1874.] F. S. Grows e— The Etymology of Local Names in AT. India. 351 
local scenery 4 the churn’ is introduced as a prominent feature. I observe that 
Babu Rajendralala Mitra in a learned article on the Yavanas, comprised in 
the earlier part of this volume, has incidentally remarked upon a passage 
in the Santi Parva of the Mahabharat, in which the word Madhura occurs, 
that this is the ancient form of Mathura. Now I should hesitate to dispute 
any statement deliberately made by so eminent a scholar, but this appears 
to be a mere obiter dictum , and I strongly doubt whether in the whole range 
of early Sanskrit literature the capital of Braj is ever designated Madhura. 
In the particular passage which he quotes, Lassen regards the word as the 
name of a river; and that the well-known city in the Dakhin is in the ver¬ 
nacular always spelt Madhura in no way affects the argument ; for even if the 
two names are etymologically identical, which is probable but not certain, the 
dislike shewn by all the languages of the south to the use of hard con¬ 
sonants is quite sufficient to account for the alteration. 
Similarly, the name of the country, Braj, or Vraja, has nothing to do 
with the Yajra Sena, the son of Aniruddh, who is said to have been crowned 
king of Mathura on Krishna’s death ; but comes immediately from the root 
vraj , 4 to go’, and is thus a highly appropriate designation for a land of no¬ 
madic herdsmen. Equally at fault is the mythological derivation of 4 Ba- 
then,’ the name of two large villages in the Kosi Pargana, where Balarama, 
it is said, sat down ( baithen ) to wait for Krishna. Here again the real 
reference is to the pastoral character of the country, bathan being an archaic 
term to denote a grazing-ground. A still greater and more unnecessary 
perversion of etymological principles is afforded by the treatment of the word 
Khaira. This is derived from the root JcJiedna , 4 to drive cattle’, which was 
Krishna’s special occupation as a boy: but it is in fact only the regular con¬ 
traction of the Sanskrit Jchadira , the Acacia Arabica, more commonly known 
as the babul; as is proved by the contiguity of the village to the Kliadira-ban , 
one of the twelve sacred groves. A somewhat similar tree, as may be observed 
in passing, the lodhra , or Symplocos, has probably furnished a name for the 
village of Lohi in the Mat Pargana: while the Tinduk Ghat at Mathura is 
probably so named not in honour of any pious ascetic, but with reference to 
the jpasendu, or Diospyros, one of the most common trees in the district, 
which in Sanskrit is called Tinduka. 
But the most interesting example of an elaborate myth based solely 
on the misunderstanding of a local name is to be found in the village of 
Bandi. Here is a very popular shrine, sacred to Bandi Anandi, who are 
said to have been two servants of Jasoda’s, whose special employment it was 
to collect the sweepings of the cow-shed and make them up into fuel. 
But in the inscription over the gateway leading into the court-yard of the 
temple, which is dated Sambat 1575, there is no mention of Anandi what¬ 
ever. Part is illegible, but the first words read clearly as follows : Svasti 
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