GANGEYA1.A name of Bhishma, from his reputed mother, the river goddess Ganga, 2. Also of Karttikeya.

GARGA An ancient sage, and one of the oldest writers on astronomy. He was a son of Vitatha. The Vishnu Purana says, “From Garga sprang Sina (or Sini); from them were descended the Gargyas and Sainyas, Brahmans of Kshatriya race.” The statement of the Bhagavata is, “From Garga sprang Sina; from them Gargya, who from a Kshatriya became a Brahman.” There were many Gargas; one was a priest of Krishna and the Yadavas.

GARGAS, GARGYAS Descendants of Garga, who, “although Kshatriyas of birth, became Brahmans and great Rishis.”

GARGYA, GARGYA BALAKI  Son of Balaki. He was a Brahman, renowned as a teacher and as a grammarian, who dealt especially with etymology, and was well read in the Veda, but still submitted to receive instruction from the Kshatriya Ajata-satru.

GARUDA A mythical bird or vulture, half-man, half-bird, on which Vishnu rides. He is the king of birds, and descended from Kasyapa and Vinata, one of the daughters of Daksha. He is the great enemy of serpents, having inherited his hatred from his mother, who had quarrelled with her co-wife and superior, Kadru, the mother of serpents. His lustre was so brilliant that soon after his birth the gods mistook him for Agni and worshipped him. He is represented as having the head, wings, talons, and beak of an eagle, and the body and limbs of a man. His face is white, his wings red, and his body golden. He had a son named Sampati, and his wife was Unnati or Vinayaka. According to the Maha-bharata, his parents gave him liberty to devour bad men, but he was not to touch Brahmans. Once, however, he swallowed a Brahman and his wife, but the Brahman so burnt his throat that he was glad to disgorge them both.

        Garuda is said to have stolen the Amrita form the gods in order to purchase with it the freedom of his mother from Kadru-Indra discovered the theft and fought a fierce battle with Garuda. The Amrita was recovered, but Indra was worsted in the fight, and his thunderbolt was smashed.

        Garuda has many names and epithets. From his parents he is called Kasyapi and Vainateya. He is the Suparna and the Garutman, or chief of birds. He is also called Dakahaya, Salmalin, Tarkshya, and Vinayaka, and among his epithets are the following:- Sitanana, `white faced;’ Rakta-paksha, `red winged;’ Sweta-rohits, `the white and red;’ Suvarna-kaya, `golden bodied;’ Ganganeswara,` lord of the sky;’ Khageswara, `king of birds;’ Nagantaka, and Pannaga-nasana, `destroyer of serpents;’ Sarparati, `enemy of serpents;’ Taraswin, `the swift;’ Rasayana, `who moves like quicksilver;’ Kama-charin, `who goes where he will;’ Kamayus, `who lives at pleasure;’ Chirad, `eating long;’ Vishnu-ratha, `vehicle of Vishnu;’ Amritaharana and Sudha-hara, `stealer of the Amrita;’ Surendra-jit, `vanquisher of Indra;’ Vajra-jit, `subduer of the thunderbolt,’ &c.

GARUDA PURANA The description given of this Purana is, “That which Vishnu recited in the Garuda Kalpa, relating chiefly to the birth of Garuda from Vinata, is called the Garuda Purana, and in it there are read 19,000 stanzas.” The works bearing this name which were examined by Wilson did not correspond in any respect with this description, and he considered it doubtful if a genuine Garuda Purana is in existence.

GATHA A song, a verse. A religious verse, but one not taken from the Vedas. Verses interspersed in the Sanskrit Buddhist work called Lalita-vistara, which are composed in a dialect between the Sanskrit and the Prakrit, and have given their name to this the Gatha dialect. The Zend hymns of the Zoroastrians are also called Gathas.

GATU A singer, a Gandharva.

GAUDA, GAURA The ancient name of Central Bengal; also the name of the capital of the country, the ruins of which city are still visible. The great northern nation of Brahmans. See Brahman.

GAUPAYANAS Sons or descendants of Gopa. Four Rishis, who were the authors of four remarkable hymns in the Rig-veda. One of them, named Su-bandhu, was killed and miraculously brought to life again. The hymns have been translated by Max Muller in the Journal R. A. S., vol. ii. 1866.

GAURI The `yellow’ or `brilliant,’ a name of the consort of Siva. (See Devi.) Varuna’s wife also is called Gauri.

