History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v5.c74.t2.101

v5.c74.t2.101

From the above-mentioned accounts in the Epic and Purāṇas about Kāśī and Mahādeva, various conclusions¹⁴¹⁴ have been drawn by writers, viz. that Mahādeva was a god of the non-Aryans, that Banaras was a centre of non-Aryan worship for a long time after the advent of the Aryans and that the people of Banaras, though they ultimately turned to the Aryan religion, were more interested in the philosophic speculations of the Upaniṣadic age. I dissent from most of these conclusions. We are on most unsafe ground as regards these conclusions. None of the extant Purāṇas can claim to be older than the 3rd or 4th century A. D Most people in India lived and even now live a humdrum, placid and unattractive life in which there is nothing to satisfy the ordinary man's appetite for the mysterious, the unusual and the horrible. The purāṇas contain stories that may be divided into several classes and that satisfied the above-mentioned cravings of the common man. Many of the legends contained in the purānas were meant for the entertainment of common people, just as even in these days millions in Western countries read with relish detective stories and crime club fiction. Some *paurāṇic* legends had a serious purpose in view viz emphasizing religious or philosophical dogma or moral values and standards and were clothed in a supernatural garb to make them striking and effective. Only a few legends have some historical basis, but the latter is evidently smothered in a mass of exaggerations and prejudices for or against a hero, or a caste, class, tribe or family. It is hardly fair to draw far-reaching historical conclusions from heterogeneous materials in the purānas about the conditions of things that prevailed several hundreds or thousands of years before they were compiled. The purānas often speak of the quarrels and bickerings among high gods and sages For example, the Viṣṇupurāṇa V. 30. 65 speaks of a fight between Indra and Kṛṣṇa. Was Kṛṣṇa a non-Aryan god originally? Gaṇeśa's left tooth was shattered by the missile of Paraśurāma who comes to fight with Rāma, both being supposed to be *avatāras* of Viṣṇu. The sage Bhṛgu curses Viṣṇu, Gautama curses Indra, Māṇḍavya curses Dharma (vide for all these, Brahmāṇḍa II. 27. 21-25).