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256
THE CANDIŚATAKA OF BĀŅA
genealogy, making him the son of Anuhrāda, grandson of
Hiranyakaśipu, and greatgrandson of Kaśyapa and Diti. He was
first cousin to Rāhu, and had a brother named Başkala.¹ In the
Saura Purana² there is described a combat between Candi and
Raktāsura, a son of Mahișa, but I have found no further refer-
ence to a family of the demon. In the Vamana Purāṇa he is said
to be the son of Rambha, and according to popular belief in
India to-day, he was the son of Jambha."
The reason why Mahişa is presented to us in the form of a
buffalo is given by Crooke in his Popular Religion and Folk-Lore
of Northern India. I quote from this work as follows: 'Ac-
cording to the legend as told in the Markandeya Purana,' Diti,
having lost all her sons, the Asuras, in the fight with the gods,
turned herself into a buffalo in order to annihilate them. She
underwent such terrible austerities to propitiate Brahmā, that
the whole world was shaken and the saint Supārśva was disturbed
at his devotions. He cursed Diti that her son should be in the
shape of a buffalo, but Brahmã so far mitigated the curse that
only his head was to be that of a buffalo. This was Mahiṣāsura
who is supposed to be the origin of the godling Mahasoba,
worshiped in Western India in the form of a rude stone covered
with red lead.'
In modern times Mahișa still lives in fame,' for Maisur, or
¹ See Bhagavata Purana, 6. 18. 10-16.
2 Wilhelm Jahn, Das Saurapuranam, ein Kompendium spätindischer
Kulturgeschichte und des Sivaismus, chap. 49, Strassburg, 1908.
This is doubtless the same as the demon Raktabija, whose death at the
hands of Candi is described (Markandeya Purana, chapter 88) as an inci-
dent in the battle between Candi and the demons Sumbha and Niśumbha.
The death of Raktabija is celebrated to-day in the Shyāmā Pūjā in honor
of Kali (Candi), India's most terrible and gruesome festival; cf. W. J.
Wilkins, Modern Hinduism, p. 231-232, London, 1887.
In chapter 18 of the Vamana, according to the synopsis given by
Aufrecht, op. cit., p. 46, b, lines 10-11, cf. Sabdakalpadruma, vol. 3, p. 679, a.
5 See the English translation of the Mahabharata, by P. C. Roy, vol. 4,
P. 15, footnote.
Crooke, vol. 2, p. 237.
I have been unable to locate the passage in the Markandeya.
।
256
THE CANDIŚATAKA OF BĀŅA
genealogy, making him the son of Anuhrāda, grandson of
Hiranyakaśipu, and greatgrandson of Kaśyapa and Diti. He was
first cousin to Rāhu, and had a brother named Başkala.¹ In the
Saura Purana² there is described a combat between Candi and
Raktāsura, a son of Mahișa, but I have found no further refer-
ence to a family of the demon. In the Vamana Purāṇa he is said
to be the son of Rambha, and according to popular belief in
India to-day, he was the son of Jambha."
The reason why Mahişa is presented to us in the form of a
buffalo is given by Crooke in his Popular Religion and Folk-Lore
of Northern India. I quote from this work as follows: 'Ac-
cording to the legend as told in the Markandeya Purana,' Diti,
having lost all her sons, the Asuras, in the fight with the gods,
turned herself into a buffalo in order to annihilate them. She
underwent such terrible austerities to propitiate Brahmā, that
the whole world was shaken and the saint Supārśva was disturbed
at his devotions. He cursed Diti that her son should be in the
shape of a buffalo, but Brahmã so far mitigated the curse that
only his head was to be that of a buffalo. This was Mahiṣāsura
who is supposed to be the origin of the godling Mahasoba,
worshiped in Western India in the form of a rude stone covered
with red lead.'
In modern times Mahișa still lives in fame,' for Maisur, or
¹ See Bhagavata Purana, 6. 18. 10-16.
2 Wilhelm Jahn, Das Saurapuranam, ein Kompendium spätindischer
Kulturgeschichte und des Sivaismus, chap. 49, Strassburg, 1908.
This is doubtless the same as the demon Raktabija, whose death at the
hands of Candi is described (Markandeya Purana, chapter 88) as an inci-
dent in the battle between Candi and the demons Sumbha and Niśumbha.
The death of Raktabija is celebrated to-day in the Shyāmā Pūjā in honor
of Kali (Candi), India's most terrible and gruesome festival; cf. W. J.
Wilkins, Modern Hinduism, p. 231-232, London, 1887.
In chapter 18 of the Vamana, according to the synopsis given by
Aufrecht, op. cit., p. 46, b, lines 10-11, cf. Sabdakalpadruma, vol. 3, p. 679, a.
5 See the English translation of the Mahabharata, by P. C. Roy, vol. 4,
P. 15, footnote.
Crooke, vol. 2, p. 237.
I have been unable to locate the passage in the Markandeya.