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JOURNAL, R.A.S. (CEYLON). [VOL. XXI. 



kings of the line of 6 the supreme lord 1 who measured the 

 earth with one foot,' together with eighteen crores of Vels 

 and their dependents, and Aruvalar, migrated to the south, 

 and depriving Ravana of his sovereignty over the Rakshasas 

 by his superior skill in music, clearing the country of its 

 forests, and making it fit for human habitation, finally took 

 his abode on the hill of Pothiyil." 2 



What is apparently deserving of consideration in the 

 above account is the information that the Muni Agastiyar 3 

 went to Dwarapati, and led from there a colony composed 

 of kings and Vels of the race of Sri Krishna, to the south, 

 and permanently settled them there. These traditions, 

 though agreeing generally with the Puranic accounts of the 

 migration of the Muni Agastiyar to South India, in their 

 specific reference to his (i.e., Agastiyar's) being accompanied 

 by many kings and princes of the family of Sri Krishna, are 

 entirely missed in the latter (i.e., the Puranas). Re this as 

 it may, it is noteworthy that our learned author once again 

 refers, as follows, to the same story — as if to confirm his first 

 statement— in his notes on another Sutram 4 of * ' Tolkap- 

 piam," namely : — 



" The right to rule belongs also to the Vels of the eighteen 



1 This refers to Krishna as an incarnation of Vishnu. "According to 

 Hindu mythology, Bali was an Asura emperor who, through his 

 devotion and penance, defeated Indra, humbled the gods, and extended 

 his authority over the three worlds. In order to restrain him, Vishnu, 

 who was appealed to by the gods for protection, assumed his fifth 

 incarnation, the form of a Brahman dwarf, the Vamana Avatara, and 

 appearing before Bali, asked for only three paces of ground as a boon — 

 which was granted. As the water conveying the gift fell into his hand, 

 the dwarf's form expanded till it filled the world, and Vishnu, now 

 manifesting himself, deprived Bali, in two strides, of heaven and earth, 

 but on account of the virtues the latter possessed, left Patala, or the 

 infernal regions, still in his dominion." — " Mysore Gazetteer," by R. 

 LewisRice, C.I.E., M;R.A.S.,p. 301. See under " Mahavalis."— V. J. T. 



2 A hill near the extreme south of the peninsula. 



3 " Muni " means " an ascetic." — -V. J. T. 



4 Vide " Tolkappiam, " chapter on " Poruladhikaram. " The Maha 

 Bharata frequently refers to " the eighteen clans or tribes of the 

 Yadavas."— V. J. T. 



" Aruvalar was the local name of the Naga tribes who inhabited 

 Aruva and Aruva-Vadathalai (i.e., North Aruva). The two provinces, 



