Lieut. -Colonel Tod on Sculptures in the Temples qf Ellora, 335 



one of the many beautiful episodes of tlie Rajput Homer, extracted from 

 the ancient historical poems of the martial races, as the Mdhdbhdrat, Rdmd- 

 ydna, &c. &c. As I have already given the passage in a paper printed in 

 the Transactions of the Societe Jsiatique of Paris, I shall refer the reader 

 to it.* 



Vira-Bhadra having related the grand battle between the Curus and 

 Pdndus, in turn listens to Chand, who entertains him with a biographical 

 sketch of all the great leaders {Sdmantas) assembled in the cause of Rajput 

 independence, and at the same time gives Vira-Bhadra a specimen of the 

 propiietic power which gave him the title of Tri-cdl, or ' cognoscent of the 

 past, present, and future,' by revealing the events which were to follow that 

 battle, in which he was overheard by his sovereign Prithi-raja. A grand 

 council ensues, in wiiich the plan of the campaign is debated, when each 

 chieftain delivers his sentiments in an oration. Chand concludes with an 

 invocation to Time (Kal). 



3d. Jayad-rat'ha. 



On this Charioteer, or chariot of Victory, represented by Siva, I have 

 nothing to say. Siva, it is suggested, has borrowed the car of Si^rya (the 

 Sun) to bear him to battle ; but if this were the intent, where is Saptaswa, 

 the seven-headed horse of the Sun ? 



4th. Bhairava. 

 Bhairava, or Bhyru, has an important part assigned to him in the 

 dramatis persona of the field of battle, on which occasion he represents the 

 god of war. The rites of Bhairava are accordingly of a terrific description, 

 nor can he be propitiated but by blood-offerings. There are two Bhairavas, 

 Gord and Kdld, or the fair and black. They are the twin sons of the 

 terrific goddess Kali c a, the Cybele of the Rajputs, and are her standard- 

 bearers in the field of slaughter. Gord, or the fair Bhairava, is seldom 

 mentioned, and tiie devotions of the Rajput are generally to his sable 

 brother, who is also called Bajranga, or oi thunder-bolt frame. The dog, 

 which is probably the only animal excluded from the honours of deification 

 in the crowded pantheon of the Hindus, is sacred to Bhairava, and is his 



* See article " De rorigine Asiatiijue de quelques-unes des anciennes Tribus de I'Europe 

 tU-iblies sur les rivages de lu mer Baltique," &c. &c. Journal Asiatique, No. 50, Mai 1827. 



