History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v5.c74.t4.10

v5.c74.t4.10

Stripping this story of the supernatural, it appears probable that the holy place Puruṣottama was called Nīlācala in very ancient times, that Kṛṣṇa worship was introduced from Northern India at that place, and that three images of wood were established in comparatively early times. It may be stated here that in the Maitrāyaṇī Upaniṣad¹⁵⁷⁶ an Indradyumna is named among a host of cakravartins. The Kūrmapurāṇa (II. 35. 27) makes a brief and colourless reference to Puruṣottama (tīrtham Nārāyaṇasyānyat-nāmnā tu Puruṣottamam). Rajendralal Mitra ('Antiquities of Orissa') surmises that there were three periods in the history of the Puruṣottama-kṣetra, viz. early Hindu period, the Buddhist period and the Vaisṇava period (after the 5th century A. D. when Buddhism began to wane). He notices that from about the 7th century A. D. considerable temple records on palm leaves exist, but that the temple records for the Buddhist period are untrustworthy (p. 104) and that there are indications that Purī was probably a place of Buddhist sanctuary (p. 107). The indications of the existence of Buddhism in Orissa are the existence of Aśoka's rock edicts on the Dhauli Hill (C. I. I. vol. I. pp. 84-100), the existence of many caves of the Buddhist period on the Khandagiri range about five miles to the west of Bhuvaneśvara, the procession of the car of Jagannātha which resembles the procession of Buddha's Tooth relic as described by Fa Hien (Hunter's Orissa, vol. I. p. 131-132) and the three crude wooden images of Kṛṣṇa, Subhadrā and Balarāma which are hardly found anywhere else and which correspond to the three peculiarities of Buddhism viz. Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. Vide Mitra's 'Antiquities of Orissa,' vol. II. pp. 122-126 (where he gives wood-cuts showing the figures of the images and comparing them with Buddhist symbols and Cunningham's 'Ancient Geography of India' pp. 510-511 (the remarks in which appear to me far-fetched). In J. R. A. S. vol. 18 at p. 402 (new series) Sewell thinks that the celebrated image of Jagannātha was originally one of the Triśūlas or developed Taurus symbols.