Kishan was born at Mathurá. There are various opinions about him current among the Hindús. Some stigmatize him as the greatest rogue in the world, and the most artful cheat of all the sons of Adam. Some believe that he was a prophet, others raise him to divinity. It is well known that the astrologers, having obtained fore-knowledge of his graceless character from his horoscope, gave information to Rájá Kans, the chief of the Yádavas; and he issued an order for putting Kishan to death. Kishan passed eleven years in the house of Nand, who was by occupation a milk-seller and cow­herd. At length, by tricks and stratagems and magic, Kishan killed Rájá Kans, and gave the name of king to Ugrasen, father of Kans. He himself was openly carrying on the government. By degrees, and with the aid of deception and impostures, he set up a claim to divinity, and large numbers of people put faith in his absurd pre­tension. For thirty-two years after his departure from the house of Nand, he passed his life among the libertines of Mathurá, and his wonderful pranks and actions are notorious. Rájá Jarásandh, of the country of Bihár and Patna, marched against Mathurá with a large force to overthrow him. Another Rájá also, called Kál Yavan, of the race of the Mlechhas, that is to say, a race that did not follow the Hindú religion, came up from the west to attack him. It is said that this Rájá came from Arabia ('Arabistán). Krishna was not able to withstand the attack of these two Rájás, so he fled to Dwáraká, which is on the sea-shore, one hundred kos from Ahmad-ábád in Gujarát. There he fortified himself, and continued to dwell there for seventy-eight years. He strove for his deliverance, but without effect, until he had attained his one hundred and twenty-fifth year, when, through the malice of Gandhárí, the mother of Duryodhan, he was treacherously killed. It is the belief of some that he withdrew into retirement, and that he is still alive.

The cause of Gandhárí's hatred was very curious, so I will record it. The story runs, that when the time drew near for Gandhárí to give birth to a child, she reflected that, as her husband Dhritaráshtra was blind, and would never see his child, she also, to sympathize with her husband, would keep her eyes from the child in this world. So on the day that Duryodhan was born, she bound up her eyes, and kept them so bound for many years, until her son Duryodhan grew up, and went to war with the Pándavas. When the forces were assembled, and the opposing armies drew near for battle, on the day before the fight, she said to her son, “Oh light of my eyes! the eyes of parents are to the person of their son a sure protection and defence against all troubles and calamities. To-morrow the battle will begin, and as your tender body is not defended with this armour, I am fearful lest some evil should befall thee. Therefore come naked before me, so that I may uncover my eyes, and look upon your figure.” Duryodhan asked how he should attend upon her, and she replied, “My son, there is no one in the world like unto the Pándavas in intelligence, wisdom, excellence, truth, and integrity;—hasten to them, and make inquiry.” Duryodhan went alone to the Pándavas, and told them the reason of his coming. They showed him the greatest hospitality, and, although they knew that there was the most violent animosity between them, they never let the thread of rectitude slip from their hands, but spoke out with sincerity, and said, “The child comes naked from his mother's womb, and the eyes of his parents fall upon him first in that state. As this is the first time your mother will have seen you, to-day is as the first day of your existence; therefore it is right that you should strip yourself naked, and so go into the presence of your mother, so that her eyes may behold the whole of your person, and preserve it from dangers.” Duryodhan took leave, and started to return. On the way he was met by Kishan, who asked him what was the reason of his coming alone into the army of his enemies. Duryodhan informed him. Kishan said to himself, “What a pity! if he acts upon the advice of the Pándavas, his body will become as brass; no weapon will take effect upon it, and he will prevail over us.” So he laughed loudly, and deceitfully said, “O simple man, they who seek the advice of their enemies, and follow the course which they prescribe, will assuredly fall into the pit of de­struction. They have been making sport of you. When you were born, your members were small and mean; but you are grown large and vigorous,* how can you show yourself to your mother without shame! When Duryodhan heard this, unsuspicious of deception, he seized the garment of Kishan, and said, “What the Pándavas told me was true; but I will throw belts with long ends over my shoulder, so that the privy parts of my person may be covered.” Duryodhan did so, and went before his mother, and said, “Behold, here I am: uncover your eyes.” His mother, believing him to have been instructed by the Pándavas, and being assured that they had not spoken improperly, uncovered her eyes. When she perceived the sword-belt, she uttered a cry, and fell down in a swoon. Upon recovering her senses, she wept bitterly, and said, “O my son! did the Pándavas tell you to adopt this trick of the sword-belt?” And he told her that Kishan had advised it. Gandhárí raised her hands in prayer, and in deep affliction cursed Kishan. Then, wringing her hands in sorrow, she said, “O my son! in the very place which thou hast hidden from my eyes shalt thou receive a wound, which shall prove thy death.” Kishan, as above stated, died after great suffering.

