88 Wilder Theodore Elmore 



The one boy they named Potu Razu, and said that by his help 

 she should overcome the Rakshasas. This she did as above re- 

 lated, Potu Razu preventing the blood from falling to the ground. 



This story of embracing the tree is the same that we have met 

 before.^^ Here, however, it is Vishnu who is the trunk of the 

 tree and so the progenitor of the Saktis. Renuka is not so 

 directly connected with the Saktis in this legend, but Potu Razu's 

 origin is accounted for. 



The number of Saktis here again is given as one hundred and 

 one. No reason for this number appears to be known by the 

 people. It may be that it is used to indicate indefinite largeness, 

 like the English " one thousand and one." 



The original legend of the beheading of Renuka must have 

 arisen from some historical incident, for it is found in the Maha- 

 bharata, the Bhagavata Purana, Padma Purana, and Agni 

 Purana.^^ It is also mentioned in the Ramayana^^ as an example 

 of worthy obedience. The story as found in the Puranas relates 

 that when Jamadagni was doing penance in the forest, his family, 

 consisting of Renuka and her four sons, was with him. One day 

 when the sons were away from home, Renuka went to a stream 

 for water. She saw Chitraratha, the prince of Mrittakavata, 

 sporting with his queen in the water. She was envious of their 

 felicity and was defiled by her thoughts. Jamadagni demanded 

 that she should be killed for this, and called his four sons to slay 

 their mother. Three refused and were turned into idiots by their 

 father's curse. The fourth, Parasu Rama, consented. His 

 father was so pleased with his obedience that he asked Parasu 

 Rama to request any boon. He asked that his mother should be 

 restored without any memory of the terrible deed, and that his 

 brothers should have their reason given to them again. He re- 

 quested for himself that he should be invincible in battle and have 

 length of days. All these requests Jamadagni readily granted. 



In this original legend there is no mention of Saktis or Rak- 



-1 See page 78. 



22 E. Moor, The Hindu Pantheon, Madras, 1864, pp. 116 sq. ; Wilkins, 

 Hindu Mythology, Calcutta, 1882, pp. 162 sq. 



23 T. H. Griffith, The Ramayan of Valmiki, Benares, 1895, Canto XXI, 

 p. 19. 



88 



