such names did really occur, for he says a brahman should not marry a maiden who bore the name of a constellation, tree or river, of a low caste, of a mountain, of a bird, snake or slave, or of anything terrifying. Women then had such names, and so also had men; and the instances cited show that the range of names was wider than what Manu prohibits. In such conditions there was every chance of mistaking the application of names, confounding different persons of the same name,² confusing persons with things, devising fanciful explanations and fabricating mythology. Some illustrations of these tendencies have been given above, as the identifications of queens with rivers; and others occur, as where Vyāsa’s wife Araṇi is turned into the piece of wood used for kindling fire, and so their son Śuka was born therefrom.³