Vishnu Purana - Part 4
CHAPTER ONE DESCRIPTION OF VAIVASVAT MANU’S LINEAGE
Manu’s another son, Karush produced an exceptionally strong Kshatriya named Kaarush. Lineage of Dishta grew as follows- Naabhaag- Balbandhan- Kirtimaan- Vatsapreeti-Praanshu- Prajapati- Khanitra- Chaakshush- Vimbha- Vivimbhak- Khaninetra- Ativibhuti- Karandham- Avikshit- Marut. Marut had a son, Narishyant. Lineage of Narishyant grew as follows- Dama- Rajvardhan- Suvriddhi- Keval- Sughritti- Nara- Chandra- Keval- Bandhumaan- Veghvaan- Buddha- Trinvindu. Trinvindu had a daughter Ilavila and a son Vishal. Vishal in later course founded Vishaala. Lineage of Vishal grew as follows- Hemchandra- Chandra- Dhumraksh- Srinjay- Sahadev- Krishasva- Somadutta- Janmejaya- Sumati. Manu’ son Sharayaati had a daughter Sukanya who was married to sage Chyavan in peculiar circumstances. Aanart was the son of Sharayaati. Aanart had a son Raivat who founded his capital at Kushasthali and ruled his kingdom on earth. Raivat had one hundred sons, the eldest among whom was Kakudmi. He had a daughter Revati. Raivat took Revati with him and approached Brahma who asked about a suitable match for her. At that time, Gandharvas were singing near Brahma.
Raivat listened to their songs intently and forgot about the passage of time. Many ages passed like that but Raivat felt as if only an hour had passed. When the Gandharvas stopped singing, Raivat once again asked Brahma about a suitable match for Revati. Brahma asked Raivat about his own choices first. Raivat counted the names of many deserving princes and kings all of whom belonged to earth. Brahma said smiling- "No one even in the progeny of these people is alive on earth because here listening to the Gandharvas songs you have passed four ages. Presently even the age of eighteenth Manu is about to end on earth and Kaliyug is about to start." These words frightened Raivat who greeted Brahma and asked- "O Lord! Now tell me whom should I marry Revati to?" Brahma said- "That unborn all pervasive Parmeshwar Lord Vishnu had taken an incarnation on earth.
O king! Your capital at Kushasthali which was equal to Indra’s abode Amravati is now Dwarkapuri. In that Dwarkapuri, stays Baldev who is a part of Lord Vishnu. Marry this daughter to him because she is a jewel among the women folk and Baldev is praised all over the world by all. Hence only he deserves to be your son-in-law."
Hearing the verdict of Brahma, Prajapati Raivat descended on the earth and saw that an amazing transformation had taken place in the appearance of people who were now smaller in stature, ugly, dull and devoid of strength. Even his capital Kushasthali had acquired a new appearance and was now known as Dwarkapuri. Raivat found out Baldev and married his granddaughter Revati to him. But Revati appeared quite large and taller in stature than Baldev because of age difference. Baldev pressed her slightly with anterior part of his plough and she assumed a stature equal to normal women. After marrying Revati to Baldev, Raivat migrated to the Himalayas to observe penance.
CHAPTER TWO DESCRIPTION OF IKSHVAAKU’S LINEAGE
Thus Vikukshi got the name of Shashaad and was expelled by his father. Shashaad in later course had a son, Puranjay. In the past a fierce battle had taken place between the demons and the gods. The demons defeated the gods who approached Lord Vishnu for help. Lord Vishnu said-"I am aware of your desire. I will appear in he body of Shashaad’s son Puranjay to kill the demons. But it is your responsibility to convince him for the battle." The gods approached Puranjay and requested-"O great among the Kshatriyas! Kindly help us to defeat our enemies." Puranjay said-"Shatkratu is Indra. If I fight the battle riding his shoulder, I will be able to kill the demons." The gods accepted his condition. Indra took the guise of the bull riding which Puranjay killed the demons because Lord Vishnu had partially arrived in his body.
Since then Puranjay got the name Kakutsth. He had a son Aneyna. Lineage of Aneyna grew as follows- Aneyna- Prithu- Vishtrabhva- Chaandrayuvnashva- Shaavasta. Shaavasta founded the town of Shaavasti (modern Shraavasti). Lineage of Shaavasta continued as follows- Shaavasta- Vrihadashva- Kuvalayaashva- Dridaashva- Tandraashva- Kapilaashva. For a long time, Yuvanashva did not have a child. So, he organised a Putreshti Yagya in the auspices of learned sages. The Yagya lasted for a whole day. At mid-night when the Yagya ended, sages fell asleep because of tiredness keeping the urn of Yagya water near the altar. The water had been empowered with sacred mantras. Meanwhile the thirsty king came there and drank that water from the urn. When the sages awakened, they enquired about the water in the urn. Yuvanashva told them that he had himself drunk it.
The sages told that as the water had been empowered with sacred mantras and was meant for the queen in order to make her conceive. Hence the king instead of the queen will conceive now. As a result Yuvanashva conceived and in due course gave birth to a child from his right armpit. But the child’s birth did not kill the king. The baby was Mandhaata. In due course Mandhaata ruled the entire earth, which was divided into seven islands. Mandhaata married Bindumati, the daughter of Shatabindu. They had three sons- Purukutsa, Ambareesh, and Muchukunda. They also had fifty daughters. When all the daughters grew young a sage Saubhari arrived in the palace and requested Mandhaata to marry one of his daughters to him.
The sage appeared old and frail. So, Mandhaata hesitated and tried to send him off making many excuses. The sage assured him about his physical abilities. But still the king felt hesitant and said-“O sage, it is our tradition that we marry our daughter only to he whom our daughter chooses as her husband. Your request is beyond our desires." Hearing Mandhaata’s word sage considered for a moment and said-"All right O king! Kindly instruct the eunuch who guards the quarters of your daughters to escort me there." Fearing a curse from the sage, Mandhaata instructed the eunuchs to escort him into the quarters of his daughters. While entering the quarters, the sage assumed the appearance of an extremely handsome Gandharva. So, when he arrived there, a row started among the girls as to who would choose him as her husband first. Each one of them claimed that she had first chosen him. Thus all the daughters of Mandhaata chose sage Saubhari as their husband. When the eunuchs informed the king about this development, he fell in deep thoughts how it could happen. But still he was bound by his promise so he had no choice but to marry all his daughters to sage Saubhari. Marrying all the fifty girls, sage Saubhari brought them to his hermitage. Calling Vishwakarma, he instructed him to build separate castles for each of his wives. In no time, Vishwakarma erected fifty beautiful palaces in a row. Each one of them had ample spacious and airy rooms, surrounded by beautiful gardens. Since then, all the girls occupied those palaces and began to live there. Every kind of luxury and food was available to them.
One day, drawn by the love for his daughters, King Mandhaata decided to visit Saubhari’s Ashram. But in place of Ashram, he found a row of beautiful palaces. There, he met his daughters and enquired about their well being. The daughters informed him that they were happy to live with the sage and that their husband was capable enough to provide them with all the luxuries. But still they remembered their native place. Each of the girl also expressed one grief that her husband enjoyed intimacy with her at all times and did not share time with her other sisters. These words of the girls surprised the king.
Ultimately he met Saubhari and worshipping him he said-"O lord! It is the result of your severe penance that you are able to keep all the fifty girls happy." Staying there for a few days, the king returned. In due course, the daughters of Mandhaata gave birth to one hundred and fifty sons. Those sons grew up and produced their progeny. At that time sage Saubhari thought- ‘I have seen the birth of my sons. Now they have their own sons. If I stay there, I will long to see my great-grandchildren. Desires do not end till death. Acquiring a human body is in itself a great sorrow. I have received enough in life, enjoyed intimacy with fifty princesses. If I keep more desires, I will receive nothing but sorrow. Hence I should take to the penance of Lord Vishnu.’ Thinking that way, sage Saubhari migrated to the forest along with his fifty wives. There they conducted Yagyas and passed their time worshipping Lord Vishnu.
CHAPTER THREE PROGENY OF MANDHAATA ASCEND OF TRISHANKU TO HEAVEN AND BIRTH OF SAGAR
Once upon a time Gandharvas of collective name Mauneya defeated the Nagas and snatched all their wealth and powers. The Nagas prayed Lord Vishnu to rescue them. Lord Vishnu told them that he would appear in Mandhaata’s son Purukutsa and kill the Gandharvas. Afterwards Narmada brought Purukutsa to Rasaatal where Lord Vishnu appeared in his body. Thus having the strength of Lord Vishnu, Purukutsa defeated and killed the Gandharvas. Pleased by the action of Narmada, the Nagas blessed her with a boon that whoever remembered her would have no fear of snake venom and Purukutsa that he would have an immortal son. Purukutsa and Narmada had a son Trasadasyu.
Lineage of Trasadasyu continued as follows- Trasadasyu- Anaranya- Vrihadashva- Haryashva- Hasta- Sumana- Tridhanva- Trayaruni and Satyavrat. Satyavrat became famous as Trishanku in later course. By the curse of a sage, Trishanku had become a Chandaal. Once a drought occurred for twelve long years. During that drought, to get rid from this condition of Chandaal and feed sage Vishwamitra, Trishanku used to tie a whole skinned deer to a Banyan tree on the bank of the river Ganges. Pleased by his selfless service, sage Vishwamitra sent Trishanku to the heaven with his ephemeral body. Lineage of Trishanku grew as follows- Trishanku- Harishchandra- Rohitashva- Harit- Chanchu- Vijay and Vasudev.
Vijay had a son Ruruk. Ruruk’s son was Vrik who had a son Baahu. Baahu had two queens. After a long time of their marriage, Baahu’s queen consort conceived a son. But the circumstances took a strange turn. Baahu’s enemies together attacked his kingdom and defeated him. The defeated king migrated to the forest along with his queens and began to live at the hermitage of sage Aurv. Very soon, King Baahu died of old age. His queen consort also wanted to commit Sati but sage Aurv prevented her from doing so. After sometime getting envious of her fortune, the other queen deceitfully fed her with poison. But the poison could not harm the foetus, which stayed unborn for a period of seven years because of poison’s effect. Staying at the hermitage of sage Aurv, the queen consort gave birth to a son. Since the child was born with the effect of the poison, Sage Aurv named him as Sagar. Sagar began to grow in he hermitage in natural surrounding. One day he asked his mother about his father. The queen narrated the whole incident to him. Sagar then and there took an oath to exterminate the Kshatriyas who had been the cause of his father’s death. Acting as per his oath, Sagar destroyed Haihaya Kshatriyas whereas Shak Kshatriyas got their heads shaven out of fear. Since those Kshatriyas had given up their religion, hence Brahmins boycotted them. As a result they became Malechchha. Thereafter King Sagar returned to his capital and ruled the earth.
CHAPTER FOUR DESCRIPTION OF SURYAVANSH
King Sagar had two queens, Sumati, the daughter of Kashyap and Keshini, the daughter of Vidarbha’s king. Keshini had a son Asmanjas whereas Sumati had sixty thousand sons. Anshuman was the son of Asmanjas. Asmanjas was very whimsical since his childhood. Even in his youth, he did not change his behaviour.
Hence King Sagar had abandoned Asmanjas. But the things did not improve for Sagar because even his sixty thousand sons followed the footsteps of Asmanjas. The gods one-day approached sage Kapil who was a partial incarnation of Lord Vishnu. Greeting him, they said- “If the sixty thousand sons of Sagar continued on their whimsical way, the earth would not remain suitable for living.” Sage Kapil assured the gods that the sixty thousand sons of Sagar would meet their fate very soon. By the instigation of sage Kapil, King Sagar organised an Ashwamedha Yagya. The sixty thousand princes also followed the horse guarding it. But somehow Indra managed to kidnap the horse and tethered it at the hermitage of sage Kapil. The sixty thousand princes searched for the horse and following the footprints, they also reached the hermitage. There they found the horse and also a sage in deep meditation. Thinking that the sage might have been responsible for abduction of the horse they began to abuse him. As soon as sage Kapil disturbed by the abuses opened his eyes, a flame appeared and incinerated all the sixty thousand princes. When King Sagar came to know about this incident, he sent Anshuman to bring back that horse.
Anshuman also reached the hermitage and greeted sage Kapil with respect. Pleased by his politeness, sage Kapil blessed Anshuman and instructed him to take the horse away with him. He also asked him to seek a boon. As the boon, Anshuman only sought the salvation for his sixty thousand dead uncles. Sage Kapil assured Anshuman that his ancestors would certainly attain to the heaven but only after a long wait and that his grandson Bhagirath would bring the Ganges onto the earth and that the Ganges’ waters would wash the ashes of his ancestors to the ocean and cause their salvation. Thus blessed by the sae Kapil, Anshuman returned to the capital with the horse in order to help his grand father finish the Yagya. Anshuman had a son Dileep.
Dileep’s son was Bhagirath who observed severe penance and pleased Ganga to descend on the earth. Since the Ganges had descended on earth because of Bhagirath’s penance, she also got a name Bhagirathi. The lineage of Bhagirath grew as follows- Bhagirath- Suhotra- Shruti- Naabhaag- Ambareesh- Sindhudweep- Ayutayu- Rituparn- Sarvakaam- Sudas and Saudas. One day, King Saudas went hunting in the forests. There he spotted a pair of the tigers. They were actually a tiger and a tigress in mating. Saudas killed one of them by his arrow, while the other turned into a demon and threatening of an avenge disappeared from the scene. In due course, King Saudas organised a Yagya in the auspices of sage Vashishta. Towards the end of Yagya, sage Vashishta went away to take bath. Meanwhile the same demon arrived there in the guise of Vashishta and expressed his desire to eat non-vegetarian food. Then the demon arrived before the king in the guise of the cook. The king ordered him to cook meat for the sage. The cook cooked human flesh and served it before the sage. Sage Vashishta knew that the food contained human flesh. He cursed the king in anger to be a demon. Within three days, King Saudas became a demon and began to roam in the forests. Since then he ate the humans only. One day, Saudas in demon form saw Muni who was in the process of mating his wife. The demon caught and ate the Muni neglecting all the cries and wailing of his wife.
The Brahmani angrily cursed the demon that as her husband had been killed while he was about to sate his carnal lust similarly he would also die right in the same process. King Saudas remained in the demon’s form for twelve more years. After that he recovered from the curse and began to rule like a pious king. One day, King Saudas saw the queen in an amorous condition and an impulse of carnal pleasure ran within his body. He made advances to satisfy his lust but the queen who knew everything about the curse stopped him reminding him of the curse. Since then the king stuck to celibacy. Since the king had no son, he allowed his queen Madayanti to conceive a child with the help of sage Vashishta. The queen did conceive but the foetus remained unborn for seven years at length. At last the irritated queen hit her foetus with a stone. This resulted in the birth of child at once. The child was named Ashmak.
The lineage of Ashmak grew as follows: Ashmak- Moolak- Dasharath- Ilivil- Vishvasah and Khatwang. Khatwang had killed many formidable demons fighting by the side of the gods. Pleased by his gallantry, the gods wanted to grant him a boon. Khatwang wanted to know how long would live more. The gods told him that he would live for one Muhurta more. Hearing this, Khatwang came back on earth and prayed Lord Vishnu to take him in His refuge. At last he did annihilated with Lord Vishnu. Lineage of Khatwang grew as follows-Khatwang- Deerghbahu- Raghu- Aja and Dasharath. King Dasharath had three queens who gave birth to four sons-Rama, Lakshmana, Bharat and Shatrughana. Rama was an incarnation of Lord Vishnu. His life too had lot of ups and downs. After being trained in archery, He and Lakshmana spent most of their boyhood time in the hermitage of sage Vishwamitra guarding his Yagyas from the demons. After that when Vishwamitra was taking them to Mithila Lord Rama salved Ahilya who had been converted into a stone by the curse of her husband sage Gautam. In Mithila, Lord Rama broke the bow of Lord Shiva and won Sita as His wife.
When they returned to Ayodhya, King Dasharath decided to crown Rama as the new king. But misguided by Manthara, queen Kaikeyee stubbornly sought that her son Bharat should be crowned as the new king whereas Rama should be sent on an exile for fourteen years. Bounded by his promises that he had made to Kaikeyee earlier, King Dasharath had no choice but to accept her demands. Thus to keep His father’s words, Lord Rama accepted the exile. Sita and Lakshmana also followed His steps. In the forests, the demon king Ravan deceitfully abducted Sita. It was followed by meeting of Rama with Hanumana and Sugreev, killing of Baali- Sugreev’s brother, finding of Sita by Hanumana in Lanka, bridging of the sea that separated Lanka, fierce battle with the demons and ultimately killing of Ravan by Lord Rama. After the completion of exile period Lord Rama returned to Ayodhya and ruled there for twelve years. Lord Rama had two sons- Lava and Kusha. Lineage of Kusha grew as follows- Kusha- Atithi- Nishadh- Anal- Nabh- Pundareek- Kshemdhanwa- Devaneek- Ahinaka- Ruru- Pariyatrak- Deval- Vanchal- Ulka- Vajranabha- Shankhan- Yushhitashva- Vishvasaha- Hiranyanaam- Pushya- Dhruvsandhi- Sudarshan- Agnivarn- Shighrag- Maru- Prasushrut- Susandhi- Amarsh- Sahaswan and Vishvabhav. Vishvabhav had a son Brihdal who was killed by Abhimanyu in the battle of Mahabharat.
CHAPTER FIVE TALE OF NIMI AND DESCRIPTION OF HIS LINEAGE
This infuriated the sage to the extent that he poured down curse on Nimi, who was sleeping at that time, to lose his body at once. When the king learned about the curse and that he was cursed in sleep, he cursed the sage in retaliation to lose his body at once before giving up his own body. By the curse of Nimi, Vashishta’s body was destroyed but he himself entered the semen of Mitravarun. Thereafter, one day Mitravarun happened to sea the elf Urvashi. Her amorous beauty caused the ejaculation of his semen spontaneously. With ejaculated semen, sage Vashishta also came out and acquired a new body. On the other hand, at end of Yagya when the gods appeared to accept their due share from the offerings, the sages prayed them to grant Nimi some boon. Nimi however sought nothing in boon but expressed his desire to stay in eyes of the people forever. The gods granted that desire. Before that nobody had ever blinked his eyes.
Blinking of eyes came into practice because Nimi stays there. In order to save the kingdom from anarchy, the sages churned the dead body of Nimi with a stick of Bombax tree and produced a son. That son came to known as Janak. Since he was born from the dead body of his father, the boy also came to be known as Vaideha. Lineage of Janak continued as follows: Janak- Udavasu- Nandivardhan- Suketu- Devrat- Brihadukth- Mahaveerya- Sudhriti- Dhrishtketu- Haryashva- Manu- Prateet- Kritrath- Devbheed- Vibudh- Mahadhriti- Kritraj- Maharoma- Suvarnaroma- Hrasyaroma and Seerdhvaj. With a desire of a son, Seerdhvaj was once ploughing the earth when he stumbled upon a pitcher. In the pitcher, he found a beautiful baby whom he named as Sita.
CHAPTER SIX DESCRIPTION OF SOMA VANSH AND TALE OF PURURAVA
The gods were helping Brihaspati while because of Shukra, the demons fought from the side of Chandrama. Soon the battle assumed the proportion of a war that perplexed the entire world. At last, Lord Vishnu mediated to end the battle and helped Brihaspati to get his wife back. By that time Tara had conceived a child. Seeing her condition Brihaspati instigated Tara to abort the baby. Tara aborted the baby amidst some shrubs but it did not die. Instead, his brilliance dulled even the radiance of the gods. The baby was so beautiful that both Brihaspati and Chandrama were eager to accept him. To settle the matter, Brahma asked Tara about the paternity of the child. Feeling shy, Tara revealed that Chandrama was the father of the child. Then Brahma himself adopted the child and named him as Buddha. When he grew young, Buddha produced Pururava from Illa. Pururava was very magnanimous and handsome. Once an elf Urvashi happened to see him and at once fell in love. She then approached Pururava. Her beauty enchanted Pururava also. He requested the elf to stay with him. But Urvashi stipulated that she might stay with him if he agreed to follow her two conditions that he would never drive the two sheep, which were like her children away from her bed and that he would never undress before her in visible light. Pururava accepted both the conditions.
Since then Pururava began to live with Urvashi. Together they enjoyed their physical intimacy for sixty thousand years. Their love grew so much that even Urvashi forgot those heavenly comforts that she used to enjoy once. But because of her absence, even the heaven appeared more dreaded than hell. At last, one Vishvavasu who knew about the conditions stole one sheep from their bedroom and flew away. Hearing the cries of the sheep, Urvashi got up in anxiety and shouted who was stealing her son. But Pururava pretended as if asleep for the fear of being seen naked. As the fuss grew further, he could no more contain himself and ran after the thief. Right at that moment, the Gandharvas produced intense lightning illuminating the whole scene. As a result, Urvashi saw Pururava in a naked state and at once left his palace to her heavenly abode for now both of her conditions had been violated. Pururava could not tolerate the separation of Urvashi. He began to roam here and there in that bare condition like a mad.
Thus roaming he reached at Kamal Sarovar in Kurukshetra where he saw Urvashi with four other elves. Seeing Urvashi Pururava began to behave madly. It was impossible for him to control his sensual desires even in the presence of other elves. But Urvashi stopped him saying that she was expecting an issue and after a year, she will give birth to his child. She also promised at that time she will stay with him for a night. After a year King Pururava once again reached that place where Urvashi handed over his son Aayu. As per her promise she also stayed with Pururava for a night and consequently in later course gave birth to five more sons.
Urvashi informed Pururava that because of their love Gandharvas wished to bless him with a boon. Pururava sought a life-long union with Urvashi. Gandharvas presented him with an altar and instructed to conduct regular Yagyas properly. Then all of his desires would come true, the Gandharvas assured Pururava. But King Pururava left that altar in the forest and returned to his capital. At mid-night, he awakened suddenly as if from a trance and hurried to the forest to recover his altar. But the altar was no more there; it had transformed into a peepal tree. Pururava got that tree felled and brought it to his capital where the carpenters made Arani (a wooden implement used in ancient India to produce fire) from its wood. Since then Pururava conducted regular Yagyas with the help of that Arani and attained to the Gandharvaloka where he was never separated from Urvashi again.
CHAPTER SEVEN BIRTH OF JAMADAGNI AND VISHWAMITRA
Sage Richeek prepared kheer in two parts- one for his wife Satyavati and another for Satyavati’s mother. Instructing Satyavati, he went to the forest. When Satyavati and her mother were about to eat the kheer, her mother exchanged her part of kheer with that of her daughter saying that her son had to foster the world while the son of the sage had nothing to do with wealth and all that. Satyavati agreed to that and ate that part of kheer, which was reserved for her mother whereas her mother ate Satyavati’s part. When Richeek returned from the forest, he noticed formidable changes in the body of his wife. He understood that she had eaten her mother’s part of the kheer.
Angrily the sage predicted that she would have a son who would be Kshatriya-like in virtues whereas her mother would have Brahmin-like son. Satyavati begged pardon and requested the sage to change his prediction saying that the crime was committed by mistake and that she would be happy to have a Kshatriya-like grandson but not a son. At her request the sage changed his prediction. As per the prediction, Satyavati gave birth to Jamadagni whereas her mother gave birth to Vishwamitra. After giving birth to Jamadagni turned into a river named Kaushiki. In later course, as a partial incarnation of Lord Vishnu, Parashuram took birth as the son of sage Jamadagni.
CHAPTER EIGHT DESCRIPTION OF KASHYA VANSH
Pururava’s son Aayu had been married to Rahu’s daughter. They had five sons- Nahush, Kshatravriddh, Rambh, Vraji and Aneyna. Suhotra was the son of Kshatravriddh. He had three sons- Kaashya, Kaash and Gritsamad. Shaunak was the son of Gritsamad whereas Kaasheya was the son of Kaashya. Lineage of Kaasheya grew as- Kaasheya- Raashtra- Dirdhakapa and Dhanvantari. Dhanvantari’s body was free from all the physical faults like ageing and diseases. Dhanvantari’s lineage grew as- Dhanvantari- Ketumaan- Bheemrath- Dibodas and Pratardan. Pratardan was also known as Shatrujit because of his conquering his enemies. Since he had acquired a horse named Kulavay hence he also came to be known as Kulvayaashva. Pratardan had a son named Alarka who enjoyed his rule on earth for sixty-six thousand years. Lineage of Alarka continued as follows- Sannati- Sunith- Suketu- Dharmaketu- Satyaketu- Vibhu- Suvibhu- Sukumar- Dhristhaketu- Vitihotra- Bhaarga and Bhaargbhumi. It was progeny of Bhaargbhumi who gave rise to four classes of people.
CHAPTER NINE DESCRIPTION OF KING RAJI AND HIS SONS
The demons told him that Prahlad was their Indra and returned. Then the gods also approached King Raji and requested him to take their side. Raji put the same condition before them also to which the gods agreed. In a fierce battle and aided by King Raji, the gods defeated the demons. After their victory, Indra bowed before King Raji and expressed his desire to present him with the kingdom of heaven.
Thus King Raji became Indra. After the demise of Raji, Narad instigated his sons to acquire the rule of heaven. All the five hundred sons of Raji approached Indra and requested him to give them the rule of heaven but Indra refused plainly. At that Raji’s sons dethroned Indra forcibly and themselves became Indra. After much time had passed, Indra approached Brihaspati and prayed him to help him regain the rule of heaven. Brihaspati assured him that he would soon establish him at the throne. Afterwards Brihaspati created illusions in the minds of Raji’s sons. He also conducted many Yagyas to increase the radiance of Indra. Guided by the illusions, Raji’s sons began to behave in anti-religious ways. Then Indra easily killed them all and regained his designation.
CHAPTER TEN TALE OF YAYATI
Nahush had six sons- Yati, Yayati, Sanyati, Aayati, Viyati and Kriti. Yayati had two wives, Devyani, the daughter of Shukracharya and Sharmishtha, the daughter of Vrishparva. Devyani gave birth to Yadu and Turvasu whereas Sharmishtha gave birth to Druhayu, Anu and Puru. Because of a curse of Shukracharya old age had descended on Yayati prematurely. Yayati then requested his eldest son Yadu to exchange his youth with his old age but Yadu refused. Then Yayati requested each of his sons one by one but all of them refused plainly for the fear of getting old prematurely. At last Yayati’s youngest son Puru gladly accepted his request and gave him his youth. Regaining the youth, Yayati once again indulged in carnal pleasures with both his queens. But everyday his desire for pleasures increased like a fire flared up by ghee. After one thousand years Yayati realised his mistake and decided to expiate for his sin. Thus, Yayati returned Puru his youth and acquired his old age once again. Then crowning Puru as the king, he took an exile to the forest.
CHAPTER ELEVEN DESCRIPTION OF YADU VANSH AND TALE OF SAHASTRARJUN
Yayati’s eldest son Yadu had four sons- Sahastrajit, Kroshtu, Nala and Nahush. Sahastrajit had a son Shatajit who had three sons Haihaya, Hehaya and Venuhaya. Lineage of Haihaya grew as- Dharma- Dharmanetra- Kunti- Sahajit- Mahishmaan- Bhadrashrenya- Durdabh and Dhanak. Dhanak had four sons- Kritveerya, Kritaagni, Kritdharma and Kritauja. Kritveerya had a prowessive son Arjun. Arjun had worshipped Dattatreya and by his blessings acquired one thousand arms. Since then he came to be known as Sahastrarjun. Dattatreya had blessed him with many other boons like rule of entire earth, fostering of his subjects in religious ways and killing by some human being famous in all the three worlds. At that time, there was no other king equal to Sahastrarjun in virtues. He ruled the entire earth for eighty-five thousand years.
Once Sahastrarjun was enjoying his past time on the waters of Narmada when he happened to have an encounter with Ravan, the king of Lanka. Sahastrarjun captured Ravan easily and imprisoned him at an isolated place in his kingdom. With time ego of Sahastrarjun had crossed all limits. He began to terrorise the sages and other religious people. When his atrocities increased beyond tolerance level, Lord Vishnu took a partial incarnation as Parashuram, the son of sage Jamadagni and Renuka. As per the prediction of sage Richeek, Parashuram grew with Kshatriya - like virtues. He had in fact taken incarnation to relieve the earth from the atrocities of egoist kings. Parashuram had received arms training from none other than Lord Shiva. He was very obedient to his father and had beheaded his own mother by the Parashu (axe) that he had received from Lord Shiva at the dictate of his father. In due course Parashuram not only got Ravan released from captivity but also killed Sahastrarjun. Sahastrarjun had one hundred sons among whom Shur, Shursena, Vrishasena, Madhu and Jayadhwaj were prominent. Jayadhwaj had a son Taaljunga. Taaljunga had one hundred sons among whom Vitihotra and Bharat were prominent. Bharat again had one hundred sons whereas Madhu also had hundred sons among whom Vrishni was prominent. After the name of their forefather Yadu, this clan came to be known as Yaduvansha.
CHAPTER TWELVE DESCRIPTION OF KROSHTU VANSH
Lineage of Kroshtu grew as follows- Kroshtu- Dhwajnivan- Swati- Rushanku- Chitrarath- Rashibindu. Rashibindu had one lakh queens and ten lakh sons among whom Prithusharva, Prithukarma, Prithukirti, Prithuyasha, Prithujay and Prithushan were prominent. In their lineage later on occurred a king named Jyamadh. He was so dedicated to his wife Shaivya that despite being childless, he did not dare to marry other women because of her fear. Once, Jyamadh took part in a fierce battle in which he defeated all his enemies.
While he was about to return, he heard pitiable cries of a woman. He saw a beautiful young lady who was crying for her protection. Jyamadh was so infatuated by her beauty that he took her to his kingdom. When they reached at the gate of the palace, the king saw that the queen Shaivya was waiting for him along with a big crowd. When Shaivya saw a beautiful young lady sitting beside the king on the chariot, she began to shout at him.
The horrified king tried to explain that the young lady was his daughter-in-law. The queen shouted even louder that when they did not have a son, whence the daughter-in-law came. But the king explained that he had selected a wife for her would-be son. As the effect of their conversation queen Shaivya soon conceived and gave birth to a son inspite of her advancing age. They named the son as Vidarbh. In due course of time, Vidarbh got married to that lady whom his father had brought home earlier. They had three sons- Krath, Kaushik and Romapad. Romapad had received preaching from Narad. Lineage of Krath grew as follows- Krath- Kunti- Ghrishti- Nighriti- Dashaard- Vyoma- Jimoot- Vikriti- Bheemrath- Navrath- Dasharath- Shakuni- Karambhi- Devraat- Devakshatra- Madhu- Kumarvansh- Anu- Kurumitra- Anshu- Satvak. Satvak was the forefather of a clan that was named after him.
END OF PART FOUR
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