ENTERING ANOTHER'S BODY. 9 



Twice more in the Mahabharata the motif takes the form of 

 pervading another with one's self. In 12. 290. 12 the Sage Uganas, 

 perfect in Yoga, projects himself into Kubera, the god of wealth, 

 and controls him so as to be able to take his wealth and decamp. 

 In 15. 26. 26-29 the ascetic Vidura, as he dies, rests his body against 

 a tree, and enters the body of Yudhisthira who is thus dowered with 

 Vidura's many virtues. The Sage, having left with Yudhisthira 

 his powers, obtains the Samtanika's worlds. But, as a rule, the art 

 is to enter the empty body of a dead person, or of a person who has 

 himself decamped from his own body. That is the permanent type. 

 Thus, in Kathakoga, p. 38 ff.. Prince Amaracandra enters another's 

 body in order to feign death, and thus test the faith of his wife 

 Jayagri who had but just married him by svayariivara. When she 

 is about to join him on the funeral pyre he recovers his body by 

 his magic. 



The intricate story of Yogananda, or the Brahman disciple Indra- 



datta, who became king Nanda by entering his dead body by Yoga, 



is told, Kathas. 4. 92 ff. ; and in the fifth chapter of Merutuhga's 



Prabandhacintamani, p. 271. In the version of the Kathasaritsa- 



gara the celebrated Hindu Grammarian Vararuci, together with his 



two pupils Vyadi and Indradatta, wishes to learn from Varsa a new 



grammar that had been revealed to him by the god Karttikeya. 



Now Varsa asks a million gold pieces for the lesson. The price is 



rather stiff", and they know no way except to rely on the liberality 



of king Nanda of Oudh. When they arrive in Oudh Nanda has 



just died. They devise that Indradatta shall enter for a short time 



Nanda's body, and that he shall again withdraw therefrom as soon 



as he has granted the million. Indradatta then enters Nanda's 



body ; Vyadi watches over Indradatta's empty shell ; Vararuci makes 



the request for the money. But the wise minister of the defunct 



king, Cakatala by name, reflects that Nanda's son is still a boy, that 



the kingdom is surrounded by enemies, and decides to retain the 



magic Nanda (Yogananda) upon the throne. He therefore orders 



all corpses to be burned,^° including Indradatta's, and the latter's 



soul, to its horror, is thus compelled to reside in the body of Nanda, 



a CiJdra, whereas it is, in truth, that of a Brahman. 



20 For this feature, namely, the burning of temporarily abandoned bodies, 

 see Benfey, Pancatantra, I. 253; II. 147. 



