Harivamsha 23

Janamejaya said: / I wish to hear truly of the lineage of Pūru, O brahman, / and of Druhyu, Anu, Yadu, and Turvasu, O best of the twice-born; / you ought to tell it in full detail and proper succession.

Vaiśaṃpāyana said: / In connection with the lineage of the Vṛṣṇis, first indeed hear of your own lineage, / the lineage of the great-souled Pūru foremost, O great king, / in full detail and proper succession, wherein you were born, O ruler of the earth.

Come, I shall relate to you the peerless lineage of Pūru, / and of Druhyu, Anu, Yadu, and Turvasu, O scorcher of foes.

Pūru had a son named Pravīra, and Manasyu was his son; / and the king named Abhayada was the son of Manasyu.

Likewise, Abhayada had a son Sudhanvan, a lord of the earth; / and Sudhanvan had Subāhu, whose son was Raudrāśva.

Saṃpāti was his son.

And of Saṃpāti, Rahasyātī.

Raudrāśva had Daśārṇeyu and Kṛkaṇeyu likewise; / ten sons [he had] by an apsaras, / Ṛceyu being the first of them, / Kakṣeyu, Sthaṇḍileyu, and Saṃnateyu likewise,

and Ṛceyu, Jaleyu, and Sthaleyu of great might, / and Ruceyu as sixth, Jaleyu as seventh, / Dharmeyu, Dṛḍheyu, and Vaneyu is recorded as the tenth; / Vananitya and Vaneyu, and ten daughters as well.

These ten were the sons of the apsaras, and Vaneyu is remembered as the youngest,

[begotten] on Ghṛtācī like the sense-faculties of the supreme Soul of the universe.

Bhadrā, Śūdrā, Madrā, Maladā, and Malahā, / Khalā, Balā, O king of kings, Taladā, Surathā as well, / and the woman Gopabalā, and Ratnakūṭā—these ten.

A seer born in Atri’s lineage, their husband Prabhākara, / begot on Rudrā a glorious son, Soma.

When the sun was struck down by Svarbhānu and was falling from the sky to the earth, / and the world was overwhelmed by darkness, he brought forth light.

Addressed with, 'May it be well with you,' the falling day-maker, / by the word of that seer among brahmins, did not fall from the sky to the earth.

He of great ascetic heat who established the foremost lineages of Atri, / and for whom the wealth of Atri was established by the gods at sacrifices,

he begot on those daughters ten illustrious sons / sharing the same name, always devoted to fierce ascetic heat.

They became lineage-founders, O king, seers who had crossed to the end of the Vedas, / renowned as the Svastyātreyas, but excluded from the wealth of Atri.

Kakṣeyu's sons, however, were three great chariot-warriors: / Sabhānara, Cākṣuṣa, and Paramekṣu likewise.

Sabhānara's son was the learned King Kālānala; / Kālānala's son was Sṛñjaya, who knew dharma.

Sṛñjaya had a son, the heroic King Puraṃjaya; / Janamejaya, O great king, was Puraṃjaya's son.

From Puraṃjaya, O great king, the son was Janamejaya.

The royal seer Janamejaya had a son Mahāsāla, / who was known among the gods and of established renown.

A righteous son named Mahāmanas was born to Mahāsāla; / a hero honored by the hosts of gods was that Mahāmanas.

Mahāmanas begot two sons, O Bhārata: / Uśīnara, who knew dharma, and Titikṣu of great might.

Uśīnara's wives were five, born in lineages of royal seers: / Nṛgā, Kṛmī, Navā, Darvā, and the fifth Dṛṣadvatī.

Uśīnara's sons were five, uplifters of the family, born of them; / by great ascetic heat were these sons born to him in his old age.

Of Nṛgā was born the son Nṛga; of Kṛmī, Kṛmi; / of Navā was born the son Nava; and of Darvā, Suvrata.

