[Ishwa]

Ashok: You are right. That is why Vikramaditya's fight and Samvat is remembered and revered most by different Panthas. Many kings wanted to be a Vikramaditya, especially in the face of the "Shakas".
His kinsman Shalivahana is rather remembered for his Samvat.

Bodhi: Yes, thank you. I will make that trip.

[Bodhi]

Hauma Hamiddha Ji, I am very interested to know which museum is that you mentioned there (Saraswati of Bhoja smuggled by Brits). I am still "HERE", will go there NOW, and can at least share pictures.

[Bharatvarsh]

Bodhi all indications show that its the museum u already went to:

that he is willing to bring back the idol of Saraswati from the British Museum.

www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/fline/fl2009/stories/20030509003103700.htm

The idol is now in the British Museum, London. There is some evidence that he built a Saraswati temple as well.

http://books.google....num=4&ct=result

[Bodhi]

OK, go again... let us see...

[Bodhi]

Ashok: You are right. That is why Vikramaditya's fight and Samvat is remembered and revered most by different Panthas. Many kings wanted to be a Vikramaditya, especially in the face of the "Shakas".

Yes. a King who succesfully repulsed vidharmI invaders from North-West and secured North, had a tendency to be known as vikramAditya. Last of these was hemachandra, who was titled "vikramAditya" too, after he not only repulsed the humAyun, threw away his throne, and conquered the whole of North, but also destroyed the hegemony of Afghans, relatives of Sher Shah Suri of his own side to claim the title of King. At the time of his coronation at Delhi, he was titled vikramAditya by the brAhmaNa-s. He was the last Hindu king to have done that, and to have controled Delhi, although for a brief period.

[Bodhi]

(1)OM srimad-bhoja-nareMdra-chaMdra-nagarI-vidyAdharI-dharmadhIH soShA nAma sabhAShaNA khalu sukha-prasthApyatA
(2)yApsarAH | vAgdevIM prathamaM vidhAya jananI pashchAj-jinAnAM-trayIM ambA nitya-phalAdikAM vararuchi mUrttim shubhA ni
(3)-rmANe|| iti shubham || sUtradhAra sahira-suta-maNathaleNa ghaTitaM || vij~nAnika shivadevena likhitaM iti ||
(4)samvat 1091 ||

Above is the transliteration of the 4 lines inscribed in devanAgarI script on the base of the famed pratimA from bhojadeva's city. These four lines would mean something like this:

OM! In the city of the Moon-like Emperor bhoja is being commissioned very delightedly by that apsarA named soShA, who is learned in the vidyA-s, has a mind firmly set in dharma, and who is good in speech:
First accomplishing the Mother Goddess of Voice (Saraswati), and then the three jina-s, is being made this way the mUrti of the Mother, the giver of choicest and everlasting boons. all auspicious. executed by maNathala, the son of sahira the carpenter. this written by knower of sciences shivadeva.
saMvat 1091 vikramI (->1034 AD)

The mUrti of mother vAgdevI in standing posture with four arms (now only two left) is about 1.2 m tall, and is made of coarse white marble. She was worshipped in the capital of rAjA bhoja, the famed dhArA nagarI (modern town of dhAr in madhya pradesh) up until year 1880, when mlechCha-s decided to uproot her, smuggle her, and place in the British Museum of London as an exhibit.

Originally she would have been chaturbhujI, but two arms are now broken. In the remaining two she holds an aMkusha and a noose. She has a beautiful and tall crown in karaNDa style, and her tall hair are done in a bun on a side. Below her is the high pedestal base on which the above four devanAgarI lines are inscribed, and is shown a figure of a lady paying her tribute to the Goddess - probably representing the lady who commissioned the construction of the mUrti. (She is probably being referred to as apsarA, but must have been either a lady of royal family or a rich merchant lady of jaina bent. I think the latter, also because of the reference to the jina-s).

I was very unlucky as I could not have her darshan. First time around when I went, obviousely I was not looking for her particularly, but could have missed her because according to the British Museum, it is not a pratimA of vAgdevI, but that of a jaina yakShiNI ambikA. But the second time around when I did know what I wanted to see, I really ran out of luck, as these mlechCha-s have deported her to another mlechCha country on "Loan" for a year. She is being "exhibited" at a museum in spain these days it seems. But some helpful mlechCha-s at the BML would e-mail me the images hopefully, and when I get those I shall post these here. Posted here are some images from the Museum's database.

For future refernce if someone interested to visit. She is supposed to be out in the walking alleys in the "South Asia" section on the ground floor, Room G33. ID: 1880.19; PRN: PRI-1300.

Now, another mUrti, this one certainly of vAgdevI, and contemporaneous of the above one, but mentioned here to be from western India, probably mAlwA. She is also in the same material and similar style, although shorter in height and has tIrthaMkara-s on the periphery:



And then there is other Saraswati pratimA, of a very similar style, but much larger in size and dated as per the exhibit records to 5-6th century rajasthan:



As to the first one, Kirit Mankodi has done some work to explore whether it is yakShI ambikA or vAgdevI herself in a 1981 paper: 'A Paramara Sculpture in the British Museum: Vagdevi or Yakshi Ambika'. I don't have access to it.

Also Read the following museum resources:

1. "yakShI ambikA" (or Saraswati)

2. Saraswati

[Hauma Hamiddha]

Bodhi - thank you for sharing these images. I am extremely intrigued by the term:
"vij~nAnika shivadevena likhitaM ". I wonder what exactly "vij~nAnika" means.

