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July, 1873.] THE JAINS. 193 Being without resource, what does he then ? He 6ent a letter to Bishari. Bishari! Bishari! he calls many times. Whilst he was calling, Padmavati thought on him. Hearing his cry, what does Padma then ? She took a sword and silver stick in her hand, and golden sandals on her feet, And goes slowly to the river of Netana. Netana ! Netana ! she calls many times. Netana was astonished when she heard, And began to put on her eight ornaments, On her leg anklets, on her feet a ring, Bracelets on her arms, on her neck a hansuli In her nose a nose-ring, on her forehead ver¬ milion, And slowly she went to the presence of Takshak. Listen, listen, Takshak, snake! why do you sit still ? Come quickly and save the boy, he has been bitten hy a snake. Hearing this, what does Takshak, snake ? Slowly, slowly he goes to the village of Nakindar. Nakindar! Nakindar! he calls many times. Whilst he was calling, Nakindar thought on him, And was astonished when he saw him. Listen, lis'en, Tahshak, Nag snake ! to you I speak. If you bite me I will call for help to Ganesa and Kartik— He pierces stone, he pierces brick, he pierces everything. He came into the presence of Nakindar and his wife. Listen, Nakindar ! to thee I speak : Sleep on a golden bed, Nakindar, thy feet on a silver bed. Thy body, Nakindar, trembles at the bed¬ side. ^Listen, listen, Nakindar ! you must die. Go to the right hand, Nakindar, go to the left: On all sides, Nakindar, you must say farewell. Bite his head under the tonguo. Go then, go, gdtiyd cowrie, I grant you the boon ; Seize the black snake and bring him before me. The words translated “you must die” do not accurately give the meaning of the original, which is kdr prune jdo, meaning : What form of life will you assume after death ? Padma or Padmavati is used in this district as a synonym for Bishari. Nakindar is said to have been the youngest son of a banker who quarrelled with M a n a s a, the goddess of snakes. The goddess in anger said that all his sons should die of snake-bite, and ac¬ cordingly each of them was killed by a snake on the night of his marriage. For a long time the father of Nakindar refused to allow him to marry, but at last he consented and built a room made entirely of iron, so that no snake could enter. On the marriage night Nakindar and his bride Boulla were sleeping in this iron ropm on a bed made of gold and silver, when a small snake came through a crack in the wall and killed him. After he was dead, his wife Boulla put his body in a boat and started off down-stream. After she had travelled a long time, she met a washerman who washed the clothes of the gods ; under his guidance she went to heaven, where she obtained some amrita, with which she brought her husband to life, but while he was in the boat his knee had been gnawed by a fish, so that, though he recovered his life, he was always lame. PAPERS ON SATRUNJAYA AND THE JAINS. II7.—Translation from Lassen's Alterthumskunde, IV. 755 seqq. By E. Behatsek, M.O.E. The views hitherto entertained on the origin and development of the Jaina sect differ considerably from each other. Wilson assumes that this religious doctrine either originated so late as the decline of Buddhism, in the begin¬ ning of the 8th century,* or that it manifested itself during the 2nd century in the Dakhan ; and with the latter view that scholar’s earliest opinion coincided!. Benfey thought, at least formerly, that the Jaina doctrine arose only

  • Mackenzie Collection, I. p. 182.

+ Ibid. Introduction I. p. lxvii. and his Prefaoe to the 1st edition of hia Sanscrit Dictionary, p. rcriv.