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KANISHKA
“Hushka, Jushka, Kanishka.” These are the names recorded in the Raja
Tarangini of three great Turushka, that is Turk or Tatar, kings, who
were of the Buddhist religion. It may, perhaps, be taken for granted
that Hushka and Jushka come in their natural succession, for the
names might be transposed without detriment to the metre; but the
short syllable of the name Kanishka is required where it stands by
the rules of prosody, so that the position of the name in the verse
is not decisive of his place in the succession of kings. Nothing is
known of Jushka beyond the simple recital of his name as above
quoted, but the names of Kanishka and Hushka (or Huvishka) have been
found in inscriptions and upon coins, showing that their dominions
were of considerable extent in Northern India, and that they were,
as the Raja Tarangini represents, great supporters of the Buddhist
religion. The name of Kanishka has been found in inscriptions at
Mathura, Manikyala, Bhawalpur, and Zeda, while his name appears on
the corrupt Greek coins as Kenerki. Huvishka’s name has been found
at Mathura and on a metal vase from Wardak in Afghanistan; on the
coins his name is represented as Oerki. Kanishka preceded Huvishka,
and it is certain that their reigns covered a period of fifty-one
years, and probably more. The time at which they reigned seems to
have been just before the Christian era. A Roman coin of the date
3.3 B.C. was found in the tope of Manikyala, which was built by
Kanishka.
KANSA
A tyrannical king of Mathura, son of Ugra-sons and cousin of Devaki
the mother of Krishna; so he was the cousin, not the uncle, of
Krishna, as he is often called. He married two daughters of
Jara-sandha, king of Magadha. He deposed his father. It was foretold
that a son born of Devaki should kill him, so he endeavoured to
destroy all her children. But Bala-rama, her seventh son, was
smuggled away to Gokula, and was brought up by Rohini. When Krishna
the eighth was born his parents fled with him. The tyrant then gave
orders for a general massacre of all vigorous male infants. Kansa
became the great persecutor of Krishna, but was eventually killed by
him. Kansa is also called Kalankura, `crane.’ He is looked upon as
an Asura, and is in some way identified with the Asura
Kala-nemi.
KANSA-BAHA
A drama in seven acts upon the destruction of Kansa by Krishna. The
author is called Krishna Kavi, and the play was probably written
about two centuries ago. It is weak as a drama, but “the language is
in general good, although highly elaborate.” – Wilson.
KANWA
See Satapatha Brahmana.
KANWA
Name of a Rishi to whom some hymns of the Rig-veda are ascribed; he
is sometimes counted as one of the seven great Rishis. The sage who
brought up Sakuntala as his daughter. There are several others of
the same name.
KANWAS
The descendants or followers of Kanwa.
KANYA-KUBJA
The modern form of the name is Kanauj or Kinnauj, spelt in a variety
of ways. 1. An ancient city of Hindustan on the Kali-nadi, an
affluent of the Ganges, and lying a little to the west of the
latter. It was once the capital of powerful dynasty. It was known to
classical geographers as “Canogyza.” The name means “humpbacked
damsel,” and refers to a legend relating to the hundred daughters of
King Kusa-nabha, who were all made crooked by Vayu for refusing to
comply with his licentious desires. 2. A great national division of
the Brahman caste. See Brahman.
KANYA-KUMARI
`The virgin-damsel.’ A name of Durga. Her worship extended to the
southernmost extremity of India in the days of Pliny, and `Kumari’
still appears in the name Cape Comorin.
KAPARDIN
`Wearing the kaparda,’ a peculiar braid or knot of hair. This
epithet is applied to Siva, to one of the Rudras, and some
others.
KAPI-DHWAJA
An epithet of Arjuna, because he bore an ape (kapi) on his standard
(dhwaja).
KAPILA
A celebrated sage, the founder of the Sankhya philosophy. The
Hari-vansa makes him the son of Vitatha. He is sometimes identified
with Vishnu and sometimes with Agni. He is said to have destroyed
the hundred thousand sons of King Sagara with a glance. See
Sagara.