[Bodhi]

HH: In reality the words on the base are rugged and chipped at places, and some characters have to be guessed. In this particular one, what is visible (from the image only, and museum database, as I did not myself see the mUrti) is "vi"<gap>"A(mAtrA)""nika". which devanAgarI character can fill the gap is open for speculation. Hope when/if those folks send the better images we would be able to see what it really could read.

[Bodhi]

Ancient idols of Hindu gods recovered in Uttar Pradesh

Lucknow, July 21 : Idols of Hindu gods and goddesses, dating back to the 10th and 11th century, were recovered from a tunnel in Etawah district, about 200 kms from here, officials said Monday.

The idols were recovered from the compound of an ancient Lord Shiva temple in Dadora village.

"A four-wheeler was parked inside the temple compound last week and after it left, the soil caved in," temple priest S.P. Dikshit told IANS.

A tunnel was discovered after the locals dug up the soil. Over a dozen idols were found subsequently.

A team of the Archaeological Society of India (ASI) reached the spot Monday and carried out an inspection.

"A police team has been stationed at the site as the recovered idols appear to be of historical importance. Experts are also camping in the area carrying out tests and exploring possibilities for further excavation," senior superintendent of police- Etawah, S.R.S. Aditya told IANS.

http://www.newkerala...llnews&id=88780

[Bodhi]

Who were the Vratyas - the searching wanderers?

...

The Vratyas roamed about, mostly, in the regions to the East and North-west of the Madhyadesha, that is, in the countries of Magadha and Anga. They lived alone or in groups, away from populated areas. The dialect spoken by the Vratyas was Prachya, the source of the languages of Eastern India.

[According to Mahamahopadhyay Haraprasad Sastri,the vast territory to the South of the Ganga and North of the Vindhya ranges extending from Mudgagiri (Monghyr) in the East to the Charanadri (Chunar) in the West was called the land of Magadha tribes. TheAnga region was around Bhagalpur area.]

The Kesi-suktha of Rig Veda (10:13:6) and vratya- suktha Atharva Veda (15th kanda), carry graphic descriptions of these magis, the Vratyas.

They were distinguished by their black turbans (krishnam ushnisham dharayanti), a set of round ornaments for the ears (pravartau),a jewel (mani) hanging by the neck, rows of long necklaces of strange beads swinging across the chest , two(dvi) deer-skins tied together for lower garment, and sandals for the feet (upanahau), so on. They wore long and often matted hair (kesi).They used a peculiar type of reclining seats (asandi) - [I am not sure what that seat was.]

They did not care either for the rituals or for initiations (adhikshitah); and  not at all for celibacy (Na hi brahmacharyam charanthi).They did not engage themselves in agriculture (Na krshim) or in trade (Na vanijyam).They behaved as if they were possessed (gandharva grithaha) or drunk or just mad.

The Vratyas were a part of the Vedic society, but lived at its fringe. They seemed to have no regard for the Vedas and to the practice of yajnas (fire-cult); and resisted imposition of locally accepted patterns of behavior. They followed their own cult-rules and practices. They were obviously the rebels of the Vedic age; and had scant respect for the establishment. They drifted far and wide; roamed from the Indus valley to banks of the Ganga. They were the wandering seekers. In a manner of speaking, Vratyas anticipated the Hippies of the 1960s by thousands of years. [The Vratyas appeared to be more purposeful and creative, in comparison.]

The scholars generally believe, what has come down to us as Tantra is, in fact, a residue of the cult-practices of the Vratyas. The Tantra, even to this day, is considered non-Vedic, if not anti-Vedic.



The Atharva Veda (Vratya Kanda) mentions that Vratyas were also a set of talented composers and singers. They found they could sing a lot better—and probably hold the notes longer—if they practiced what they called pranayama, a type of breath control. They even attempted relating their body-structure to that of the universe. They learnt to live in harmony with nature. There is, therefore, a school of thought, which asserts, what came to be known as Yoga in the later periods had its roots in the ascetic and ecstatic practices of the Vratyas. And, the Vratyas were, therefore, the precursors of the later ascetics and yogis.

It is said, the theoretical basis for transformation of cult-practices into a system (Yoga) was provided by the Samkhya School. Tantra thus yoked Samkhya and Yoga. Over a long period, both Samkhya and Yoga schools merged with the mainstream and came to be regarded as orthodox (asthika) systems, as they both accepted the authority of the Vedas. Yet, the acceptance of Samkhya and Yoga within the orthodox fold seems rather strained and with some reservation, perhaps because the flavor -the sense of their non-Vedic origin rooted in the Vratya cult practices of pre  Vedic period – that still lingers on.



The Samkhya school, in its earlier days, was closely associated two other heterodox systems, i.e., Jainism and Buddhism. In a historical perspective, Samkhya-Yoga and Jainism - Buddhism were derived from a common nucleus that was outside the Vedic tradition. And, that nucleus was provided by the Vratya movement.



Interestingly, Arada Kalama, the teacher of Gotama who later evolved in to the Buddha, belonged to Samkhya School. Gotama had a teacherfrom the Jain tradition too; he was Muni Pihitasrava a follower of Parsvanatha. The Buddha later narrated how he went around naked, took food in his palms and observed various other rigorous restrictions expected of a Sramanaascetic. The Buddha followed those practice for some time and gave them up, as he did not find merit in extreme austerities.  The Buddha, the awakened one, was a Yogi too. His teachings had elements of old-yoga practices such as askesis (self- discipline), control, restraint, release and freedom. The early Buddhism, in fact, preserved the Yogi – ideal of Nirvana.



Thus, the development of religions and practices in Eastern regions of India, in the early times, was inspired and influenced - directly or otherwise – by the Vratyas.