GAUTAMA 1. A name of the sage Saradwat, as son of Gotama. He was husband of Ahalya, who was seduced by Indra. This seduction has been explained mythologically as signifying the carrying away of night by the morning sun, Indra being the sun, and Ahalya being explained as meaning night. 2. Author of a Dharma-sastra, which has been edited by Stenzler. 3. A name common to many men.

GAUTAMESA `Lord of Gautama.’ Name of one of the twelve great Lingas. See Linga.

GAUTAMI 1. An epithet of Durga. 2. Name of a fierce Rakshasi or female demon.

GAYA A city in Bihar. It is one of the seven sacred cities, and is still a place of pilgrimage, though its glory has departed.

GAYATRI A most sacred verse of the Rig-veda, which it is the duty of every Brahman to repeat mentally in his morning and evening devotions. It is addressed to the sun as Savitri, the generator, and so it is called also Savitri. Personified as a goddess, Savitri is the wife of Brahma, mother of the four Vedas, and also of the twice-born or three superior castes. Colebrooke’s translation of the Gayatri is “Earth, sky, heaven. Let us meditate on (these, and on) the most excellent light and power of that generous, sportive, and resplendent sun, (praying that) it may guide our intellects.” Wilson’s version is, in his translation of the Rig-veda, “We meditate on that desirable light of the divine Savitri who influences our pious rites.” In the Vishnu Purana he had before given a somewhat different version, “We meditate on that excellent light of the divine sun: may he illuminate our minds.” A later version by Benfey is, “May we receive the glorious brightness of this, the generator, of the god who shall prosper our works.”

        Wilson observes of it: “The commentators admit some variety of interpretation; but it probably meant, in its original use, a simple invocation of the sun to shed a benignant influence upon the customary offices of worship; and it is still employed by the unphilosophical Hindus with merely that signification. Later notions, and especially those of the Vedanta, have operated to attach to the text an import it did not at first possess, and have converted it into a mystical propitiation of the spiritual origin and essence of existence, or Brahma.” It is considered so holy that copyists often refrain from transcribing it.

        The name given to Sata-rupa (q.v.), Brahma’s female half, daughter, and consort, as ‘the declarer of sacred knowledge.” It is also applied to the consort of Siva in the Hari-vansa.

GHATA-KARPARA A poet, who was one of the “nine gems” of the court of Vikramaditya. There is a short artificial poem, descriptive of the rainy season, bearing this name, which has been translated into German by Dursch. The words mean `potsherds,’ and form probably an assumed literary name.

GHATOTKACHA A son of Bhima by the Rakshasi Hidimba. He was killed in the great battle by Karna with the fatal lance that warrior had obtained from Indra.

GHOSHA It is said in the Veda that the Aswins “bestowed a husband upon Ghosha growing old,” and the explanatory legend is that she was a daughter of Kakshivat, but being a leper, was incapable of marriage. When she was advanced in years the Aswins gave her health, youth, and beauty, so that she obtained a husband.

GHRITACHI An Apsaras or celestial nymph. She had many amours with great sages and mortal men. She was mother of ten sons by Raudraswa of Kusa-nabha, a descendant of Puru, and the Brahma Vaivartta Purana attributes the origin of some of the mixed castes to her issue by the sage Viswa-karman. The Hari-vansa asserts that she had ten daughters as well as ten sons by Raudraswa. Another legend represents her as mother by Kusa-nabha of a hundred daughters, whom Vayu wished to accompany him to the sky. They refused, and in his rage he cursed them to become deformed; but they recovered their natural shape and beauty, and were married to Brahma-datta, king of Kampila.

GIRI-JA `Mountain born.’ A name of Parvati or Devi. See Devi.

GIRI-VRAJA A royal city in Magadha identified with Raja-griha in Bihar.

GITA The Bhagavad-gita (q.v.)

GITA-GOVINDA A lyrical poem by Jaya-deva on the early life of Krishna as Govinda the cowherd. It is an erotic work, and sings the loves of Krishna and Radha, and other of the cowherd damsels, but a mystical interpretation has been put upon it. The poems are supposed to have been written about the twelfth or thirteenth century. There are some translations is the Asiatic Researches by Sir W. Jones, and a small volume of translations has been lately published by Mr. Edwin Arnold. There is also an edition of the text, with a Latin translation and notes, by Lassen, and there are some others.

GOBHILA An ancient writer of the Sutra-period. He was author of some Grihya Sutras, and of some Sutras on grammar. The Grihya Sutras have been published in the Bibliotheca Indica.