KAPILA,
KAPILA-VASTU
A town on the river Rohini, an affluent of the Rapti, which was the
capital of Suddhodana, the father of Gotama Buddha.
KAPILA
PURANA
See Purana.
KAPISA
Mother of the Pisachas, who bear the metronymic Kapiseya.
KARALI
`Dreadful, terrible.’ In Vedic times one of the seven tongues of
Agni (fire), but in later days a name of the terrible consort of
Siva. See Devi.
KARDAMA
According to the Maha-bharata and Ramayana, he is one of the
Prajapatis who sprang from Brahma. According to other authorities,
he, or another sage of the same name, was a son of Daksha or a son
of Pulaha.
KARMA-MIMANSA
The Purva-mimansa. See Darsana.
KARMA-MIMANSA-SUTRA
A work on the Vedanta philosophy, ascribed to Jaimini.
KARNA
Son of Pritha or Kunti by Surya, the sun, before her marriage to
Pandu. Karna was thus half-brother of the Pandavas, but this
relationship was not known to them till after his death. Kunti, on
one occasion, paid such attention to the sage Dur-vasas, that he
gave her a charm by virtue of which she might have a child by any
god she preferred to invoke. She chose the sun, and the result was
Karna, who was born equipped with arms and armour. Afraid of censure
and disgrace, Kunti exposed the child on the banks of the Yamuna,
where it was found by Nandana or Adhiratha, the suta or charioteer
of Dhrita-rashtra. The charioteer and his wife, Radha, brought him
up as their own, and the child passed as such. When he grew up,
Indra disguised himself as a Brahman, and cajoled him out of his
divine cuirass. He gave him in return great strength and charged
with certain death to whomsoever it was hurled against. Karna became
king of Anga or Bengal. Some authorities represent his foster-father
as having been ruler of that country, but others say that Karna was
made king of Anga by Dur-yodhana, in order to qualify him to fight
in the passage of arms at the swayam-vara of Draupadi. This princess
haughtily rejected him, saying, “I wed not with the base-born.”
Karna knew that he was half-brother of the Pandavas, but he took the
side of their cousins, the Kauravas, and he had especial rivalry and
animosity against Arjuna, whom he vowed to kill. In the great battle
he killed Ghatotkacha, the son of Bhima, with Indra’s javelin.
Afterwards there was a terrific combat between him and Arjuna, in
which the latter was nearly overpowered, but he killed Karna with a
crescent-shaped arrow. After Karna’s death his relationship to the
Pandavas became known to them, and they showed their regret for his
loss by great kindness to his widows, children, and dependants. From
his father, Vikarttana (the sun), Karna was called Vaikartana; from
his foster-parents, Vasu-sena; from his foster-father’s profession,
Adhirathi and Suta; and from his foster-mother, Radheya. He was also
called Anga-raja, `king of Anga;’ Champadhipa, `king of Champa;’ and
Kanina, `the bastard.’
KARNA-PRAVARANAS
Men whose ears served them for coverings. They are mentioned in the
Maha-bharata, Ramayana, and other works.
KARNATA,
KARNATAKA
The country where the Canarese language is spoken, in the central
districts of the Peninsula, including Mysore. The name “Carnatic” is
derived from this.
KARTA-VIRYA
Son of Krita-virya, king of the Haihayas. This is his patronymic, by
which he is best known; his real name was Arjuna. “Having worshipped
a portion of the divine being called Dattatreya, sprung from the
race of Atri, he sought and obtained these boons, viz., a thousand
arms and a golden chariot that went wheresoever he willed it to go;
the power of restraining wrong by justice; the conquest of the earth
and the disposition to rule it righteously; invincibility by
enemies, and death at the hands of a man renowned over the whole
world. By him this earth was perfectly governed,” and of him it is
said:- “No other king shall ever equal Karta-virya in regard of
sacrifices, liberality, austerities, courtesy, and self-restraint.