Some of the characteristics of the Vratya-thought found a resonant echo in Jainism and Buddhism. Just to mention a few: Man and his development is the focal interest; his effort and his striving is what matters, and not god’s grace; the goal of human endeavor is within his realm; a man or a woman is the architect of one’s own destiny ; and there is nothing supernatural about his goals and his attainments. There was greater emphasis on contemplation, introspection, pratikramana (back-to-soul),; and a deliberate shift away from  exuberant rituals and sacrifices seeking health, wealth and happiness.

The Vratya was neither a religion, nor was it an organized sect. It was a movement seeking liberation from the suffocating confines of the establishment and searching for a meaning to life and existence. The movement phased out when it became rather irrelevant to the changed circumstances and values of its society.  The Vratyas, the searching wanderers, the rebels of the Rig Vedic age, faded in to the shadowy corners of Vedic religion, rather swiftly; yet they left behind a lingering influence on other systems of Indian thought.

*****

The Jain tradition claims that it existed in India even from pre- Vedic times and remained unaffected by the Vedic religion. It also says, the Jain religion was flourishing, especially in the North and Eastern regions of India, during the Vedic times.

Because of the basic differences in their tenets and practices, the two traditions opposed each other. As a part of that on going conflict, certain concepts and practices appreciated by one religion were deprecated by the other. The term Vratsa was one such instance.

Vratya has a very long association with Jainism; and its connotation in Jainism is astonishingly different from the one implied in the Vedic tradition where it is employed to describe an inimical horde. On the other hand, Vratya in Jainism is a highly regarded and respected term. The term Vratya, in the Jaina context, means the observer of vratas or vows. Thus, while the Vedic community treated the Vratyas as rebels and outcasts, the tribes in the eastern regions hailed Vratyas as heroes and leaders.

The Vedic and the Jain traditions both glorify certain Kings who also were great religious Masters. In the Hindu tradition, Lord Rsabha - son of King Nabhi and Merudevi, and the ancestor of Emperor Bharata (after whom this land was named Bharatavarsha) is a very revered figure. The Rig Veda and Yajur Veda, too, mention Rishabhadeva and Aristanemi. According to the Jain tradition Rishabhadeva is the first Tirthankara of the present age(avasarpini); and, Aristanemi is the twenty-second Tirthankara.

The Jain tradition refers to Rishabhadeva as Maha-Vratya, to suggest he was the great leader of the Vratyas.

...

http://ssubbanna.sul...g-wanderers.htm

A lengthy, detailed and interesting article.

comments from HH would be very helpful.

[kharavela]

Though Hemu was the last Hindu King of Delhi, Marathas were the de facto rulers of Delhi in the late 18th century. In fact they used to provide security to the Mughal emperor at that time. Shah Alam was the name of Mughal emperor.

[k.ram]

'India should be proud of its ancient rock art'
August 6th, 2008 - 9:29 am ICT by IANS

By Neena Bhandari

Sydney, Aug 6 (IANS) Indian rock art needs more recognition globally and the country itself has to realise it is a repository of much more than the Indus Valley and Mughal periods, says an Australian expert. "Indian art is at least 200,000 years old, which is an educated guess and it could be much more. This is of great cultural significance to India, and to the world," rock art expert Robert Bednarik told IANS.

He is the convener, president and editor of the International Federation of Rock Art Organisations (IFRAO).

"It is time India asserted itself and took pride in the enormous history of the Lower Palaeolithic culture, which has now been proved to be among the oldest in the world, rivalling Africa, southwestern Europe and eastern Asia."

"While Africa may be the cradle of the hominid evolution, southern Asia is more likely to be the main theatre of initial development of modern human cognition, self-awareness and technological competence," says Bednarik.

He collaborates with the National Museum of Man in Bhopal and the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts in New Delhi.

The Early Indian Petroglyphs (EIP) Project is a joint venture by the Rock Art Society of India (RASI) led by Giriraj Kumar and the Australian Rock Art Research Association (AURA) led by Bednarik under the aegis of IFRAO.

The project is the first to attempt scientific dating of Indian rock art as well as to provide a comprehensive chronological framework for the Palaeolithic periods and reveals how advanced people were in Lower Palaeolithic times, using art as a means of communication and expression.

The Bhimbetka complex of rock shelters was first discovered by V.S. Wakankar near Bhopal in 1957 and declared a World Heritage Site by Unesco in July 2003.

The EIP project has demonstrated that currently the oldest known art in the world is in central India.

Certain archaic art traditions - the Auditorium Cave at Bhimbetka near Bhopal, Daraki-Chattan cave near Bhanpura in Madhya Pradesh and Bajanibhat, a rock shelter near Kotputli in Rajasthan - are several times as old as the oldest previously dated rock art, that of the Upper Palaeolithic of France, dated to up to about 32,000 years BP in Chauvet Cave.

(BP stands for 'Before present'. 'Present', in this context, refers to 1950, the introduction of carbon dating and the beginning of nuclear contamination in carbon dating.)

"Indians probably don't realise the significance of these ancient paintings. They need to understand what it means in terms of national identity like the French, who have the importance of art ingrained in their psyche, and preserve it," Bednarik said.

Bednarik called on the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to establish a special section dealing specifically with prehistoric rock art and with the Palaeolithic period.

"ASI has been focused on the Indus Valley and Mughal periods, but there has to be an understanding in decision-making circles that India has much more that that."

The EIP Project, which has fostered, in-depth and long-term collaboration between Indian and Australian experts, enjoys the backing and collaboration of several research laboratories and scholars in both countries, besides substantial support from the (ASI, the Indian Council of Historical Research and the Australia-India Council in Canberra.

Bednarik feels it's time for India to move away from its British-centric, colonial model of archaeology to develop its own particular flavour and approach.

"One way of doing this is by teaching rock art science as a specialised course in universities," he said.

http://www.thaindian...t_10080408.html

[Bodhi]

Alas, Hindus keep on trying to confirm all the negative stereotypes
about themselves, i.c. their lack of historical sense. Here, it is
pretended that since eternity, Sanskrit has had a word Yavana meaning
foreigner. No, first it had no such word. then it heard of Greek
Ionians, or Yona in Prakrit, then sanskritizing this to Yavana. then
when proper Greeks disappeared from the horizon, it came to mean any
foreigner coming from the West. Moreover, this unhistorical
misunderstanding is then proposed as a *correction* to the proper
explanation with historical depth.

Kind regards,

KE

Yavana = Bacterian (germ) ~ erstwhile Helino-Roman-Persian- Turkmenistan-regions (period based shifting Geog).
A Bacteria survives by invading and killing the native population of cells.  It refuses to  do any signal transduction with the native cells, which alike many  a severe disease causing parasites do not.  Towards the Mediterranean.

The Brahmana (it appears) had grown  very suspicious of  or frigid about the  Greek scholars who for them seemed to take away only and give back nothing ~ just like a Bacteria !  Hence = YAVANA. 

From the Indian point of view all this primarily  strated with the Greek scholars comming into india.  Technically, an  inter-scholar or inter-school accusation. 
We may need to know if the Greeks had any such counter adage for the Indians ? 
The Indian schools it seems had no such adage for the Sino-Nipponese visitors.

Kusana = Grasslander ~  Tajikistan, Don-Danube valley, Caspian sea regions north by north east of Afghanistan and NW of Gobi desert (period based shifting Geog).....Chengis Khan was a Kusana ?  The Kusana art is very smooth and rolling type - a reflection of their rolling grassland countryside....Cossacks  in particular ~excellent horse men.

Note = These were not  the decendants of the star gazers of the Rik period.  Kusanas and  Yavanas  were not Brahmanas (scholars).  The averment  "Yavana generally means Foreigners and not necessarily Greeks" = is right so long the Kusana and Chins (mongoloids) are excluded.

Cordially,
Dr. Deepak Bhatt-acharya, LLB., Ph.D.

[Bodhi]

Fresh light on the Antiquity of Varanasi
(with special Reference to Excavations at Aktha and Sarai-Mohana)

Ashok Kumar Singh
Deptt. of A.l.H.C. & Archaeology, Banaras Hindu University.

Varanasi was one of the early Aryan settlements in the later Vedic
Literature. It was ruled by the Brahmdatta and it flourished along
with Kausambi and Hastinapura. Kasi, one of the sixteen Maha-
Janapadas, used to represent the kingdom of the same name with
Varanasi as capital. The city has played a vital role in the trade
of middle Ganga plain. The antiquity of the city and its continuous
history was not confirmed by any archaeological evidence till as
late as 1940 when Rajghat was accidentally discovered by a railway
contractor while digging in connection with the remodeling of the
present Kashi Railway Station. Rajghat was excavated between 1957-
58, and 1960-61 to 1966-67 by Department of AIHC & Archaeology,
Banaras Hindu University. It reveals uninterrupted sequence from pre-
NBP to Medieval period (800 B.C. - 1600 A.D.).

Recent excavations at Aktha (2002-2004) evidenced the date for the
earliest habitation to circa eleventh / twelfth centuries B. C.
(Jayaswal, 2002 : 128). This is a small satellite settlement and
situated 2 km south-east from Sarnath. The preliminary investigation
at Aktha suggests that it was one of the important settlements of
the Varanasi-Sarnath region and was inhabited much earlier than the
Sarnath.

Sarai Mohana, another satellite settlement of Varanasi, is situated
on the confluence of Varuna and Ganga, about 1/2 km north-east of
Rajghat. The earliest period of Sarai Mohana is a pre-iron culture
with Black-and-Red ware as the principal ceramic industry with
occasional paintings in white, black slipped ware and red ware. The
findings of Sarai Mohana were studied by the author (Singh & Singh,
2004 : 1-120). On account of the techno-typological similarities of
ceramic assemblage and antiquities of Period I of the other
chalcolithic and iron using cultures of the middle Ganga plains, a
time bracket of circa 1200 - 700 B. C. has been ascertained for the
earliest settlement at Sarai Mohana.

The ceramic industries and other antiquities of period-I of the
above named sites are well comparable with the chalcolithic and pre -
NBP cultures at Narhan I, Khairadih I, Agiabir I, Jhusi II, Raja-
Nala KaTila-I, Malhar-I, Lahuradewa-II, Imlidih Khurd II, Bhunadih-I
and Waina I. The carbon 14 dates of most of the above sites are now
available. The chronology proposed for Black-and-red ware broadly
agrees with the time span of 1300- 700 BC. A careful study and
comparison demonstrates that the antiquity of Varanasi may be fixed
between 1500-1300 B. C. which is earlier documented around 800 B. C.
at Rajghat.

[Pandyan]

Bodhiji or someone, does this map present an accurate picture?

http://upload.wikime...IndiaCities.jpg

[Bodhi]

Prof. Bhandarakar has speculated that "choLa" of tamiL is cognate with "chora" in saMskR^ita, or has even gone a step further by suggesting that 'chora' (meaning thief), might have been derived from choLa, much like dasyu/dAsa etc. ("Lectures on Ancient History of India", Calcutta University 1919)

Any insights?

[Ishwa]

Alas, Hindus keep on trying to confirm all the negative stereotypes
about themselves, i.c. their lack of historical sense. Here, it is
pretended that since eternity, Sanskrit has had a word Yavana meaning
foreigner. No, first it had no such word. then it heard of Greek
Ionians, or Yona in Prakrit, then sanskritizing this to Yavana. then
when proper Greeks disappeared from the horizon, it came to mean any
foreigner coming from the West. Moreover, this unhistorical
misunderstanding is then proposed as a *correction* to the proper
explanation with historical depth.

Kind regards,

KE

It is always good to look at the primary texts and their contexts. One can find with a pre-conceived mind (Yavanas are Ionians) always some connections which will fit, but others which don't are treated as symbolic.
But we have to be careful with homonyms. Gurjars are not Georgians or Hazars,etc.

Turvasu and Yavana
Vishnupurana IV.10 Gives the genealogy of the Nahusha Ailas. Devayani, the daughter of Bhrgu gives birth to Yadu and Turvasu. Yadu gets the south (Brahma., Hariv.) or southwest (Vayu.) and Turvasu the southeast. (Bhagavata places them in the west): dishi dakShiNa-pUrvasyAM turvasuM matimAn nR^ipaH || Harivamsha 1-30-17. Turvasu became the ruler of the SE!

Vishnupurana IV.16 Descendants of Turvasu
PARÁŚARA.--I shall now summarily give you an account of the descendants of Turvasu.
The son of Turvasu was Vahni; his son was Gobánu; his son was Traiśámba; his son was Karandhama; his son was Marutta. Marutta had no children, and he therefore adopted Dushyanta, of the family of Puru; by which the line of Turvasu merged into that of Puru 4. This took place in consequence of the malediction denounced on his son by Yayáti.

Notes Wlson:
442:4 Besides Bharata, who, as will be hereafter seen, was the son of Dushyanta, the Váyu, Matsya, Agni, and Bráhma Puráńas enumerate several descendants in this line, for the purpose evidently of introducing, as the posterity of Turvasu, the nations of the south of India: the series is Varuttha, (Karutthama, Bráhma), Ándíra (Ákríra, Bráhma); whose sons are Páńd́ya, Karńát́a, Chola, Kerala; the Hari V. adds Kola, and the Agni very incorrectly Gandhára.

Turvasus, thus according to the Puranas, were in the SE (of Aryavarta) and one branch merged with Purus, went to the south, and one went to the west (Bhagavata development): Agnipurana may be correct that they went further to Gandhara. These are the Yavanas. Says the Mahabharata:
yadostu yaadavaa jaataasturvasostu yavanah smrtah (MBh adiparva 136)
(One may wonder whether the Yavanas had not initially some (adopted) Munda or Dravidian affinities, before they moved on.)

The Yavana subbranch of Turvasus also came to the west. We see Raja Bhagadatta with Yavanas the Ajaneya horses, vessels of iron, and swords of hilts of ivory. (Vishnupurana VI.)
This would place Yavanas (still) in India during Mahabharata times, to the west of Mathura and Avanti. (Bhagavata development of Turvasus in the west, with Yavanas as subbranch)
The Kalayavana (Gargya) episode and Yavanas may refer to this time when they were in India. This king Bhagadatta may have appointed Kalayavana Gargya as his heir. It was Kalayavana who led the attack to Mathura.

Kalayavana episode Vishnupurana V.13
Birth of Kálayavana: he advances against Mathurá. Krishńa builds Dwáraká, and sends thither the Yádava tribe: he leads Kálayavana into the cave of Muchukunda: the latter awakes, consumes the Yavana king, and praises Krishńa.
The king of the Yavanas, who was childless, became the friend of Gárgya; and the latter begot a son by his wife, who was as black as a bee, and was thence called Kálayavana. The Yavana king having placed his son, whose breast was as hard as the point of the thunderbolt, upon the throne, retired to the woods. Inflated with conceit of his prowess, Kálayavana demanded of Nárada who were the most mighty heroes on earth. To which the sage answered, "The Yádavas."
Accordingly Kálayavana assembled many myriads of Mlechchhas and barbarians, and with a vast armament of elephants, cavalry, chariots, and foot, advanced impatiently against Mathurá and the Yádavas; wearying every day the animal that carried him, but insensible of fatigue himself. …
Thus reflecting, Krishńa solicited a space of twelve furlongs from the ocean, and there he built the city of Dwáraka, defended by high ramparts, and beautified with gardens and reservoirs of water, crowded with houses and buildings, and splendid as the capital of Indra, Amarávatí. Thither Janárddana conducted the inhabitants of Mathurá, and then awaited at that city the approach of Kálayavana.
When the hostile army encamped round Mathura, Krishńa unarmed went forth, and beheld the Yavana king. Kálayavana, the strong-armed, recognizing Vásudeva, pursued him; him whom the thoughts of perfect ascetics cannot overtake. Thus pursued, Krishńa entered a large cavern, where Muchukunda, the king of men, was asleep. The rash Yavana entering the cave, and beholding a man lying asleep there, concluded it must be Krishńa, and kicked him; at which Muchukunda awoke, and casting on him an angry glance, the Yavana was instantly consumed, and reduced to ashes.

The Mlechchhas and/or barbarians against Krishńa
In the Mahabharata Sabhaparva Krishńa’s war with Jarasandha (a Vasava Kuru king) is described with Yadavas being led to the west to remain out of reach of that king, but no account is given of any siege of Mathura by Kalayavana. Bhagadatta, is called a Yavana king, who chastised Muru and Naraka, ruled in the west and is one of Jarasandha’s most attached feudatories. Sabhaparva 13.13-14:
muram ca narakam caiva śhāsti yo yavanādhipau
aparyantabalo rājā pratīcyām varuno yathā ||13||
bhagadatto mahārāja vrddhas tava pituh sakhā
sa vācā pranatas tasya karmanā caiva bhārata ||14||
That king of the Yavanas, who hath chastised Muru and Naraka,whose power is unlimited, and who ruleth the west like another Varuna, is King Bhagadatta, who is the old friend of thy father, hath bowed his head (before Jarasandha), by speech and specially by act, O Bharata.

NOTE: This king is in various other places called king of Pragjyotisha, as he is in a subsequent passage of the Sabhaparva. This Bhagadatta, king of Yavanas, is not the same as the eastern king. We must have two Bhagadattas. Shantiparva 340 (enumerating slaying many demons separates them: First the king of the Narakas, named together with Muru and Pitha, is slain. Then another is slain, who is king of Pragjyotisha! It also refers to Kalayavana briefly:
There, after slaying innumerable Danavas that will be thorns in the side of the deities, I shall take up my residence in Kusasthali at the city of Dwaraka. While residing in that city I shall slay the Asura Naraka, the son of 'the Earth,--him, that is, who will do an injury to Aditi, as also some 'other Danavas of the names of Muru and Pitha. Slaying also another foremost of Danavas, viz., the lord of Pragjyotisha, I shall transplant his delightful city furnished with diverse kinds of wealth into Dwaraka.
…
I shall next, O foremost of Brahmanas, compass the death of Kalayavana, a Danava who will be endued with great might in consequence of his being equipt with the energy of Gargya.

The Yavana king rules somewhere in the west, in the Varuna direction, close to the sea. Naraka is one of the hells, probably here referring to Rasa-tala, or a river close to the Narmada Valley upto its mouth: “the Narmadá and Surasá from the Vindhya hills” (Vi.pur II.3.19). Su-Rasa, the river of one of the Narakas called Rasa-tala, in the Vindhyas. Surasá, in another connection, is also mother of the Nagas. (bhu-janga => bhumi connection).
The Narmada enters the sea at Bhrgukaccha, showing the sphere of influence of the Bhargavas (Mundah) to the Yavana Turvasus.

This also tallies with the Mucukundas close to Mahishmati area, a city founded by an ancient Raja Mucukunda.
The Mlecchas and barbarians referred in the text would mean certain Prakrit and non-Prakrit speaking tribes and tribals in that area.
This would mean that the Mathura Yadavas were threatened from two directions: from the south/southwest and from the east. First the Yadavas moved to the west to escape attacks and threats from the east by Jarasandha. Then after having won over Bhagadatta to his side, his adopted heir Kalayavana attacked them from the southwest.

Vedic Sanskrit Javana > Paninian Sanskrit Yavana
Horse
Both Javana and Yavana are connected with speed and horses, feminine has also curtain. (perhaps of such material as the kambalas of their neighbours or cousins, the Kambojas. Kambojas are also famous for horse and horse trade. Ashvayanas and Ashvakayanas. Iranic affiliation of Kambojas, perhaps through Iranic Yavanas)
The Brahmanda Purana (Upodghata-pada, 16-17) refers to the horses born in Yavana country.
Javana > Yavana has a swiftness connection. So does Turvasu: tur = to hurry, to run, press forward. Turvasu or Vedic Turvasha is always connected with Yadu.

Mundah
Ganapatha on Panini has:: kamboja-mun.d.ah yavana-mun.d.ah (Ganapatha II.1.72)
Mahabharata has: mundanetan...Kambojaneva (MBH 7.119.26-27);
Munda = shaven. If it is the head which is shaven, then it points to a custom of Bhargava haircut. Previously the Kambojas had a Vasishtha haircut: kapardin to the right of the head as per Paraskara GS.

Yavana
1. mfn. quick, swift; m. a swift horse L. (javana).
2. m. a Yavana (or a king of the Yavanas, gana kambojaádi; also an Indo-Greek, in later times also a Muhammadan, European, any foreigner or barbarian) Mn. MBh. etc.;
N. of a caste Gaut.DS (accord. to L. "the legitimate son of a Kshatriya and a Vaishyâ or "an Ugra who is an elephant catcher")
N. of a country (= yavana-desha) W.;
wheat L.; a carrot L.; olibanum L.;
pl. the Yavanas; the Bactrian Greeks (esp. the Greek astrologers) MBh. VarBRS. etc.; N. of a dynasty Puranas;

Yavanii
1. f. the wife of a Yavana; the wife of an Indo-Greek or Muhammadan woman Kâlid. Sish. (Yavana girls were formerly employed as attendants on kings, esp. to take charge of their bows and quivers); yavanii = javanii, a curtain L.;
2. n. salt from saline soil L.

Jávana
1. mf(ii)n. (g. dRDhaádi; oxyt. PâN 3-2, 150) quick, swift, fleet RV. i, 51, 2 ShvetUp. iii, 19 MBh. etc.;
2. m. a fleet horse L.; a kind of deer L.; N. of one of Skanda's attendants MBh. ix, 2577; pl. for yav, q.v. Kshitîsh.;
3. n. speed, velocity PârGR. i, 17 ShâGkhGR. MBh. iv, 1414;

Javanii
f. a curtain, screen L.; N. of a plant L.;

Verbal root and rootstem
I. juu
(cf. jinv), cl, i. Â., 9. P. jávate, junaáti ( ju, cl. 1. P. javati Dhâtup. xxii, 60, v.l.; a Sautra root PâN 3-2, 177; 3, 97 and 4, 80 Kâsh.; Subj. 2. sg. junaás; aor, Subj. juujuvat; pf. 3. pl. juujuvur) to, press forwards, hurry on, be quick RV. iii, 33, 1 ShBr. x; to impel quickly, urge or drive on, incite RV. TS. vi; to scare RV. i, 169, 3; to excite, promote, animate, inspire RV.: Caus. aor. ajiijavat PâN 7-4, 80 Sch.: Caus. Desid. jijavayiSati ib. Kâsh.;

II: juú
1. mfn. (PâN 3-2, 177 and 178 Vârtt. 2) quick, speedy, (m.) courser RV. i, 134, 1 and 140, 4; (ii, 14, 3?, acc. pl.; 2. júr); inciting, driving VS. ii, 17 ShBr. x, 3, 5, 2 and 5,;
2. f. speed L.; the atmosphere L.; a female goblin L.; Sarasvatî L.; a spot on the forehead (?) of horses and oxen UN. Sch.;

Yavanaanii f. the writing of the Yavanas PâN 4-1, 49 Vârtt. 3 Pat.
Yavana mfn. (1. yu) keeping away, averting ( dveSo-yávana). < Vedic accent!


1: yaavana
mf(ii)n. (fr. yavana; for 2. and 3. p. 853, col. 1) born or produced in the land of the Yavanas, Prâyashc.; m. olibanum L. _
2: yaavana
n. (fr. Caus.; for 1. p. 852, col. 3; for 3. below) keeping off, removing Nir. Sây. _
3: yaavana
n. (fr. Caus.) uniting, joining, mixing ( a-y).

yavaana
mfn. quick, swift L. (prob. w.r. for javaana).

The Mahaniddesa refers to Yona and Parama Yona. (yonas in gandhara and kandahar?)

Yavana Jataka by Yavanacharya
He was an Acharya, a Yavana, in the court of an Indo-Greek. King Sphurjidhvaja has recorded his teachings. Yavana astrologers may have been non-Greeks, ruled by Indo-Greeks, and influenced by Babylonian, Persian and Greek sciences.

Yona mentioned in Ashoka's edicts
Ashoka refers to a Seleucid king (Antiochus I or II) as "Amtiyoko... Yonaraja", and in other rock edicts the name Yona is applied to a peripheral province ("rajavisaya", i.e. royal dominion) of his empire that was contiguous to Kamboja and Gandhara, and that was almost certainly Arachosia (the Kandahar region), where *all* known Ashokan Greek inscriptions, directed to the king's Greek-speaking subjects, are or were once located. Arachosia has long been assumed to be a key Seleucid administrative center. [F. Brighenti]

NOTE: Yona is an ancient visaya. Whoever ruled over it was a Yona raja. As the Indo-Greek ruled over it, he was a Yona-raja or king over Yona visaya. The overlord of the Indo-Greek regent of Yona visaya was Antiochus, which naturally makes him the Yona-raja. Antiochus of course never ruled in Yona visaya. All the Indo-Greek people connected with the regent over Yona-raja were then considered as Yonas.
Yona visaya as Arachosia is an ancient Avestan center.

From Gujarat to Arachosia and Ghazni was also the route of the Yadavas. The Jaisalmer Bhati Rajputs returned after Arab attacks from Ghazni to the Panjab and then to Jaisalmer. So there is no problem in having Yavana Turvasus moving there. (and get partially Iranized; also moving to Gandhara, perhaps the Parama Yonas).

The Greek influence in the Indo-Greek ruled Yona visaya is especially with reference to astrology. I do not know how much is Iranian knowledge, influenced by Babylonia and perhaps through these Irianian sphere having retrieved some Greek knowledge.
Basically, it would be interesting to see whether Yonas, as Iranized Indians, had internalized Iranian astrology (through Babylon) with Greek influences. Which means that (Indo-)Greeks may not directly have been the Acharyas (like Yavanacharya), but the Iranized Indian Yonas themselves. On the contrary, one can see Indo-Greeks becoming Bauddha (Menandros) and Vaishnava (Heliodoros)!

Thus, I believe that too much weight or importance is given to Yavana and Greek connections. The Mahabharata doesn't really support a Yavana coming from the west. It would be strange why it would make Yavanas as a branch of Turvasus. It really makes sense that they were of the same ethnic and/or cultural group as the southern off shoot Turvasu groups. The location close to the Vindhya and Narmada also supports connections with tribes of the Vindhya and further south. (If the Yavana Turvasus are related to southern people, can they be an early branched off tribe which entered Brahui areas? Are they the Brahui speakers??)
The location there also supports their Paninian "Mundah" status connected with the Bhrgus os bhrgukaccha. Besides, the whole Kalayavana episode doesn't resemble episodes of an Indo-Greek invasion of the 2nd century. None of the Sanskrit names resembles any Indo-Greek name in meaning or sound.
Besides, none of the Persian inscriptions of Darius never place Yauna or Yauna takbara areas, referring to Ionians of Asia Minor. in the east! There may have been pockets of Ionian mercenaries of the Persian army in the east, but they were too insignificant. And these certainly weren't scholars. Alexander doesn't refer to having met any Greek (ruled) province in Arachosia.

[Husky]

Who were the Vratyas - the searching wanderers?
...

The Vedic and the Jain traditions both glorify certain Kings who also were great religious Masters. In the Hindu tradition, Lord Rsabha - son of King Nabhi and Merudevi, and the ancestor of Emperor Bharata (after whom this land was named Bharatavarsha) is a very revered figure. The Rig Veda and Yajur Veda, too, mention Rishabhadeva and Aristanemi. According to the Jain tradition Rishabhadeva is the first Tirthankara of the present age(avasarpini); and, Aristanemi is the twenty-second Tirthankara.

A lengthy, detailed and interesting article.

comments from HH would be very helpful.

While we wait for HH:
In the books/papers that I read that discussed the name Rishabha in some detail, they said that the Jaina Tirthankara and the Hindu Rishabha were probably not the same. It may be similar to how modern day people assume that the name Gautama always refers to the Buddha when that is actually not true (e.g. Gautama Muni, Ramayanam). That is, not all ancient Dharmic texts speaking of Gautama mean to refer to Buddha at all.
It is very possible for important Dharmic characters to have had the same name in the past - something that happens particularly frequently in the present.

Though I can't find the references I am looking for at the moment, here is something from Koenraad Elst that touches on it:
http://www.bharatvan...ks/wiah/ch7.htm

31Mention of Rishabha in the Yajurveda (?Om nama arhato Rishabho??), along with two from the Vishnu and Bhagavata Puranas, are given as proof for the pre-Vedic antiquity of Jainism by T.K. Tukol: Compendium of Jainism, p.11-12. However, the oldest mention of one Rishabha is inside the Rigveda, and not even in the oldest part: Rishabha, son of Vishvamitra, is listed as composer of hymns 3:13 and 3:14 to Agni; there is nothing typically Jain about these hymns.  For all we know, the Vedic Rishabha is not the same person as the founder of Jainism.

Again, it says the name may refer to two different persons.
Another reason I think it unlikely that the Rishabha who wrote the Vedic hymns could have been the Jaina Tirtankara is that Tirtankaras are very important to Jaina tradition yet the Vedas (to which the Vedic Rishabha made some contribution) specifically aren't.

[Pandyan]

The Vedic and the Jain traditions both glorify certain Kings who also were great religious Masters. In the Hindu tradition, Lord Rsabha - son of King Nabhi and Merudevi, and the ancestor of Emperor Bharata (after whom this land was named Bharatavarsha) is a very revered figure. The Rig Veda and Yajur Veda, too, mention Rishabhadeva and Aristanemi. According to the Jain tradition Rishabhadeva is the first Tirthankara of the present age(avasarpini); and, Aristanemi is the twenty-second Tirthankara.

Been asking about this for a long time.

He followed the orders of His guru and accepted a wife named Jayanti, who had been given to Him by the King of heaven, Indra. He begot a hundred sons in the womb of Jayanti. Of these hundred sons, the eldest was known as Bharata. Since the reign of Maharaja Bharata, the Indian sub-continent has been called Bharata-varsa.

According to the Mahābhārata (Adi Parva), Bharata was the son of King Dushyanta and Shakuntala and thus a descendant of the Lunar Dynasty of the Kshatriya caste. He was originally named Sarvadamana (subduer of all); the Mahābhārata traces the events in his life by which he came to be known as Bharata ("the cherished").

I'm seeing two conflicting stories. Who exactly is it named after?

[Ishwa]

One of the myths is that before the British and Mughals, India was never united. (perhaps admitting a few exceptions, like Ashoka and Samudragupta).

Prayer of Vaidika kings to become supreme emperor of the subcontinent:
May I win all victories, find all worlds, attain the superiority, pre-eminence, and supremacy over all kings and overlordship, paramount rule, self-rule, sovereignty, supreme authority, kingship, great kingship and suzerainty; may I be all encompassing, possessed of all the Earth, possessed of all life, from the one end up to the further side of the Earth bounded by the ocean sole ruler. (AB viii.5)

Aitareya Brahmana viii.21, hereafter, enumerates 11 supreme emperors who “went around the Earth completely, conquering (her) on every side, letting the horse roam about” (samantaM sarvataH prthiviin jayan pariiyaayaaśhvena) and were paramount rulers through the Aindrabhisheka and Ashvamedha: Janamejaya II Parikshita (predecessor of Janamejaya III Pandava), Sharyata Manava, Shatanika Satrajita, Ambasthya, Yuddhamshraushti Augrasainya, Vishvakarman Bhauvana, Sudas Paijavana, Marutta Avikshita, Anga, Bharata Dauhshanti and Durmukha Pancala.

Another enumeration, 8 of the ten which are new, is at AB vii.34: Vishvantara Saudasamana, Janamejaya II Parikshita, Somaka Sahadevya, Sahadeva Sarnjya, Babhru Devavrdha, Bhima Vaidarbhi, Nagnajit Gandhara, Sanashruta Arindama, Kratuvud Janaki and Sudas Paijavana.
sarve haiva mahaaraajaa aasur, aaditya iva ha sma śhriyaam
pratiSHTHitaas tapanti sarvaabhyo digbhyo balim aavahanta
“All of them were great kings; like the Sun, established in prosperity, they gave warmth, obtaining tribute from all quarters.”

While the first enumeration stresses their paramount sovereignty through their conquering, the second one doesn’t. There the surrounding kings accepted the supremacy without being conquered. Notice also that the paramount rulers came from different Vaidika areas, including Gandhara up to Anga, down to Vidarbha.

These Vaidika texts are clear that the whole Earth (subcontinent), bounded by oceans on the other side, was the aim for kings to be ruling over.
We find an enumeration of great emperors in Maitrayaniya Upanishad I.4 of whom these 18 names are given: Sudyumna, Bhuridyumna, Indradyumna, Kuvalayashva, Yauvanashva, Vadhryashva, Ashvapati, Shashabindu, Harishcandra, Ambarisha, Nahusha, Ananata, Sharyati, Yayati, Anaranya, Ukshasena, Marutta and Bharata.

And one of the greatest was considered to be Bharata whose was remembered as the name of the whole Earth.
That the whole Earth was named Bharata, is because his descendants too ruled over the earth: Bharatas with all their branches dominated the north and Bharatas adopted by Marutta Turvasu went south to rule there (see Puranas).
Thus the subcontinent seems to be named after one of its greatest paramount ruler, and this name was continued by his descendants ruling over various parts of the subcontinent, north and south! The Bharata Samskrti had united the people of the subcontinent from ancient times