Political History of Ancient India, from the Accession of Parikshit to the Extinction of the Gupta Dynasty c9.s7.175

c9.s7.175

The name Magadha first appears in the *Atharva-Veda*⁴ where fever as wished away to the Gandhāris, Mūjavats, Aṅgas, and Magadhas. The bards of Magadha are, however, mentioned as early as the *Yajur-Veda*.⁵ They are usually spoken of in the early Vedic literature in terms of contempt. In the Vrātya book of the *Atharva Saṁhitā*,⁶ the Vrātya i.e., the Indian living outside the pale of Brāhmanism, is brought into very special relation to the *puṁśchalī* (harlot) and the *Māgadha*. "In the eastern region (*Prāchyām diśi*)" faith is his harlot, Mitra his *Māgadha* (bard or panegyrist).¹ In the *Śrauta Sūtras* the equipment characteristic of the *Vrātya* is said to be given, when the latter is admitted into the Aryan Brāhmaṇical community, to the so-called Brāhmaṇas living in Magadha, *Brahmabandhu Māgadhadeśīya*.² The Brāhmaṇas of Magadha, are here spoken of in a disparaging tone as *Brahmabandhu*.³ In the *Sāṅkhāyana Āraṇyaka*, however, the views of a *Magadha-vāsī Brāhmaṇa* are quoted with respect. The Vedic dislike of the Magadhas in early times was due, according to Oldenberg⁴, to the fact that the Magadhas were not wholly Brāhmaṇised. Pargiter suggests⁵ that in Magadha the Aryans met and mingled with a body of invaders from the east by sea.