The History of Indian Literature c8.378

c8.378

The legends interspersed in such numbers throughout the Bráhmaṇa have a special significance. In some of them the language is extremely antiquated, and it is probable therefore that before their incorporation into it they possessed an independent form. The following deserve special mention from their being treated in detail, viz., the legends of the Deluge and the rescue of Manu; of the emigration of Videgha Máthava from the Sarasvatí to the Sadánírá in the country of the Kosala-Videhas; of the restoration to youth of Chyavana by the Aśvins at the request of his wife Sukanyá, the daughter of Śaryáta Mánava; of the contest between Kadrú and Suparṇí; of the love and separation of Purúravas and Urvaśí, and others. Many of them reappear as episodes in the epic, in a metrical garb, and often very much altered. It is obvious that we have here a much more intimate connection with the epic than exists in the other Bráhmanas. The names Valhika, Janamejaya, and Nagnajit have the most direct reference to the legend of the Mahá-Bhárata; as also the names already discussed above in connection with the Saṃhitá, Ambá, Ambiká, Ambáliká, Subhadrá, and the use there made of the words *arjuna* and *phalguna*. In any case, we must look for the explanation