Social Life in Ancient India: Studies in Vatsyayana's Kamasutra c6.95

c6.95

of Soma, the moon-god. He ultimately recovered his male form by virtue of an Aśvamedha sacrifice performed under the auspices of his father, Kardama. Then the story tells us that Ila gave up Bāhlīka, placing his first son, Śaśavindu on the throne of that country and himself founded a new city, Pratiṣṭhāna-pura by name in the Madhyadeśa and set up a kingdom there. After his death Pururavas Aila ascended the throne left vacant by Ila.¹ This Pratiṣṭhānapura was, as we know from the Purāṇas and Kālidāsa's *Vikramorvaśīyam*,² situated at the junction of the Ganges with the Yamunā, that is, was identical with Prayāga or Allahabad. The story as related here is virtually the same as in the other Purāṇas, but the importance of this version lies in its statement that Ila was originally a ruler of the Bāhlīka country and at last set up a kingdom in the Midland which was the centre of Vedic Aryan culture. The mythical character of the tradition tracing back the descent of some of the most important ruling families of India up to Soma, shows that it relates to the very earliest times of the Aryan settlement in India and its connection with Bahlika or Bactria may suggest that it is a reminiscence of the times when the Aryan race was dwelling in its cradle-land in Central Asia.