Judishtar, upon the death of Duryodhan, and the extermination of the Kuruvas, was established in the sovereignty of Hind and other places, and ruled as monarch. Thirty-six years after this event, he, under divine guidance, became convinced of the emptiness and instability of this world; so, before entering into the future state, he gave up the vanities of the world, and along with his four brothers retired into seclusion, and at length departed this life.

The Kuruvas and the Pándavas reigned together for seventy-six years. Duryodhan reigned alone for thirteen years, and after the termination of the war, Judishtar reigned over the whole world for thirty-six years, making altogether one hundred and twenty-five years as the duration of their supremacy. Gracious God, what a marvellous and out-of-the-way story is this! In no history through­out the world, excepting in Hindústán, is such a circumstance to be found.

Old historians have recorded that in later days, after two breaks, the son of a son of Arjun was born, and he, having ascended the throne, carried on the government with justice and clemency; and making the events of the past the monitors of the future, he acted in obedience to the will of God. One day it came into his mind to inquire what was the cause of the dissensions of his predecessors, and what were the facts of the war between them. He made inquiries of a learned man of the age named Bhisham Báín (Vaisampáyana), and Bhisham told him that his preceptor, the sage Byás, had witnessed the various events, and was minutely acquainted with their causes; so he had better make inquiries of him. The King showed the sage Byás every princely courtesy, and sought from him the information which he desired. Byás, through the weakness of old age and spiritual pre-occupation, had given up talking; but he slowly reduced to writing this story with its precepts and counsels, and formed it into a book. He called the work Mahá-bhárat, the signification of which name, as I have heard from common report, is, that mahá means great, and bhárat war; for as the book commemorates the great wars, he gave it the name of Mahá-bhárat. But there is an objection to this, because bhárat in the language of Hind does not mean “war.” The book records the history of the race descended from a famous king named Bharat, and so apparently the book is named after him, the letter a having been lengthened by use—but God knows! This Byás is considered to be an emanation of the Divine Spirit, and it is believed that he is still alive. Some Hindús affirm that a person named Byás appears in every Dwápar Yúg to record the events which occur among mankind; but others believe that he is a person who makes his appearance in time of war.

It is admitted by common consent that Byás compiled the Bed, which was delivered by the tongue of Brahmá, and arranged it in four books. 1. Rig Bed. 2. Jajur Bed. 3. Sám Bed. 4. Atharban Bed. It was by doing this he got the name of Byás, because the meaning of that word is compiler or arranger. His original name, as it was known in the middle of the Doáb, was Dadí Báín (Dwaipáyana). Wonderful and incredible stories are related about this Byás; but, fearing to be prolix, I have not repeated them. This wonderful book consists of sixty lacs (6,000,000) of sloks. After its completion, he (Byás) repaired to the banks of the Sarsuti, near Thánesar, and his labours being ended, he there prepared a great feast, to which he invited the learned from all parts and quarters of the world. The festival was kept up for a lengthened period, and he enriched the people with valuable gifts. The sixty lacs of sloks are divided as follows: Thirty lacs were allotted to the deotás, who are heavenly spirits or divinities. Fifteen lacs were assigned to the inhabitants of the Satar-lok (Satya-loka), who dwell in the world above. Fourteen lacs were appropriated to the Gandharbs, one of the varieties of created beings endued with the property of life. One lac he left for the benefit of mankind. This he divided into eighteen parbs (parvvas) or books, for the benefit of men of merit. This one lac of sloks is still extant among men, and is known by the name of Mahá-bhárat. Twenty-four thousand sloks are occupied with the wars of the Kuruvas and Pándavas; the remainder consists of precepts, homilies, apologues, stories, explanations, and details of the dissensions and wars of former generations. The Bráhmans believe that a prophet or apostle in each Yúg writes a book, and that, notwithstanding the long periods of time which have elapsed, these works are still extant.