“Thus he ruled for 85,000 years with unbroken health, prosperity,
strength, and valour.” – V.P. He visited the hermitage of Jamadagni,
and was received by that sage’s wife with all respect; but he made
an ill return for her hospitality, and carried off by violence “the
calf of the milch-cow of the sacred oblation.” For this outrage
Parasu-rama cut off his thousand arms and killed him. In another
place a different character is given to him, and more in accordance
with his behaviour at Jamad-agni’s hut. “He oppressed both men and
gods,” so that the latter appealed to Vishnu for succour. That god
then came down to the earth as Parasu-rama for the especial purpose
of killing him. Karta-virya was the contemporary of Ravana, and when
that demon monarch came “in the course of his campaign of conquest
to Mahishmati (the capital of Karta-virya), he was captured without
difficulty, and was confined like a wild beast in a corner of his
city.” The statement of the Vayu Purana is that Karta-virya invaded
Lanka, and there took Ravana prisoner.
KARTTIKEYA
The god of war and the planet Mars, also called Skanda. He is said
in the Maha-bharata and Ramayana to be the son of Siva or Rudra, and
to have been produced without the intervention of a woman. Siva cast
his seed into fire, and it was afterwards received by the Ganges:
Karttikeya was the result; hence he is called Agni-bhu and Ganga-ja.
He was fostered by the Pleiades (Krittika), and hence he has six
heads and the name Karttikeya. His paternity is sometimes assigned
to Agni (fire); Ganga (the Ganges) and Parvati are variously
represented to be his mother. He was born for the purpose of
destroying Taraka, a Daitya whose austerities had made him
formidable to the gods. He is represented riding on a peacock called
Paravani, holding a bow in one hand and an arrow in the other. His
wife is Kaumari or Sena. He has many titles: as a warrior he is
called Maha-sena, Sena-pati; Siddha-sena `leader of the Siddhas;’
and Yudha-ranga; also Kumara, the boy; Guha, `the mysterious one;’
Sakti-dhara, `spear-holder;’ and in the south he is called
Subrahmanya. He is Ganga-putra, `son of the Ganges;’ Sara-bhu, `born
in the thicket;’ Taraka-jit, `vanquisher of Taraka;’ Dwadasa-kara
and Dwadasaksha, `twelve-handed’ and `twelve-eyed;’ Riju kaya,
`straight-boiled.’ See Krauncha.
KARUSHAS
A people of Malwa, inhabiting the back of the Vindhya mountains.
They are said to be descended from Karusha, one of the sons of the
Manu Vaivaswata.
KASI.
Benares.
KASI KHANDA A long poem, forming a
part of the Skanda Purana. It gives a very minute description of the
temples of Siva in and around Benares, and is presumably anterior to
the Mahomedan conquest. See Skanda Purana .
KASYAPA.
A Vedic sage to whom some hymns are attributed. All authorities
agree in assigning to him a large part in the work of creation.
According to the Maha-bharata, the Ramayana, and the Puranas, he was
the son of Marichi, the son of Brahma, and he was father of
Vivsawat, the father of Manu, the progenitor of mankind. The
Satapatha Brahmana gives a different and not very intelligible
account of his origin thus:- “Having assumed the form of a tortoise,
Prajapati created offspring. That which he created he made (akarot);
hence the word Kurma (tortoise). Kasyapa means tortoise; hence men
say, `All creatures are descendants of Kasyapa.’ This tortoise is
the same as Aditya.” The Atharva-veda says, “The self-born Kasyapa
sprang from Time,” and Time is often identical with Vishnu. The
Maha-bharata and later authorities agree in representing that
Kasyapa married Aditi and twelve other daughters of Daksha. Upon
Aditi he begat the Adityas, headed by Indra, and also Vivaswat, and
“to Vivaswat was born the wise and mighty Manu.” The Ramayana and
Vishnu Purana also state that “Vishnu was born as a dwarf, the son
of Aditi and Kasyapa.” By his other twelve wives he had a numerous
and very diversified offspring: demons, nagas, reptiles, birds, and
all kinds of living things. He was thus the father of all, and as
such is sometimes called Prajapati. He is one of the seven great.
Rishis, and he appears as the priest of Parasu-rama and
Rama-chandra.
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