A History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature, so far as it illustrates the Primitive Religion of the Brahmans c6.180

c6.180

away, a story is told, that although Kakshîvat was the son of King Kalinga, yet his real father was the old Rishi Dîrghatamas, whose hymns have likewise been preserved in the first maṇḍala of the Rigveda. This poet had been asked by the king to beget offspring for him, according to ancient Indian custom. The queen, however, refused to see the old sage, and sent her servant-maid instead. The son of this servant and the Rishi Dîrghatamas was Kakshîvat, and as the son of a Rishi he was allowed to perform sacrifices and to receive presents. This story shows its purpose very clearly, and there can be little doubt that it owes its origin to the tender conscience of the Brahmans, who could not bear to see their laws violated by one of their own sacred Rishis. It is a gratuitous assumption to suppose that the poets of the Veda should have been perfect in the observance of the Brahmanic law. That law did not exist when they lived and composed their songs, for which in later times they were raised to the rank of saints. Whether Kakshîvat was the son of a Brahman or a Kshatriya, of a servant-maid or of a queen, is impossible to determine. But it is certain that in the times in which he lived, he would not have scrupled to act both as a warrior and priest, if circumstances required it. This becomes still more evident, if we accept Professor Lassen’s view, who considers Dîrghatamas, the father of Kakshîvat, as one of the earliest Brahmanic missionaries in the southern parts of Bengal, among the Angas and Kalingas.¹