Lieut.-Colonel Tod on the Religious Establishments ofMewar. 299 



tunately the princely worshippers of Kaniya are few in number. It is to 

 the sons of commerce we must look for the effects of these doctrines, and 

 it is my pride and duty to declare that I have known men of both sects, 

 Vishniie and Jain, whose integrity was spotless and whose philanthropy was 

 unbounded. 



Previously to describing the chief festivals held at Nat'hdwara, and the 

 various forms {rupa) under which Nat'lyi or the God is worshipped, it 

 may be well to sketch the origin of this important member of the Oriental 

 Pantheon, the 'Preserver,' of the Hindu Triad. 



Crishna, Heri, Vishnu, or more familiarly, Kaniya, was of the celebrated 

 tribe of Yadu, or Jadii. According to Hindu genealogies, Yadu, the 

 founder of the " fifty-six tribes,"* who obtained the sovereignty of India, was 

 descended from Yayat, the third sont of a primeval man called Swayam- 

 bhuma Manii,% or " Manu, lord of the earth," whose daughter Ella§ 

 (Terra) was espoused by Buddha (Mera/rr/), son of ChandraH {the moon'), 

 whence the Yadus are styled Chandravansi, or • children of the moon.' 

 Buddha was therefore worshipped as the great ancestor (Pitriswara, or 

 ' father-god') of the lunar race ; and previous to the apotheosis of Crishna 

 was the common object of devotion with all the Yadu tribe. The prin- 

 cipal shrine of Buddha was at Dwarica, where he yet receives adoration as 

 Buddha Trivicrama.^ Crishna or Kaniya lived towards the conclusion of 

 the Dwapur, or brazen age, the period of which is calculated to have been 

 about 1100 to 1200 years before Christ.** He was born to the inheritance 



* Chappun cula Yadu. f Qu Japhet? 



J Also called P'aiva-sivata Manu — " the man, son of the sun." 



§ Ella, the earth — the Saxon Ertha. The Germans chiefly worsliipped Tuisco or Teutates 

 (Mercury) and Ertha, who are the Buddha and Ella of the Rajputs. 



II A male divinity with the Rajputs, the Tatars, and ancient Germans. 



^ ' Triple energy ; ' — the Hermes Triplex of the Egyptians. 



*• I shall here subjoin an extract of the rise and progress of Vishnuism, as written at my desire 

 by the Miikhia of the temple : 



" Twenty-five years of the Dwapur (the brazen age) were yet unexpired, when the incarna- 

 tion (ava/ar) of Ski Crishna took place. Of these eleven were passed at Gokul (a), and 

 fourteen at Mat'hura. There he used to manifest himself personally, especially at Goverd'hun. 

 But when the Kaliyug (the iron age) commenced he retired to Dwarica, an island separated by 



the 



(a) A small town and island in the Jumna, below Mat'hura. Hence one of Crishna's titles is 

 Gokul-nat'h, " lord of Gokul." 



2 Q 2 



