ORIENTAL SERIES.

NAGA-NAHUSHA. 213
there three nights, Yama was constrained to offer him a boon.
He prayed to see his father again and "be reconciled. This "boon
was granted and another offered. All kinds of "blessings were
proposed, but the youth refused to be contented with anything
but a true knowledge of the soul Yama then proceeded to
instruct hi. The story has been done into verse by Muir
(Texts, voL v. p. 329).
NAGA, A snake, especially the cobra-capella. A mythical
semi-divine being, having a human face with the tail of a ser-
pent, and the expanded neck of the cobra. The race of Nagas
is said to be a thousand in number, and to have sprung from
Kadru, the wife of Kasyapa, for the purpose of peopling Patala,
or the regions below the earth, where they reign in great
splendour. From the name of their mother they are called
Kadraveyas. Their mother is sometimes called Su-rasa. This
dominion was taken from them by the Gandharvas, but they
recovered it through their sister, the Narmada river, who induced
Vislwu, to send Pratardana to their assistance. Their females
were handsome, and some of them intermarried with men, as
Ulupl with Arjuna.
The Nagas, or a people bearing the same name, are
historical,
and have left many traces behind them. There were mountains so
called, and Naga-dwlpa was one of the seven divisions of Bharata-
varsha. Kings of this race reigned at Mathura, Padmavata, &c.,
and the name survives in the modern Kagpur. There are various
speculations as to who and what they were, but it seems clear
they were a race distinct from the Hindus. The mythological
accounts are probably based upon the historical, but they have
been mixed up together and confused. The favourite theory is
that they were a Scythic race, and probably obtained their name
from worshipping serpents or holding them in awe and reverence*
KAGA-LOKA. Patala, the residence of the Nagas.
KiGA-NAKDANA. A Buddhist drama in five acts by n
Harsha Deva. It has been translated by Boyd The text has
been printed.
JSTAGAEA. A city. There are seven sacred cities which
confer eternal happiness (i.)Ayodhya, (2.) Mathura, (3.) Maya
(Gaya), (4.) KasI (Benares), (5.) Kanchi (Conjeveram), (6.)
Avanti or Avantika (TJjjayini), (7.) Dwaraka or Dwaravati.
NAHUSHA, Son of lyus the eldest son of Pururavas, and