Of Dṛṣadvatī was born Śibi Auśīnara, O king; / from Śibi sprang the Śibis, my dear friend, and from Nṛga the Yaudheyas.

Of Nava was the Navarāṣṭra kingdom, while the city Kṛmilā was of Kṛmi; / of Suvrata was the kingdom of the Ambaṣṭhas. Now hear of the offspring of Titikṣu.

Learn from me of the sons of Śibi.

And Śibi had four sons, heroes renowned throughout the world:

Vṛṣadarbha, Suvīra, Kaikeya, and Madraka.

Their prosperous realms were the Kaikeyas and the Madras,

and the Vṛṣadarbhas and Suvīras.

Titikṣu became king in the eastern direction, O Bhārata; / his son was the mighty-armed Uṣadratha, and his son was Phena.

From Phena was born Sutapas, and of Sutapas was born a son, / King Bali in a human womb, he who possessed golden quivers.

That Bali was a great yogin and a ruler of men in former times; / he begot five sons who founded lineages on earth.

Aṅga was born first, and Vaṅga, and Suhma likewise, / Puṇḍra and Kaliṅga: thus is the Bāleya kṣatriya order spoken of; / and the Bāleya brahmins were also lineage-founders for him on earth.

A boon was granted to Bali by Brahmā, well-pleased, O Bhārata: / the state of a great yogin, a lifespan for the measure of a kalpa, / invincibility in battle, preeminence in dharma, / / vision of the three worlds, preeminence in progeny, / peerless strength, insight into the reality and purpose of dharma, / and that 'you shall establish the four regulated social orders.'

Addressed thus by the lord, King Bali attained the highest peace. / All those sons of his, born of his wife through the best of seers, / were born from Dīrghatamas upon Sudeṣṇā, endowed with great splendor. / Bali, having consecrated here those five sinless sons, / had accomplished his aim; possessing a yogic nature, resorting to yoga, that lord, / unassailable by all beings, wandered awaiting his time, / and after a great length of time, O king, he went to his own abode.

Theirs were five realms: the Vaṅgas, Aṅgas, and Suhmas, / and the Kaliṅgas and Puṇḍras. Now hear from me the progeny of Aṅga.

Aṅga's great son was the lord of kings, Dadhivāhana. / And Dadhivāhana's son was King Diviratha.

Diviratha's son was equal in prowess to Śakra, / wise, named Dharmaratha; his son was Citraratha.

By that magnanimous Dharmaratha, then, on Mount Viṣṇupada, / as he offered sacrifice together with Śakra, Soma was drunk.

Then Citraratha also had a son, Daśaratha, / renowned as Lomapāda, whose daughter was Śāntā.

His heroic son, descended from Daśaratha, was the glorious Caturaṅga, / born through the power of Ṛṣyaśṛṅga, furthering the lineage.

Caturaṅga's son is remembered as Pṛthulākṣa. / Pṛthulākṣa's son was the king named Campa, of great renown; / and Campa's city was Campā, which had previously shone as Mālinī.

Through the grace of Pūrṇabhadra, Haryaṅga became his son. / Then Vibhāṇḍaka brought down to the earth for him an elephant that wards off foes, / an excellent mount, by means of mantras.

Haryaṅga's son was Karṇa, and Vikarṇa was his son; / King Bhadraratha is remembered [in that line]. / The son of Bhadraratha was Bṛhatkarman, lord of creatures; / his son was Bṛhaddarbha, from whom was born Bṛhanmanas. / King Bṛhanmanas indeed begot a son / named Jayadratha by name, from whom came King Dṛḍharatha. / Dṛḍharatha also had [a son], Viśvajit, O Janamejaya. / His heir was Karṇa, / and he had a hundred sons, furtherers of the Aṅga lineage.

Vikarṇa's son was Aṅgada, furtherer of the lineage.

The son of Bṛhaddarbha was the king named Bṛhanmanas.

And he had two wives, auspicious daughters of the king of Cedi:

Yaśodevī and Sattvī; by them the lineage branches.

