Ancient Indian Historical Tradition c22.97

c22.97

These Aurvas lived in Madhyadeśa where they had fled and married,¹³ and the Haihaya king Arjuna Kārtavīrya is said in his conquests there to have molested Jamadagni. There was hostility, and Arjuna’s sons killed Jamadagni. Rāma in revenge killed Arjuna and also, it is said, many Haihayas (p. 151). The Haihayas pursued their devastating raids through N. India, until Sagara annihilated their power (p. 156). The brahmans confused all these occurrences in the fable that Rāma destroyed all kṣatriyas off the earth twenty-one times.¹ Consequently he is often styled the exterminator of the kṣatriyas.² But tradition, while apparently accepting that fable, redressed the honour of the kṣatriyas by two anachronistic fables, that Rāma challenged Rāma of Ayodhyā to fight and was defeated, and that he had a long contest with Bhīṣma also and was worsted (p. 72).