Political History of Ancient India, from the Accession of Parikshit to the Extinction of the Gupta Dynasty c9.s3.224

c9.s3.224

Sacrifices threatened to have serious repercussions on the fortunes of the royal family even in the days of Janamejaya. The performance of ritual in the approved form by proper persons seems to have excited as much interest in the Kuru country as philosophical discussions did at the court of Videha. Even in the fourth century B.C. the great Chandragupta Maurya had to attend to sacrifices in the midst of his pressing duties relating to war and judicial administration. A sacrificial error was not a trivial matter, especially in the ancient realm of the Kurus, which was the citadel of Brāhmaṇic ritualism. To religious indiscretions were soon added natural calamities and the effect on the people was disastrous. Mention has already been made of the Purāṇic tradition about the destruction of Hāstinapura by the erosive action of the Ganges. The Chhāndogya Upanishad refers to the devastation of the crops in the Kuru country by *Maṭachi* (hailstones or locusts) and the enforced migration of the family of Ushasti Chākrāyaṇa, who repaired to the village of an unnamed noble or wealthy man, next to a neighbourly prince and ultimately to the court of Janaka of Videha.¹