Story of the generous Dánava Namuchi.
In old times there was an excellent Dánava named Namuchi, who was devoted to charity and very brave, and did not refuse to give anything to anybody that asked, even if he were his enemy. He practised asceticism as a drinker of smoke for ten thousand years, and obtained as a favour from Brahmá, that he should be proof against iron, stone, and wood. Then he frequently conquered Indra and made him flee, so the ṛishi Kaśyapa entreated him, and made him make peace with the gods. Then the gods and Asuras, as their enmity was at an end, deliberated together, and went to the ocean of milk, and churned it with the mountain Mandara. And as Vishṇu and the other gods received Lakshmí and other things as their shares, so Namuchi gained the horse Uchchhaiḥśravas; and the other gods and Asuras received other various shares, appointed by Brahmá, of the things that rose from the sea, when churned. And the amṛita at last came up at the end of the churning, and the gods stole it, so a quarrel again took place between them and the Asuras. Then, as fast as the gods killed an Asura in their light with them, the horse Uchchhaiḥśravas immediately restored him to life by smelling him. The consequence was that the gods found it impossible to conquer the Daityas and Dánavas. Then Vṛihaspati said in secret to Indra, who was in despair: “There is only one expedient left, adopt it without delay; go to Namuchi yourself, and ask him for that excellent horse, for he will certainly give it to you, though you are his enemy, sooner than mar the glory of open-handedness, which he has been accumulating since his birth.” When the preceptor of the gods said that to him, great Indra went with the gods and craved as a boon that horse Uchchhaiḥśravas from Namuchi. Then the great-hearted Namuchi reflected, “I never turn back a suppliant, so I will not turn back Indra; and how can I, as long as I am Namuchi, refuse to give him the horse? If the glory of generosity, which I have long been acquiring in the worlds, were to wither, what would be the use to me of prosperity, or life?” Accordingly he gave the horse to Indra, although Śukra warned him not to do it. Then Indra, after he had given the horse, lulled him to security, and as he could not be slain by any other weapon, killed him with foam of the Ganges, in which he had placed a thunderbolt. Alas! terrible in the world is the thirst for enjoyment, carried away by which even gods do not shrink from unbecoming and infamous conduct. When Danu, the mother of Namuchi, heard this, being afflicted with grief, she made by virtue of her asceticism a solemn resolve for the allaying of her sorrow, “May that mighty Namuchi be again born in my womb, and may he again become invincible by the gods in battle.” Then he was again conceived in her womb, and born as an Asura composed all of jewels, named Prabala on account of his strength. Then he performed asceticism, and satisfying supplicants even with his life, became successful, and as prince of the Dánavas conquered Indra a hundred times. Then the gods took counsel together, and came to him, and said to him: “By all means give us your body for a human sacrifice.”[9] When he heard that, he gave them his own body, although they were his enemies; noble men do not turn their backs on a suppliant, but bestow on him even their lives. Then that Dánava Prabala was cut to pieces by the gods, and he has been again born in the world of men with the body of Prabhása.
“So Prabhása was first Namuchi, and then he was Prabala, and then he became Prabhása, therefore on account of his merit he is hard for his enemies to conquer. And that cave of herbs, which belonged to that Prabala, is for that reason the property of Prabhása, and is at his command with its servants. And below it there is in Pátála[10] the mansion of Prabala, and in it there are his twelve head-wives beautifully adorned, and various jewels, and many kinds of weapons, and a wishing-stone, and a hundred thousand warriors, and also horses. This all belongs to Prabhása, and was acquired by him in a former life. Such a hero is Prabhása; in him nothing is wonderful.” When they heard this from the hermit’s son, Súryaprabha and his followers, with Maya and Prabhása, went immediately to that cavern belonging to Prabhása, that led down to Pátála, for the purpose of securing the jewels. Prabhása alone went in by that entrance, and secured his former wives, and the wishing-stone, and the horses, and the Asura warriors, and coming out again with all his wealth, he gave great satisfaction to Súryaprabha. Then that Súryaprabha, having quickly obtained what he wished, returned to his own camp with Maya and Sunítha and Prabhása, followed by Sumeru and the other kings and the ministers. There, after the Asuras and kings and others had gone to their own quarters, he again was consecrated for the fight, restraining his passions, and spent the rest of the night on a bed of kuśa grass.
[1] I read samárúḍha-Bhútásana-vimánakáḥ.
[2] Reading rabhasokti for nabhasokti. Perhaps siddhimitam in śl. 78, a, should be siddhamidam.
[3] In the MS. lent me from the Sanskrit College I find soḍháhidanśasya and visoḍhavahneś.
[4] Reading aneko dhanyártho.
[5] Cp. Odyssey 4. 841 ὥς οἱ ἐναργὲς ὄνειρον ἐπέσσυτο νυκτὸς ἀμολγῷ, where some suppose ἀμολγὸς to mean the four hours before daybreak.
[6] I read cha raṇadíksháyám.
[7] The MS. in the Sanskrit College reads tatrásyástu śivam távat; let him succeed in the battle.
[8] I. e. attendants of Śiva.
[9] The word, which I have translated “human sacrifice,” is purushamedha. For the prevalence of human sacrifices among all nations of antiquity see Grimm’s Teutonic Mythology, translated by Stallybrass, Vol. I, p. 44 and ff; see also Tylor’s Primitive Culture, Vol. II, p. 246, 353, 361, 365. Dr. Rajendralála Mitra. Rai Bahadúr, in an essay in the Journal of the Asiatic Society for 1876, entitled “Human Sacrifices in India,” traces the history of the practice in India, and incidentally among the principal nations of antiquity. The following is his own summary of his conclusions with respect to the practice in India. (1) That, looking to the history of human civilization, and the rituals of the Hindus, there is nothing to justify the belief that in ancient times the Hindus were incapable of sacrificing human beings to their gods. (2) That the Śunaḥśepha hymns of the Rig Veda Sanhitá most probably refer to a human sacrifice. (3) That the Aitareya Bráhmaṇa refers to an actual, and not a typical human sacrifice. (4) That the Purushamedha originally required the actual sacrifice of men. (5) That the Śatapatha Bráhmaṇa sanctions human sacrifice in some cases, but makes the Purushamedha emblematic. (6) That the Taittiríya Bráhmaṇa enjoins the sacrifice of a man at the Horse sacrifice. (7) That the Puráṇas recognise human sacrifices to Chaṇḍiká but prohibit the Purushamedha rite. (8) That the Tantras enjoin human sacrifices to Chaṇḍiká, and require that, when human victims are not available, an effigy of a human being should be sacrificed to her. Of the sacrifices to Chaṇḍiká we have enough and to spare in the Kathá Sarit Ságara. Strange to say, it appears that human sacrifices were offered in Greece on Mount Lykaion in Arcadia even in the time of Pausanias. Dim traditions with respect to the custom are still found among the inhabitants of that region, (Bernhard Schmidt, Griechische Märchen, p. 27). Cp. the institution of the φαρμακοὶ connected with the worship of Apollo! Preller, Griechische Mythologie, Vol. I, p. 202; see also pp. 240 and 257 and Vol. II, pp. 310 and 466; Herodotus VII, 197; Plato, Min. p. 315, C; Preller, Römische Mythologie, p. 104.
[10] Cp. chapter 45. In chapter 73 will be found another instance of a “rifted rock whose entrance leads to hell.” Cp. the Hercules Furens of Seneca, v. 662 & ff.