Jayadratha, O best of kings, was born of Yaśodevī;

and upon Sattvī, [a son] pre-eminent in brahminhood and kṣatriyahood, renowned by the name Vijaya.

Vijaya's son was Dhṛti; his son was Dhṛtavrata.

The son of Dhṛtavrata was Satyakarma, of great vows.

And Satyakarma's son was the charioteer Adhiratha,

who adopted Karṇa; hence Karṇa was a charioteer's son.

All this has been told to you regarding Karṇa of great might.

Karṇa's [son] is remembered as Vṛṣasena, and Vṛṣa was his son.

The righteous Sena, possessing all castes, was his son.

All these kings born of the Aṅga lineage have been proclaimed by me: / true to their vows, magnanimous, possessing offspring, great chariot-warriors.

Hear now, O great king, the lineage declared of Ṛceyu, / son of Raudrāśva, in which you were born, O ruler of the earth.

Vaiśaṃpāyana said: / The royal seer Ṛceyu is remembered as unassailable and a sole sovereign.

Ṛceyu's wife was Jvalanā, daughter of Takṣaka.

Ṛceyu's son, O king, was Matināra, lord of the earth; / and Matināra had three sons, supremely righteous:

Taṃsurogha, Apratiratha, and the righteous Subāhu, / and an auspicious daughter renowned as Gaurī, mother of Māndhātṛ; / all bathed after vows of the Veda, devoted to brahmins, speaking truth,

all skilled in weapons, strong, all proficient in battle.

Apratiratha's son was Kaṇva; he became a king.

His son was Medhātithi, from whom arose the Kāṇva twice-born.

The one who had a daughter named Ilā, O Janamejaya, / an expounder of brahman and a scholar—Taṃsu married her.

From Taṃsu came Suraugha, a royal seer, guider of dharma, of great renown, / an expounder of brahman, valiant; his wife was Upadānavī.

Upadānavī obtained those four sons from Suraugha; / and then he begot four delights of the Purus: / Duḥṣanta, then Suḥṣanta, Pravīra, and Anagha.

Duḥṣanta's heir was the powerful Bharata, / called Sarvadamana, great, with the strength of ten thousand elephants.

A universal monarch was born as Duḥṣanta's son, of great renown, / Bharata, upon Śakuntalā, from whose name you are the Bhāratas.

To King Duḥṣanta a bodiless voice spoke:

"The mother is a water-skin; the son belongs to the father: he is the very one by whom he was begotten.

Support the son, Duḥṣanta; do not disdain Śakuntalā.

The son who carries the seed delivers [the father] from Yama's abode, O god among men;

and you are the creator of this embryo; Śakuntalā has spoken truth."

When the sons of King Bharata had perished / through the anger of their mothers, dear one, as was related to you then,

the great seer Bharadvāja, son of Bṛhaspati Āṅgirasa, O king, / the powerful one, made him sacrifice with great sacrifices.

In this context, indeed, they cite this concerning the wise Bharadvāja,

and the transfer of dharma by the Maruts to Bharata.

When the birth of his sons had previously been rendered futile, / then a son named Vitatha was born from Bharadvāja.

Then, once Vitatha was born, Bharata went to heaven.

And having consecrated Vitatha, Bharadvāja went to the forest.

Vitatha's heir was Bhuvamanyu.

And these four sons born of Bhuvamanyu were like the great elements:

Bṛhatkṣatra, Mahāvīrya, Nara, and the valorous Gārgya.

Nara's son was Sāṃkṛti; his sons were two of great might:

Varavī and Rantideva, and they are remembered as Kātyāyanas.

Among the heirs of Gārgya was the wise Śibi;

from him the Gārgyas are remembered as Śaibyas, twice-born arisen from kṣatriyas.

Mahāvīrya's son was the wise Purukṣaya by name.

His wife Viśālā gave birth to that triad of sons.

