Essay name: Vasudevahindi (cultural history)
Author:
A. P. Jamkhedkar
Affiliation: Savitribai Phule Pune University / Deccan College Post Graduate and Research Institute Pune
This essay is an English study of the Vasudevahindi reflecting cultural history and traditions of the life of people in ancient and medieval India during the 6th century. The Vasudevahimdi is a romantic and religious tale that revolves around the wanderings of Vasudeva (a former Jain monk) and religious teachings in the guise of love stories, a common theme of poetry in Jainism.
Appendix 1 - Description of Vidyadharas and magical lores
10 (of 118)
External source: Shodhganga (Repository of Indian theses)
Download the PDF file of the original publication
Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)
628
The Cilada Vidyadharas were helped by cloud-faced gods
(mehamuha deva) who showered rains over the army of king
µþ³ó²¹°ù²¹³ó²¹Â¹.
The Vidyadharas equipped themselves with medicinal
herbs of four types which very instantaneously cured the
wounded warrior of his wounds 2.
The Vh(M) refers to the incident of Bharaha's
encounter with the Citatas helped by the mehamuha gods while
describing a similar incident in the ease of Vasudeva. The
version of the Vh(M) about the Bharaha-cilada battle,
however, specifies that the shower sent by the cloud-faced-gods
was of serpents. (sappavarisa) ³. In their fight with
Vasudeva the kiratas have also been described as bearing
different faces such as of elephant, tiger and bear4. The
Kiratas themselves have been described as mechas and helped
by an army of kkhasa (-senna) 5. In still another description
of a battle fought by Vasudeva with an adversary Vidyadhara
king the latter is said to have been supported by Vedalas,
Pisayas, Rakkhasas and warriors bearing faces of wild
animals In the same battle a bhuta has been described as
6 1. Ibid., 186
3. Vh(M),II 143b.
5. Ibid. 5
2. Ibid., 138
4. Ibid., II.143b-144a.
6. Ibid, II.1.
