The Mahabharata/Book 1: Adi Parva/Section LXLIV

Section LXLIV. ( Sambhava Parva continued. )

Janamejaya said, "Adorable one, I desire to hear the histories of those kings who were decended from Puru. O tell me of each as he was in prowess and achievements! I have, indeed, heard that in Puru's line there was not a single king who was deficient in good-behaviour and prowess, or who was without sons. O thou of ascetic wealth, I desire to hear the histories in detail of those famous monarchs endued with learning and all accomplishments."

Vaisampayana said, "Asked by thee I shall tell thee all about the heroic kings of Puru's line, all equal unto Indra in prowess, possessing great affluence and commanding the respect of all for their accomplishments.

"Puru had by his wife Paushti three sons, Pravira, Iswara, and Raudraswa, all of whom were mighty charioteers. Amongst them, Pravira was the perpetuator of the dynasty. Pravira had by his wife Shurashenï a son named Manushya. And the latter, of eyes like lotus leaves, had sway over the whole earth bounded by the four seas. And Manushya had for his wife, Souviri. And he begat in her three sons called Shakta, Sanhanana, and Vagmi. And they were heroes in war and mighty charioteers. Then again the intelligent and virtuous Raudraswa begat in the Apsara Misra-keshi ten sons who were all great bowmen. And they all grew up into heroes, performing numerous sacrifices in honor of the gods. And they all had sons, were learned in all branches of knowledge, and ever devoted to virtue. They were Richeyu, and Kaksheyu and Vrikeyu of great prowess, Sthandileyu, and Vaneyu, and Jaleyu of great fame, Tejeyu of great strength and intelligence, and Satyeyu of the prowess of Indra, Dharmeyu, and Saunateyu, the tenth, of the prowess of the celestials. Amongst them all, Richeyu became the sole monarch of the whole Earth and was known by the name of Anadhrishti. And in prowess he was like unto Vasava himself amongst the celestials. And Anadhrishti had a son of name Matinara who be- came a famous and virtuous king. And he performed both the Rajashuya and the horse-sacrifice. And Matinara had four sons of inmeasurable prowess, viz, Tansu, Mahan, Atiratha, and Drahyu of inmeasurabie glory. Amongst them Tansu of great prowess became the perpetuator of Puru's line. And he subjugated the whole earth and acquired great fame and splendour. And Tansu begat a son of great prowess named Ilina. And he was the foremost of all conquerors and he brought the whole world under his subjection. And Ilina begat in his wife Rathantarya five sons with Dushmanta as their head, all equal in might unto the five elements. They were Dushmanta, Shura, Bhima, Pravashu, and Vasu. And, O Janamejaya, the eldest of them Dushmanta became king. And from Dushmanta was born by his wife Sakuntala an intelligent son named Bharata who became king. And Bharata gave his name to the race of which he was the founder. And it is from him that the fame of that dynasty hath spread so wide. And Bharata begat in his three wives altogether nine sons. But none of them were like their father and so Bharata was not at all pleased with them. Their mothers therefore became angry and slew them all. The procreation of children by Bharata therefore became in vain. The monarch then performed a great sacrifice and through the grace of Bharadwaja obtained a son of name Bhumanyu. And then Bharata the great descendant of Puru, regarding himself as really possessing a son, installed, O thou foremost of the Bharata race, that son as his heir-apparent. And Bhumanyu begat in his wife Pushkarini six sons of name Suhotra, Suhota, Suhavi, Suyaju, and Diviratha. The eldest of them all, Suhotra, obtained the throne and performed many Rajashuya and horse-sacrifices. And Suhotra brought under his sway the whole Earth surrounded by her belt of seas, and full of elephants, kine, and horses, and all her wealth in gems and gold. And the Earth afflicted with the weight of numberless human beings and elephants, horses, and cars, was as it were about to sink. And during the virtuous reign of Suhotra the surface of the whole earth was dotted all over with hundreds and thousands of sacrificial stakes. And the Earth became full of corn and human beings. And the lord of the Earth Suhotra begat in his wife Aikshaki three sons, viz, Ajamida, Sumida, and Purumida. The eldest of them Ajamida was the perpetuator of the royal line. And he begat six sons in his three wives. Of these sons, Siksha was born of the womb of Dhumini, Dushmanta and Parameshti in that of Nila and Jahnyu, Jala, and Rupina, were born in that of Keshini. All the tribes of the Panchalas are descended from Dushmanta and Parameshti. And the Kushikas are the sons of Jahnyu of immeasurable prowess. And Riksha who was elder than both Jala and Rupina became king. And Riksha begat Samvarana the perpetuater of the royal line. And, O king, it hath been heard by us that while Samvarana the son of Riksha was ruling the earth, there happened a great loss of people from famine, pestilence, drought, and disease. And the Bharata princes were beaten by the troops of enemies. And the Panchalas setting out to invade the whole earth with their four kinds of troops soon brought the wole earth under their sway. And with their ten Akshauhinis the king of Panchala defeated the Bharata prince. Samvarana then, with his wife and ministers, sons and relatives, fled in fear. And he took shelter in the forest on the banks of the Sindhu extending to the foot of the mountains. There the Bharatas lived for a full thousand years within their fort. And after they had lived there a thousand years, one day the illustrious Rishi Vashishta approached the exiled Bharatas. And the Bharatas going out saluted the Rishi and worshipped him by the offer of the Arghya. And entertaining him with reverence, they then represented everything unto that illustrious Rishi. And after he was seated on his seat, the king himself approached the Rishi and addressed him, saying, 'Be thou our Purohita, O illustrious one. We will endeavour to regain our kingdom.' And Vashista then answered the Bharatas by saying 'Om' (the sign of consent.) And it hath been heard by us that Vashista then installed the Bharata prince in the sovereignty of all the Kshatrias on the Earth, making by virtue of his mantras this descendant of Puru the veritable horns of the wild bull or the tusks of the wild elephant. And the king retook the capital that had been taken away from him and once more made all monarchs pay tribute to him. The powerful Samvarana, thus installed once more in the actual sovereignty of the whole earth, performed many sacrifices in which the offerings to the Brahmanas were great.

"And Samvarana begat in his wife Tapati the daughter of Sura a son named Kuru. This Kuru was exceedingly virtuous. Therefore was he installed on the throne by his people. It is from his name that the field called Kuru-jangala has become so famous in the world. Devoted to asceticism, he made that field (Kuru-kshetra) sacred by practising his austerities there. And it hath been heard by us that Kuru's highly intelligent wife Vahini brought forth five sons, viz, Avikshit, Abhishya, Chaittra-ratha, Muni, and the celebrated Janamejaya. And Avikshit begat Parikshit, the powerful Shavalaswa, Adiraja, Viraja, Shalmali of great physical strength, Uchaisrava, Bhangakāra, and Jitari the eighth. In the race of these were born, as the fruits of their pious acts, seven mighty charioteers with Janamejaya as their head. And unto Parikshit were born sons who were all acquainted with the interpreta- of the shastras. And they were Kaksha-sena, and Ugra-sena, and Chittra-sena endued with great energy, and Indra-sena and Susena and Bhima-sena by name. And the sons of Janamejaya were all endued with great strength and became celebrated all over the world. And they were Dhrita-rashtra who was the eldest, and Pandu and Valhika, and Nishadha endued with great energy, and then the mighty Jambunada, and then Kundodara, and Padati and then Vashati the eighth. And they were all skilfull in the interpretation of the shastras and were kind to all creatures. Amongst them Dhrita-rashtra became king. And Dhrita-rashtra had eight sons, viz, Kundika, Hasti, Vitarka, Kratha, Kundina the fifth, Vahishrava, Indrava, and Bhumanyu the invincible. And Dhrita-rashtra had many grand-sons, of whom three only were famous. They were, O king, Pratipa, Dharma-netra, Su-netra. Amongst, these last three, Pratipa became unrivalled on earth. And, O thou bull of the Bharata race, Pratipa begat three sons, viz, Devapi, Shantanu, and the mighty charioteer Valhika. The eldest Devapi adopted an ascetic course of life impelled thereto by the desire of benefiting his brothers, And the kingdom was obtained by Shantanu and the mighty charioteer Valhika.

"O monarch, besides these, there were born in the race of Bharata numberless other excellent monarchs endued with great energy and like unto the celestial Rishis themselves in virtue and ascetic power. And so also in the race of Manu were born many mighty charioteers like unto the celestials themselves and who by their number swelled the Aila dynasty into gigantic proportions."

And so ends the ninety-fourth Section in the Sambhava of the Adi Parva.

Section LXLV. ( Sambhava Parva continued )

Janamejaya said, "O Brahmana, I have now heard from thee this great history of my ancestors, I have also heard from thee about the great monarchs that were born in this line. But I have not been gratified in consequence of this charming account having been so short. Therefore be pleased, O Brahmana, to recite the delightful narrative once more in detail, commencing from Manu the lord of creation. Who is there that will not be charmed with such an account, sacred as it is? The fame of these monarchs, increased by their wisdom, virtue, accomplishments, and high character, hath been so swelled as to cover the three worlds, Having listened to the history, sweet as nectar, of their liberality, prowess, physical strength, mental vigor, energy, and perseverance, I have not been satiated."

Vaisampayana said, "Hear then, O monarch, as I recite in full the auspicious account of thy own race just as I heard it from Dwaipayana before.

"Daksha begat Aditi, and Aditi begat Vivaswan, and Vivaswan begat Manu, and Manu begat Ila, and Ila begat Pururava, And Puru-rava begat Ayu, and Ayu begat Nahusha, and Nahusha begat Yayati. And Yayati had two wives, viz, Devayani the daughter of Usana, and Sharmishta the daughter of