She gave birth to Traiyākṣaṇa, Puṣkarin, and thirdly Kapi.

These three great seers are indeed said to be the foremost among the Kapis.

The Gārgyas, Saṃkṛtis, and Kāpyas were twice-born sprung from kṣatriyas;

resorting to the side of the Āṅgirasas, all became possessed of great power.

The heir of Bṛhatkṣatra was the righteous Suhotra;

and the heir of Suhotra was named Hastin.

By him this city named after an elephant [Gajasamāhvaya] was founded in ancient times.

And there were three heirs of Hastin of supreme renown.

And the sons of Ajamīḍha were born, O upholder of the Kuru lineage,

righteous sons born at the end of the aged king's exceedingly great ascetic heat,

increasing the lineage through the grace of Bharadvāja.

To Ajamīḍha by Keśinī, a son, Kaṇva, was born.

His son was Medhātithi; from him the Kāṇvāyanas are remembered.

And that Vitatha fathered five sons indeed: / Suhotra, Sutahotṛ, Gaya, and likewise Garga.

And the righteous son of Suhotra was named Cyavana.

And the noble Kapila was one of the two sons of Sutahotṛ, / and the mighty Kāśika, and the lord Gṛtsamati.

Likewise, the sons of Gṛtsamati became brahmins, kṣatriyas, and vaiśyas. / Kāśya’s descendants were the Kāśis, O king, and his son was Dīrghatapas.

The learned Dhanvantari was the son of Dīrghatapas. / And the son of Dhanvantari was renowned as Ketumant.

Then the heroic son of Ketumant was remembered as Bhīmaratha. / Bhīmaratha’s son was Divodāsa, lord of subjects, / renowned as Divodāsa, the destroyer of all rakṣases.

At that very time, O king, a rākṣasa named Kṣemaka / settled the deserted city of Vārāṇasī.

For it had been cursed by the wise and noble Nikumbha, / [saying] that it would be empty for a thousand years, O bull among men.

As soon as it was cursed, Divodāsa, lord of subjects, / founded a delightful city on the Gomatī at the edge of his territory.

Previously, however, Vārāṇasī belonged to Bhadraśreṇya,

born in the lineage of Yadu and devoted to ascetic heat.

Having slain the hundred sons of Bhadraśreṇya, all supreme archers, / Divodāsa, lord of subjects, established his dwelling.

And the son of Divodāsa was the heroic king Pratardana. / Pratardana had two sons: Vatsa and Bhārgava.

And Prince Alarka was a king obedient [to dharma] on earth; / that lord of the earth took the inheritance of the Haihaya.

He reclaimed the ancestral inheritance seized by force by Divodāsa. / In his lineage arose Suhotra, a supremely righteous king. / For by Durdama, the noble son of Bhadraśreṇya, / he, as a child, had been spared out of pity by Divodāsa.

A king named Aṣṭāratha was indeed the son of Bhīmaratha; / he struck down his young sons, O descendant of Bharata, / as a kṣatriya seeking to put an end to the enmity, O great king.

While thus slaying his sons, he too met his demise.

Alarka, the king of Kāśi, was devoted to the brahmins and true to his vows. / Concerning King Alarka, an ancient verse is sung: / “For sixty thousand years and sixty hundreds of years,

he held a very great kingdom, endowed with beauty and youth.”

Endowed with beauty, the upholder of the Kāśi lineage was young; / by the grace of Lopāmudrā, he attained the highest lifespan.

At the end of his life, the mighty-armed king, having slain the rākṣasa Kṣemaka, / settled the delightful city of Vārāṇasī.

The heir of Alarka was the renowned Kṣema, / the ruler named Kṣemaka; / the son of Kṣemaka indeed / ... of Kṣema, the son was Ketumant, and from him arose Varṣaketu.

The heir of Varṣaketu was the lord of subjects named Vibhu. / Ānarta was the son of Vibhu, and from him arose Sukumāra.

The son of Sukumāra was the great chariot-warrior Satyaketu. / His son was a king of great glory, supremely righteous, / a ruler named Karantu; he had two sons, / devoted to the brahmins, endowed with truth: Bhārga and Vatsa. / From Vatsa came Vatsabhūmi, and from Bhārgava, Bhārgabhūmi.

These, however, were the sons of Aṅgiras born in the lineage of Bhṛgu, / brahmins, kṣatriyas, vaiśyas, and śūdras, O bull among the Bharatas.

They remained steadfast through their deeds rooted in ascetic heat, O upholder of the Kuru lineage.

Suhotra’s son was Bṛhat; Bṛhat had three sons: / Ajamīḍha, Dvimīḍha, and the powerful Purumīḍha.

Ajamīḍha had three renowned wives: / Nīlī, Keśinī, and the excellent woman Dhūminī.

To Ajamīḍha by Keśinī was born the majestic Jahnu, / who performed the great sacrifice, the great soma session Sarvamedha.

The Gaṅgā approached him out of longing for him as her husband when [the sacrifice] was underway, / and when he refused, the Gaṅgā flooded his sacrificial enclosure.

Seeing the sacrificial area flooded on all sides by her, / the son of Suhotra, enraged, said to Gaṅgā, O best of the Bharatas:

“Here, gathering your waters in the three worlds, I drink them up; / O Gaṅgā, reap the immediate fruit of this insolence!”

Then, seeing the Gaṅgā swallowed, the noble great seers / brought the fortunate Jāhnavī [to him] to be his daughter.

Jahnu married Kāverī, the daughter of Yuvanāśva, / half of whose body was later turned into a river by the curse of Gaṅgā.

Jahnu’s beloved son was the powerful Ajaka; / the heir of Ajaka was Balākāśva, lord of the earth.

His son was Kuśika, who was devoted to hunting; / that king grew up along with forest-dwelling Pahlavas.

The powerful Kuśika performed ascetic heat, saying: “May I obtain a son equal to Indra!” / Out of fear, Śakra approached and was born as him.

He became King Gādhi, Kauśika, who was Maghavat himself. / And Viśvāmitra, the son of Gādhi, was a king and [known as] Viśvaratha.

There were also Viśvajit and Viśvakṛt, and likewise Satyavatī, O king; / from Ṛcīka, Jamadagni was born upon Satyavatī.

The sons of Viśvāmitra are remembered as Devarāta and the others, / renowned in the three worlds; hear their names from me:

Devaśravas and Kati, from whom the Kātyāyanas are remembered; / Śālāpati, Hiraṇyākṣa, Reṇu whose [daughter was] Reṇukā,

Sāṅkṛtya, Gālava, O king, and the renowned Maudgalya; / their noble Kauśika gotras are famous:

Pāṇins, Babhrus, and likewise the Dhānañjayas, / the Pārthivas, Devarātas, Sālaṅkāyanas, and Sauśravas,

Lohityas, and Yamadūtas, and the Kārīṣayas are remembered; / the famous Kauśikas, O king, and other Saindhavāyanas; / and many Kauśikas are remembered who intermarry with other seers.

The alliance between the Paurava and the brahmin seer Kauśika, / of brahmin and kṣatriya lineage, is renowned in this dynasty, O great king.

Among the sons of Viśvāmitra, Śunaḥśepa is remembered as the eldest; / being a Bhārgava, that best of munis attained the status of a Kauśika.

Śabara and others were the seven other sons of Viśvāmitra, / and from Viśvāmitra was also born Aṣṭaka, the son of Dṛṣadvatī.

The son of Aṣṭaka was Lauhi; the clan of Jahnu has been told by me. / Hear now, O bull of the Bharatas, another lineage descending from Ajamīḍha.

From Ajamīḍha, upon Nīlī, Suśānti was born; / Purujāti was Suśānti's son, and Bāhyāśva from Purujāti.

