DDK HistoryF.p65 - CSIR

126 KINGS AT RAJGlR [5.5
that compares with the Mitannian Tuzratta. In the same line of descent,
(cf. Maitri Upanisad 1.2) is Brhadratha (= of the great chariot) which
perhaps represents more than one chieftain. 6 At the time of the Mbh.
there ruled at Rajgir, the old capital of Bihar, the son of Brhadratha, born
of two sisters who had eaten the two halves of a magic fruit. This son
Jarasamdha (= joined by Jara) was consequently born in two halves,
both thrown away ; the halves were then fitted together by a demoness
called Jara to give a viable child and to explain the name (Mbh. 2.16.31-
40). He was ripped apart again by Bhima, after having driven Krsna
and the Yadus out of Mathura. Archaeology may tell us whether a
historical figure is meant here. Rajgir is still fortified with cyclopean
walls which at the latest date frop the time of Ajatasatru, who is
reported (MN. 108) as fortifying, or repairing the old fortifications of
Rajgir just after Buddha’s death, say about 480 B. c. If these massive walls
(never properly explored) should turn out to be older, then Jarasamdha
should be regarded as the first of Magadhan chiefs who tried to raid
territory to the west. The geography is uncertain. The hero Krsna,
recognized by Greeks as Herakles for having subdued a many-headed
snake in the Jumna and for having killed opposing pancratiasts, was
supposed to have left Mathura with his people for Dvaraka, now in
Kathiawar. Actually, the legend reports a westward march of the
Yadus (Mbh. 2.13.49, 65) from Mathura, while the route from Mathura
to Dvaraka lies southwards through a desert. This part of the Krsna
legend could be brought to earth by digging at Dvaraka, but also
digging at Darwax in Afghanistan, whose name means the same thing
and which is the more probable destination of refugees from Mathura
who would retrace the old Aryan route of immigration in an opposite
direction. The Mbh. reports a Goratha 7 mountain which is actually
the name found in Brahmi characters on a hill near Rajgir, so that
some archaeological work is justified in this case at least.
After the Kurus were “ annihilated ” in the great war at
Kuruksetra (near Delhi), and the Pandavas saw their end
approaching, the heir Pariksit was enthroned at Taksasila (Taxila).