CHAPTER XVII! 537

had been oppressed by dirt raid the free put in chains1. Njitu^Hv therefore, the
conduct not suited to the hermitage was ojncerr.aal. Violence w:,< detested '
and considered ?n unpardonable offence2. A rigorous di>cip]int was nisinrained
and the trarsj?resbor \vas readily sent away. A little ir>v. Avtis, the son of Puru
rav33 \\iio had aimed at and killed a vulture, w;«s cxpclk^ ftom thu JJx //A bv
Cyovana despite his younj* a^e.

A number of ancient hermitages has been recorded by IvIIiJfisr. \Te read
ofpenoncc groves spreading alon^ the Ganges4. The t:st\:wjj of irJividu?!
sages mentioned by the pceu \yere those of Valmiki5, Vrsisthr/*, K>n\a on the
Malic I7 Cyavana8, Agasrya9, Satakarm10, Sarahhanga11, Manci12 an^i of orhers.

ReJ/g/otts Cults

Religious cults had arisen long before Kalidasa and both Vaisnavism and
Saivism were flourishing in the land. "We have already discussed the Bhaga-
vata, Pasupata, and other cults before in the context of important individual dei-
ties. Although there are no direct references made by the poet to Buddhism, its
existence is warranted by the recordsof Fahien13, a contemporary pilgrim from
China.

Cosmogony

We have already noted the belief in the creation of the cosmos (jyv%//14, &rrg#15)
by Brahma, here \ve may revert to the subject of cosmogony and mark a few more
features of it. The universe has been variously called as stuhsara^jagat^ and by
such other synonyms of these which imply a constant change of form typified by
the births and deaths. The universe is supposed to be created and destroyed by
Brahma at the end of a Ka/paw. A Kalpa which forms but a day of Brahma is
equal to 1,000 cycles of human ages, i.e., 432 millions of human years; so long the
creation exists. At the end of this period anight of equal duration follows, in
which the universe collapses and is turned into an immense ocean, all things mer-
ging into hopeless chaos. Visnu, the lord of all, sleeps on his Sesa on the sur-
face of water till the break of the morn, when the universe is created again, and
a new Kalpa begins. It is supposed that Visnuin the form of an immense boar

1 Ibid., 1 1.

*&&> VII. 18; cf. I7&., pp. 128-129.
(d Ibid., p. 129*

. 28.

5 Ibid., 75-82.

6 Ibid., I. 55,48 ff.

7 Sak.9 p. 21.

8 K/Vs., pp. 128-129.

9 Rjeurbu., XIII. 36.
30 Ibid., 38, ff.
"Ibid., 45-

1? j^pp. 238 ff.

13 James Legge: F/afoa's ILecord of Utoddhhtic Kingdom y (throughout the work).

" K«., II. 4; 6, -,, 8, 10.

"Ibid., 6, 7.

M.R«gfi#.,VII. j6;10».,II. 8.

22