1902 ] S. 0. Vidyabhusana— Vratya and Sa7nkara Theories of Caste. 153 
Sun and a temple for it. He used to offer worship to the statue every¬ 
day. By the grace of Mitra, Samba became cured of his leprosy. The 
place in which he worshipped the Sun was called Mitra-van a (the Sun- 
grove) in the Punjab. Then Samba became desirous of consecrating 
the temple and continuing worship of the Sun. Finding that the Brah¬ 
manas in India were incompetent to do the work, Samba consulted with 
Narada and Gaura-mukha about the matter. They advised him to 
bring Brahmanas from f aka-dvipa for worship of the Sun. Accord¬ 
ingly, with the consent of his father, Samba proceeded to (Jaka-dvipa 
riding on Garuda. There were eighteen principal families of Maga in 
(Jaka-dvlpa. At the earnest request of Samba, members of all these 
families came to Jambu-dvipa (India) and settled in a city built by 
Samba called Samba-pura (Multan). The temple of the Sun was 
entrusted to them. They consecrated and offered daily worship to the 
statue. In the seventh century A.D., Hwen-thsang saw in Multan a 
magnificent temple with a golden statue of the Sun richly adorned, to 
which kings of all parts of India sent offerings. From Multan the 
Magas came to Magadha and gradually scattered themselves all over 
India. The celebrated astronomer, Varahamihir, who was aS'aka-dvipi 
Brahmana,* was one of the nine gems in the court of Vikramaditya. 
•? * i * - f * r - • — 
v , ' ■ ■ • Ct f * » * .« • - ■* ‘— ' .- _ 
Maga and Magi. . „ 
According to the celebrated Greek geographer Ptolemyf there 
lived in India in the second century A.D. a class of Brahmanas called 
Brakhmanai Magoi. The country occupied by these Brahmanas was 
about the Upper Kaveri, and extended from Mount Bettigo eastward as 
far as the Batai. According to Mr. J. Campbell Brakhmanai Magoi of 
Ptolemy meant ‘ sons of Brahmanas,’ that is, Canarese Brahmans, 
whose forefathers married women of the country, the word Magoi repre¬ 
senting the Canarese Maga , 4 a son.’ Lassen supposed that Ptolemy, by 
adding Magoi to the name of these Brahmanas, meant to imply either 
that they were a colony of Persian priests settled in India, or that they 
were Brahmanas who had adopted the tenets of the Magi; and expresses 
his surprise that Ptolemy should have been led into making such an 
unwarrantable supposition. 
In my humble opinion the Brakhmanai Magoi mentioned by Ptolemy 
were the same as the Maga Brahmanas mentioned in the Puranas. The 
word Magos was a very honourable title, being equivalent to “ Venerable ” 
* Vide Utpala’8 commentary on the Yrihat-Saiphita, and also Dr. Kern’s preface 
to his edition of the book. 
t McCrindle’s Ptolemy, p. 170. 
