HAIHAYA This name is supposed to be derived from haya, `a horse.’ 1. A prince of the Lunar race, and great-grandson of Yadu. 2. A race or tribe of people to whom a Seythian origin has been ascribed. The Vishnu Purana represents them as descendants of Haihaya of the Yadu race, but they are generally associated with borderers and outlying tribes. In the Vayu and other Puranas, five great divisions of the tribe are named: Tala-janghas, Viti-hotras, Avantis, Tundikeras, and Jatas, or rather Su-jatas. They conquered Bahu or Bahuka, a descendant of King Haris-chandra, and were in their turn conquered, along with many other barbarian tribes, by King Sagara, son of Bahu. According to the Maha-bharata, they were descended from Saryati, a son of Manu. They made incursions into the Doab, and they took the city of Kasi (Benares), which had been fortified against them by King Divo-dasa; but the grandson of this king Pratardana by name, destroyed the Haihayas, and re-established the kingdom of Kasi. Arjuna-Kartavirya, of a thousand arms, was king of the Haihayas, and he was defeated and had his arms cut off by Parasu-rama.

        The Vindhya Mountains would seem to have been the home of these tribes; and according to Colonel Todd, a tribe of Haihayas still exists “near the very top of the valley of Sohagpoor, in Bhagelkhand, aware of their ancient lineage, and, though few in number, still celebrated for their valour.”

HALA-BHRIT `Bearing a plough.’ Bala-rama.

HALAYUDHA `Who has a ploughshare for his weapon,’ i.e., Bala-rama. 

HANSA 1. This, according to the Bhagavata Purana, was the name of the “one caste,” when, in olden times, there was only “one Veda, one God, and one caste.” 2. A name used in the Maha-bharata for Krishna. 3. A mountain range north of Meru. 

HANSA Hansa and Dimbhaka were two great warrior-brothers mentioned in the Maha-bharata as friends of Jara-sandha. A certain king also named Hansa was killed by Bala-rama. Hearing that “Hansa was killed,” Dimbhaka, unable to live without him, committed suicide, and when Hansa heard of this he drowned himself in the Yamuna.

HANUMAN, HANUMAT A celebrated monkey chief. He was son of Pavana, `the wind,’ by Anjana, wife of a monkey named Kesari. He was able to fly, and is a conspicuous figure in the Ramayana. He and the other monkeys who assisted Rama in his war against Ravana were of divine origin, and their powers were superhuman. Hanuman jumped from India to Ceylon in one bound; he tore up trees, carried away the Himalayas, seized the clouds, and performed many other wonderful exploits. (See Surasa.) His form is “as vast as a mountain and as tall as a gigantic tower. His complexion is yellow and glowing like molten gold. His face is as red as the brightest ruby; while his enormous tail spreads out to an interminable length. He stands on a lofty rock and roars like thunder. He leaps into the air, and flies among the clouds with a rushing noise, whilst the ocean waves are roaring and splashing below.” In one of his fights with Ravana and the Rakshasas, they greased his tail and set it on fire, but to their own great injury, for with it he burnt down their capital city, Lanka. This exploit obtained for him the name Lanka-dahi. His services to Rama were great and many. He acted as his spy, and fought most valiantly. He flew to the Himalayas, from whence he brought medicinal herbs with which he restored the wounded, and he killed the monster Kala-nemi, and thousands of Gandharvas who assailed him. He accompanied Rama on his return to Ayodhya, and there he received from him the reward of perpetual life and youth. The exploits of Hanuman are favourite topics among Hindus from childhood to age, and paintings of them are common. He is called Marut-putra, and he has the patronymics Anili, Maruti, &c., and the metronymic Anjaneya. He is also Yoga-chara, from his power in magic or in the healing art, and Rajata-dyuti, `the brilliant.’ Among his other accomplishments, Hanumat was a grammarian; and the Ramayan says, “The chief of monkeys is perfect; no one equals him in the sastras, in learning, and in ascertaining the sense of the scriptures [or in moving at will]. In all sciences, in the rules of austerity, he rivals the preceptor of the gods. … It is well known that Hanumat was the ninth author of grammar” – Muir, iv. 490.

HANUMAN-NATAKA A long drama by various hands upon the adventures of the monkey chief Hanuman. This drama is fabled to have been composed by Hanuman, and inscribed by him on rocks. Valmiki, the author of the Ramayana, saw it and feared that it would throw his own poem into the shade. He complained to the author, who told him to cast the verses into the sea. He did so, and they remained concealed there for ages. Portions were discovered and brought to King Bhoja, who directed Damodara Misra to arrange them and fill up the lacunae. He did so, and the result was this drama. “It is probable,” says Wilson, “that the fragments of an ancient drama were connected in the manner described. Some of the ideas are poetical, and the sentiments just and forcible; the language is generally very harmonious, but the work itself is, after all, a most disjointed and nondescript composition, and the patchwork is very glaringly and clumsily put together.” It is a work of the tenth or eleventh century. It has been printed in India.

HARA A name of Siva. 

HARI A name which commonly designates Vishnu, but it is exceptionally used for other gods. 

HARI-DWARA `The gate of Hari.’ The modern Hardwar. The place where the Ganges finally breaks through the mountains into the plains of Hindusthan. It is a great place of pilgrimage.

HARI-HARA A combination of the names of Vishnu and Siva, and representing the union of the two deities in one, a combination which is differently accounted for.

HARIS-CHANDRA Twenty-eighth king of the Solar race, and son of Tri-sanku. He was celebrated for his piety and justice. There are several legends about him. The Aitareya Brahmana tells the story of his purchasing Sunah-sephas to be offered up as a vicarious sacrifice for his own son. (See Sunah-sephas). The Maha-bharata relates that he was raised to the heaven of Indra for his performance of the Raja-suya sacrifice and for his unbounded liberality. The Markandeya Purana expands the story at considerable length. One day while Haris-chandra was hunting he heard female lamentations, which preceded “from the Sciences, who were being mastered by the austerely fervid sage Viswamitra, and were crying out in alarm at his superiority.” Haris-chandra, as defender of the distressed, went to the rescue, but Viswamitra was so provoked by his interference that the Sciences instantly perished, and Haris-chandra was reduced to a state of abject helplessness. Viswamitra demanded the sacrificial gift due to him as a Brahman, and the king offered him whatever he might choose to ask, “gold, his own son, wife, body, life, kingdom, good fortune,” whatever was dearest. Viswamitra stripped him of wealth and kingdom, leaving him nothing but a garment of bark and his wife and son. In a state of destitution he left his kingdom and Viswamitra struck Saibya, the queen, with his staff to hasten her reluctant departure. To escape from his oppressor he proceeded to the holy city of Benares, but the relentless sage was waiting for him and demanded the completion of the gift. With bitter grief wife and child were sold, and there remained only himself. Dharma, the god of justice, appeared in the form of a hideous and offensive Chandala, and offered to buy him. Notwithstanding the exile’s repugnance and horror, Viswamitra insisted upon the sale, and Haris-chandra was carried off “bound, boaten, confused, and afflicted,” to the abode of the Chandala. He was sent by his master to steal grave-clothes from a cemetery. In this horrid place and degrading work he spent twelve months. His wife then came to the cemetery to perform the obsequies of her son, who had died from the bite of a serpent. They recognised each other, and Haris-chandra and his wife resolved to die upon the funeral pure of their son, though he hesitated to take away his own life without the consent of his master. After all was prepared, he gave himself up to meditation on Vishnu. The gods then arrived, headed by Dharma and accompanied by Viswamitra. Dharma entreated him to refrain from his intention, and Indra informed him “that he, his wife, and son, had conquered heaven by their good works.” Haris-chandra declared that he could not go to heaven without the permission of his master the Chandala. Dharma then revealed himself. When this difficulty was removed, Haris-chandra objected to go to heaven without his faithful subjects. “This request was granted by Indra, and after Viswamitra had inaugurated Rohitaswa, the King’s son, to be his successor, Haris-chandra, his friends, and followers, all ascended in company to heaven.” There he was induced by the sage Narada to boast of his merits, and this led to his expulsion from heaven. As he was falling he repented of his fault and was forgiven. His downward course was arrested, and he had his followers dwell in an aerial city, which, according to popular belief, is still visible occasionally in mid-air.

HARITA, HARITA 1. A son of Yuvanaswa of the Solar race, descended from Ikshwaku. From him descended the Harita-Angirasas. In the Linga Purana it is said, “The son of Yuvanaswa was Harita, of whom the Haritas were sons. They were, on the side of Angiras, twice-born men (Brahmans) of Kshatriya lineage;” or according to the Vayu, “they were the sons of Angiras, twice-born men (Brahmans), of Kshatriya race,” possibly meaning that they were sons raised up to Harita by Angiras. According to some he was a son of Chyavana. 2. Author of a Dharma-sastra or law-book.

HARITAS, HARITA-ANGIRASES See Harita.

HARITS, HARITAS `Green.’ In the Rig-veda the horses, or rather mares, of the sun, seven or ten in number, and typical of his rays. “The prototype of the Grecian Charities.” – Max Muller.

HARI-VANSA The genealogy of Hari or Vishnu, a long poem of 16,374 verses. It purports to be a part of the Maha-bharata, but it is of much later date, and “may more accurately be ranked with the Pauranik compilations of least authenticity and latest date.” It is in three parts; the first is introductory, and gives particulars of the creation and of the patriarchal and regal dynasties; the second contains the life and adventures of Krishna: and the last and the third treats of the future of the world and the corruptions of the Kali age. It contains many indications of its having been written in the south of the India.

HARSHANA A deity who presides over the Sraddha offerings.

HARYASWA A grandson of the Kuvalayaswa who killed the demon Dhundhu. The country of Panchala is said to have been named from his five (Pancha) sons. There were several others of this name.

HARYASWAS Five thousand sons of the patriarch Daksha, begotten by him for the purpose of peopling the earth. The sage Narada dissuaded them from producing offspring, and they “dispersed themselves through the regions and have not returned.”

HASTINA-PURA The capital city of the Kauravas, for which the great war of the Maha-bharata was waged. It was founded by Hastin, son of the first Bharata, and hence, as some say, its name; but the Maha-bharata and the Vishnu Purana call it the “elephant city,” from hastin, an elephant. The ruins are traceable near an old bead of the Ganges, about 57 miles N.E. of Delhi, and local tradition has preserved the name. It is said to have been washed away by the Ganges.

HASYARNAVA `Ocean of laughter.’ A modern comic piece in two acts, by a Pandit named Jagadisa. “It is a severe but grossly indelicate satire upon the licentiousness of Brahmans assuming the character of religious mendicants.” – Wilson.

HAVIR-BHUJ, HAVISH-MATA Pitris or Manes of the Kshatriyas, and inhabitants of the solar sphere. See Pitris.

HAYA-GRIVA `Horse-necked.’ According to one legend, a Daitya who stole the Veda as it slipped out of the mouth of Brahma while he was sleeping at the end of a kalpa, and was killed by Vishnu in the Fish Avatara. According to another, Vishnu himself, who assumed this form to recover the Veda, which had been carried off by two Daityas.

HAYA-SIRAS, HAYA-SIRSHA `Horse-head.’ In the Maha-bharata it is recorded that the sage Aurva (q.v.) “cast the fire of his anger into the sea,” and that it there “became the great Haya-siras, known to those acquainted with the Veda, which vomits forth that fire and drinks up the waters.” A form of Vishnu.

In the Bhagavata Purana Brahma is represented as saying “In my sacrifice Bhagavat himself was Haya-sirsha, the male of the sacrifice, whose colour is that of gold, of whom the Vedas and the sacrifices are the substance and the gods the soul, when he respired, charming words came forth from his nostrils.” 

HEMA-CHANDRA Author of a good Sanskrit vocabulary, printed under the superintendence of Colebrooke.

HEMADRI `The golden mountain,’ i.e., Meru.

HEMA-KUTA `Golden peak.’ A chain of mountains represented as lying north of the Himalayas, between them and Mount Meru.

HIDIMBA (mas.), HIDIMBA (fem.) A powerful Asura, who has yellow eyes and a horrible aspect. He was a cannibal, and dwelt in the forest to which the Pandavas retired after the burning of their house. He had a sister named Hidimba, whom he sent to lure the Pandavas to him; but on meeting with Bhima, she fell in love with him, and offered to carry him away to safety on her back. Bhima refused, and while they were parleying, Hidimba came up, and a terrible fight ensued, in which Bhima killed the monster. Hidimba was at first much terrified and fled, but she returned and claimed Bhima for her husband. By his mother’s desire Bhima married her, and by her had a son named Ghatotkacha.

HIMACHALA, HIMADRI The Himalaya mountains.

HIMAVAT The personification of the Himalaya mountains, husband of Mena or Menaka, and father of Uma and Ganga.