Harivamsha 23

English (machine translation) 23

Language: English

23.1

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.

23.2

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.

23.3

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

23.4

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

23.5

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

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Saṃpāti was his son.

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And of Saṃpāti, Rahasyātī.

23.6

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

23.7

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.

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

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

23.8

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

23.9

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

23.10

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.

23.11

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.

23.12

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,

23.13

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

23.14

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.

23.15

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

23.16

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

23.17

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

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

23.18

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

23.19

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

23.20

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

23.21

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

23.22

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.

23.23

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

23.24

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

23.25

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.

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Learn from me of the sons of Śibi.

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

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Vṛṣadarbha, Suvīra, Kaikeya, and Madraka.

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Their prosperous realms were the Kaikeyas and the Madras,

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and the Vṛṣadarbhas and Suvīras.

23.26

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

23.27

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

23.28

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

23.29

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.

23.30

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.'

23.31

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.

23.32

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

23.33

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

23.34

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

23.35

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

23.36

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

23.37

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

23.38

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.

23.39

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.

23.40

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.

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

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The son of Bṛhaddarbha was the king named Bṛhanmanas.

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

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Yaśodevī and Sattvī; by them the lineage branches.

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

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

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

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The son of Dhṛtavrata was Satyakarma, of great vows.

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And Satyakarma's son was the charioteer Adhiratha,

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

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

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

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

23.41

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

23.42

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

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

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Ṛceyu's wife was Jvalanā, daughter of Takṣaka.

23.43

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

23.44

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,

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

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

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

23.45

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

23.46

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

23.47

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

23.48

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

23.49

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

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To King Duḥṣanta a bodiless voice spoke:

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

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Support the son, Duḥṣanta; do not disdain Śakuntalā.

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

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

23.50

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

23.51

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

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

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and the transfer of dharma by the Maruts to Bharata.

23.52

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

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

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And having consecrated Vitatha, Bharadvāja went to the forest.

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Vitatha's heir was Bhuvamanyu.

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

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Bṛhatkṣatra, Mahāvīrya, Nara, and the valorous Gārgya.

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

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Varavī and Rantideva, and they are remembered as Kātyāyanas.

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Among the heirs of Gārgya was the wise Śibi;

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

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Mahāvīrya's son was the wise Purukṣaya by name.

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His wife Viśālā gave birth to that triad of sons.

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

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

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

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

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The heir of Bṛhatkṣatra was the righteous Suhotra;

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and the heir of Suhotra was named Hastin.

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

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And there were three heirs of Hastin of supreme renown.

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

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

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increasing the lineage through the grace of Bharadvāja.

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

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

23.53

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

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And the righteous son of Suhotra was named Cyavana.

23.54

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

23.55

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

23.56

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

23.57

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.

23.58

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

23.59

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.

23.60

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

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Previously, however, Vārāṇasī belonged to Bhadraśreṇya,

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

23.61

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

23.62

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

23.63

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

23.64

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.

23.65

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.

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

23.66

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,

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

23.67

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

23.68

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

23.69

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.

23.70

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

23.71

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.

23.72

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

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

23.73

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

23.74

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

23.75

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

23.76

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.

23.77

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

23.78

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

23.79

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

23.80

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

23.81

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

23.82

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

23.83

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.

23.84

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

23.85

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

23.86

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

23.87

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

23.88

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

23.89

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

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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.

23.91

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

23.92

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

23.93

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

23.94

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.

23.95

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

23.96

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

23.97

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

23.98

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.

23.99

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.

Linked texts (1)

Harivaṃśa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit