Political History of Ancient India, from the Accession of Parikshit to the Extinction of the Gupta Dynasty c9.s7.135

c9.s7.135

The earliest appearance of Aṅga is in the *Atharva Veda*³ in connection with the Gandhāris, Mūjavats, and Magadhas. The *Rāmāyaṇa* tells an absurd story about the origin of this Janapada. It is related in that epic that Madana or Anaṅga, the god of love, having incurred the displeasure of the God Śiva fled from the hermitage of the latter to escape his consuming anger, and the region where "he cast off his body (*aṅga*)" has since been known by the name of Aṅga.⁴ The *Mahābhārata* and the *Purāṇas* attribute the foundation of the kingdom to a prince named Aṅga.⁵ The tradition may claim some antiquity as Aṅga Vairochana is included in the list of anointed kings in the *Aitareya Brāhmaṇa*.⁶ The consecration of this ruler with the Aryan ritual styled the *Aindra mahābhisheka* causes some surprise as the *Bodhāyana Dharma Sūtra* groups the Aṅgas with peoples