History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v3.c37.57

v3.c37.57

We saw above that according to Patañjali Vāsudeva was not a mere kṣatriya but an incarnation of God. Patañjali quotes a quarter of a verse which speaks of Kaṁsa being killed by Vāsudeva and refers to painted shows wherein the party of Vāsudeva were dressed in black and of Kaṁsa in red (*vide* Mahābhāṣya, vol. II. p. 36 and p. 119). Patañjali also speaks of Ugrasena as a member of the Andhaka clan and Viṣvaksena as a Vṛṣṇi and of Baladeva also (Mahābhāṣya, vol. II. p. 257 on Pāṇini IV. 1. 114) and of Satyabhāmā (vol. I. p. 111) and Akrūra (vol. II. p. 295). So the main story of Kṛṣṇa and persons connected with his ministry on earth as gathered from the Mahābhārata, the Harivaṁśa &c. were known to Patañjali and to some extent also to Pāṇini. The Besnagara Inscription of Heliodorus (E. I. vol. X. Appendix p. 63 No. 669) shows that even Greeks became devotees of Viṣṇu. The Eran Stone Inscription (vide Gupta Inscriptions p. 158 No. 36) refers to the Boar Incarnation. The Bhāgavatapurāṇa II. 4. 18 declares that even Kirātas, Hūṇas, Andhras, Pulindas, Pukkasas, Ābhīras, Suhmas, Yavanas, Khasas and others and even sinners, when they throw themselves on the mercy of Viṣṇu as devotees, are purified. It may therefore be assumed that the theory of the avatāras of Viṣṇu (whether ten or less or more) had been prevalent some centuries before the Christian era.