The sons of Bāhyāśva were five, equal to the immortals: / Mudgala, Sṛñjaya, King Bṛhadiṣu,

the valorous Yavīnara, and Kṛmilāśva as the fifth. / These five were famed: "They are capable of protecting the realms."

Know the Pāñcālas to be [sprung] from these five, prosperous and filled with holy people; / they are famed as Pāñcālas because they were capable of protecting them.

The heir of Mudgala was Maudgalya of exceedingly great fame. / All these great-souled ones were twice-born endowed with the qualities of kṣatriyas; / these Kaṇvas and Maudgalyas resorted to the side of the Āṅgirasas. / The eldest son of Mudgala was a brahmin seer of exceedingly great ascetic heat, / from whom Indrasenā conceived Vadhryaśva in her womb.

From Vadhryaśva a pair of twins was born upon Menakā, so goes the tradition:

Divodāsa, a royal seer, and the renowned Ahalyā.

Ahalyā gave birth to the heir of Śaradvat,

Śatānanda, best of seers; and his son of exceedingly great fame

was named Satyadhṛti, a master of the science of archery.

When that Satyadhṛti saw an apsaras before him,

his seed was discharged into a clump of reeds, and a pair of twins was produced.

Śaṃtanu, who had gone hunting, took them up out of compassion [kṛpā].

Therefore he is remembered as Kṛpa, and likewise Gautami as Kṛpī.

These are declared to be Śāradvatas; they are remembered as Gautamas.

Hereafter I shall declare the progeny of Divodāsa.

The heir of Divodāsa was King Mitrayu, a brahmin seer.

From him came Soma of the Maitreyas; thence the Maitreyas are remembered.

These are detailed as clans endowed with kṣatriya nature, but belonging to the Bhārgavas.

The son of the great-souled Sṛñjaya was Pañcavana; / the son of Pañcavana was Somadatta, lord of the earth.

The heir of Somadatta was Sahadeva of great fame; / and the son of Sahadeva was the king named Somaka.

When the line had diminished, Somaka was born once more from Ajamīḍha.

The son of Somaka was Jantu, who had a hundred sons; / the youngest of them was Pṛṣata, the lord and father of Drupada.

From Drupada came Dhṛṣṭadyumna, and his son was Dhṛṣṭaketu.

These great-souled ones are remembered as the Somakas, born of Ajamīḍha;

the Somaka status belonged to the sons of the great-souled Ajamīḍha.

The chief queen of Ajamīḍha was Dhūminī, who was eager for a son; / she was the third mother among your ancestors, O lord of the earth.

Desiring a son, concentrated in the observance of vows, that lady / performed ascetic heat for a hundred years, exceedingly difficult for women to endure.

Having offered into the fire according to rule, eating pure and measured food, / she slept on the very kuśa grass of the agnihotra, O Janamejaya.

Ajamīḍha united with that queen Dhūminī; / she gave birth to Ṛkṣa, smoke-colored and fair to look upon.

From Ṛkṣa was born Saṃvaraṇa, and from Saṃvaraṇa, Kuru, / who, setting out from Prayāga, established Kurukṣetra.

Indeed, that fortunate one [practiced tapas] for very many years,

and while he was performing ascetic heat, Śakra appeared to him as a granter of boons.

[It became] holy and delightful, frequented by performers of holy deeds; / exceedingly great is his lineage, by whose name you are the Kauravas.

And Kuru had four sons: Sudhanvan, Sudhanus, / the mighty-armed Parīkṣit, and the foremost Arimejaya.

The heir of Sudhanvan is remembered as the wise Suhotra.

His son was King Cyavana, skilled in dharma and artha.

Cyavana, having performed sacrifices and knowing dharma,

begot a famous son, a king and friend of Indra,

the hero known as Vasu, who moved through the sky and was the Uparicara king of the Cedis.

From Caidyoparicara, Girikā gave birth to seven sons: