History of Mediaeval Hindu India (being a History of India from 600 to 1200 A.D.) v2.c28.s1.94

v2.c28.s1.94

There are two more references to the Maru desert in the Mahābhārata which must be noticed here as giving us an idea as to how Maru was made habitable. When Śrī Kṛṣṇa was returning to Dwārkā—his home—after the Great War, he was accosted on the skirts of the Maru desert by Uttanka who appears to have been the first Brahmin to establish his Āśrama there. He complained to Śrī Kṛṣṇa that he often felt thirsty and got little water to drink. The latter asked him to remember him whenever he felt thirsty and thereafter sent clouds whenever Uttanka remembered him, clouds which gave plentiful of water and quenched Uttanka's thirst. Since his days certain clouds appear in Maru in hot days which are called Uttanka clouds (Mahābhārata Asvr. P. Ch.) The second legend refers to the hot winds that blow from the desert and Uttanka was troubled by these hot winds also, These were supposed to be the breathings of Dhundhu a demon, who lay concealed beneath the sands of the desert or dried sea. Uttanka sought and obtained the help of the solar race king Kuvalāśva of Ayodhyā. The latter dug out the sand and discovered the demon. Many Kshatriyas died in the hot fire emitted by the demon but eventually the fire was quenched by water brought by the king and the demon was destroyed. Kuvalāśva was thence-forth called Dhundhumāra (Vana P. Chap. 204). This story is again told in the Mahābhārata and is told in the Rāmāyaṇa also. It thus appears to be a favourite legend and shows that the first settlement in Maru was led by the Solar Kshatriyas.