GO-KARNA `Cow’s ear.’ A place of pilgrimage sacred to Siva, on the west coast, near Mangalore.

GO-KULA A pastoral district on the Yamuna, about Mathura, where Krishna passed his boyhood with the cowherds.

GO-LOKA `The place of cows.’ Krishna’s heaven; a modern addition to the original series of seven Lokas.

GO-MANTA A great mountain in the Western Ghata. According to the Hari-vansa it was the scene of a defeat of Jara-sandha by Krishna.

GO-MATI The Gumti river in Oude; but there are others which bore the name. One fell into the Sindhu or Indus.

GO-PALA, GO-VINDA `Cow-keeper.’ A name of the youthful Krishna, who lived among the cowherds in Vrindavana.

GOPALA-TAPANI An Upanishad in honour of Krishna Printed in the Bibliotheca Indica.

GO-PATHA BRAHMANA The Brahmana of the Atharva or fourth Veda. It has been published by Rajendra Lala in the Bibliotheca Indica.

GOPATI-RISHABHA `Chief of herdsmen.’ 1. A title of Siva. 2. A demon mentioned in the Maha-bharata as slain by Krishna.

GOPIS The cowherd damels and wives with whom Krishna sported in his youth.

GOTAMA The founder of the Nyaya school of philosophy. He is called also Satananda, and is author of a Dharma-sastra or law-book, which has been edited by Stenzler. He is frequently called Gautama.

GO-VARDHANA A mountain in Vrindavana, which Krishna induced the cowherds and cowherdlesses to worship instead of Indra. This enraged the god, who sent a deluge of rain to wash away the mountain and all the people of the country, but Krishna held up the mountain on his little finger for seven days to shelter the people of Vrindavana. Indra retired baffled, and afterwards did homage to Krishna.

GOVARDHANA-DHARA `Upholder of Govardhana.’ A title of Krishna.

GO-VINDA `Cow-keeper.’ A name of Krishna.

GRAHA `Seizing.’ 1. The power that seizes and obscures the sun and moon, causing eclipses; the ascending node, Rahu. 2. Evil spirits with which people, especially children, are possessed, and which cause sickness and death. They are supposed to be amenable to medicine and exorcism.

GRIHA-SHA `Householder.’ A Brahman in the second stage of his religious life. See Brahman. 

GRIHYA SUTRAS Rules for the conduct of domestic rites and the personal sacraments, extending from the birth to the marriage of a man. (See Sutra.) The Griha Sutras of Aswalayana have been printed in the Bibliotheca Indica. 

GRITSA-MADA The reputed Rishi of many hymns in the second Mandala of the Rig-veda. According to the Vishnu Purana he was a Kshatriya and son of Suna-hotra, being descended from Pururavas of the Lunar race. From him sprang Saunaka, the eminent sage versed in the Rig-veda “who originated the system of four castes.” The Vayu Purana makes Sunaka to be the son of Gritsa-mada, and Saunaka the son of Sunaka: this seems probable. “It is related of him by Sayana that he was first a member of the family of Angiras, being the son of Suna-hotra. He was carried off by the Asuras whilst performing a sacrifice, but was rescued by Indra, under whose authority he was henceforth designated as Gritsa-mada, the son of Sunaka or Saunaka of the race of Bhrigu. Thus the Anukramanika says of him: He who was an Angirasa, the son of Suna-hotra, became Saunaka of the race of Bhrigu.” According to the Maha-bharata, he was son of Vita-havya, a king of the Haihayas, a Kshatriya, who became of Brahman. (See Vitahavya.) The Maha-bharata alludes to a legend of his having assumed the semblance of Indra, and so enabled that deity to escape from the Asuras, who were lying in wait to destroy him. There are several versions of the story, but they all agree that after Indra had escaped Gritsa-mada saved himself by reciting a hymn in which he showed that Indra was a different person. 

GUDA-KESA `Whose hair is in tufts.’ An epithet of Arjuna. 

GUHA `Secret.’ 1. A name of the god of war. (See Karttikeya.) 2. A king of the Nishadas or Bhils, who was a friend of Rama. 3. A people near Kalinga, who possibly got their name from him.

GUHYAKAS `Hidden beings.’ Inferior divinities attendant upon Kuvera, and guardians of his hidden treasures.

GUPTAS A dynasty of kings who reigned in Magadha. The period of their ascendancy has been a subject of great contention, and cannot be said to be settled.

GURJJARA The country of Gujarat.

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