ORIENTAL SERIES.

334
VAMANAVANSA.
birth, saying, " Let me not come forth by this path, for it is
difficult (of issue) : let me come forth obliquely from the side."
Sayar&a, the commentator, says in explanation, "The j^shi
Yama-deva, whilst yet in the womb, was reluctant to be born in
the usual manner, and resolved to come into the world through
his mother's side. Aware of his purpose, the mother prayed to
Aditi, who thereupon came with her son Indra to expostulate
with the Bishi." [This story accords with that told by the
Buddhists of the birth of Buddha.] In the same hymn Yama-
deva says, " In extreme destitution I have cooked the entrails of
a dog," and Manu cites this to show that a man is not rendered
impure even by eating the flesh of dogs for the preservation of
his life. In another hymn he says, " As a hawk I came forth
" "
with speed and a commentator ;
explains, Having assumed
the form of a hawk, he came forth from the womb by the power
of Yoga, for he is considered to have been endowed with divine
knowlege from the period of his conception." 2. A Yedic sage
mentioned in the Maha-bharata as possessor of two horses of
marvellous speed called Yamyas. 3. A name of Siva ; also of
one of the Rudras.
YAMAHA. The dwarf incarnation of Yishnu See Ava-
tara.
YAMAHA PURAJVA. "That in which the four-faced
Brahma taught the three objects of existence, as subservient to
the greatness of Tri-vikrama (Yishmi), which treats also of the
Siva kalpa, and which consists of 10,000 stanzas, is called the
Yamana Puram." It contains an account of the dwarf incarna-
tion of Yishnu, and "extends to about 7000 stanzas, but its
contents scarcely establish its claim to the character of a Purawa."
" It is of a more tolerant character than the (other) PurHwias, and
divides its homage impartially between $iva and Yishrai with
tolerable impartiality. It has not the air of any antiquity, and
its compilation may have amused the leisure of some Brahman
of Benares three or four centuries ago." Wilson.
YANA-PRASTHA. < A dweller in the worlds/ A Brahman
in the third stage of his religious life, passing his time as an
anchorite in the wood? See Brahman.
YANA-CHARAS (maa), YANE-CHARlS (fern,). Wan-
derers of the woods. Fauns, Dryads, or sylvan guardians.
YAN5A. A race or family. Lists of the JMshis or successive