1892.] L. A. Waddell— Bestowal of Indian Kingships by Lot. 183 



The following papers were read : — 



1. Note on the Bestowal of Indian Kingships by Lot. — By L. A. 

 Waddell, Esq., M. 13., M. R. A. S. 



Iu the Proceedings of the Society for November last year, Mr. 

 Tawney draws attention to the fact that in a collection of Jaina tales — 

 the Ivathd Kosa — and also in the Kathd Sarit Sdgara, the Indian King- 

 ships are occasionally described as bestowed by lot or ordeal, and Mr. 

 Tawney invites further communications from other than Jaina sources. 

 I find the same practice mentioned in a Buddhist work ; viz., the Bio- 

 graphy of the Indian Buddhist Monk Atisha (or Dipahkara) written 

 by his lamaist pupil Bromton shortly after Atisha's death in 1050 A. D. 

 And a variant of -the same story appears in Taranatha's History of 

 Indian Buddhism under the Chapter on King Gopala. In describ- 

 ing the origin of the Pala dynasty of Magadha, with the later 

 members of which Atisha seems to have been intimately associated, 

 his biographer states that the founder of the Pala dynasty (viz., 

 Go-p;ila) was originally a Yogi of The Middle Country who went to 

 the shrine of Marici 1 in the South of India and prayed for a king- 

 dom and kingly knowledge to administer it. The image replied ' Go 

 towards the East.' In obedience to this command the Yogi travelled 

 eastwards, and latterly reached a city where the king was being 

 changed, and at that time the kingship had fallen to the lot of the son 

 of a female Cow-keeper who was giving Avay to her grief. The Yogi on 

 enquiring about her trouble was informed that her son had just been 

 elected king ; and on asking why that was a cause for grief rather than 

 joy, he was told that to be made the king of that country practically 

 meant death. The Yogi then offered himself as a substitute for the 

 Cow-keeper's son and was gladly accepted and installed as king. Now 

 it had happened that the queen-consort of a previous king had on dying 

 been reborn as a wicked Nagini, who regularly devoured all the subse- 

 quent kings on the first night after their installation. So this Yogi 

 remained all night chanting his dhardnis to his tutelary goddess Mai'ici 

 with sword 2 in hand, and when the Nagini appeared in the form of a great 

 serpent it was killed by the force of these mantras. In the morning, 

 when the servants came as usual to remove the corpse of the king of the 

 previous day, they were astonished to find the king alive and the Nagini 

 dead instead. The Yogi was then confirmed in the Kingship and named 

 Go-pala although he was not really a Go-pala or Cow-keeper, but only 

 the Cow-keeper's substitute. And it is added ' Only Bhangala was 

 under him.' 



1 Taranatha calls the goddess Chanda. 



2 Taranatha says ' with the staff emblematic of his tutelary goddess.' 



