Vishnupurana 4.2.3
The Vishnu Purana: A System of Hindu Mythology and Tradition 4.2.3
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4.2.3
The son of Nabhága was Nábhága; his son was Ambarísha; his son was Virúpa; his son was Prishadaśwa; his son was Rathínara, of whom it is sung, "These, who were Kshatriyas by birth, the heads of the family of Rathínara, were called Ángirasas (or sons of Angiras), and were Brahmans as well as Kshatriyas."
4.2.3.n1
But who is Nabhága? for, as above observed, c. 1. n. 2, the son of the Manu is Nabhága-nedisht́a, and there is in that case no such person as Nabhága: on the other hand, if Nabhága and Nedisht́a he distinct names, we have ten sons of Vaivaswata, as in the Bhágavata. The descendants of Nedisht́a, through his son Nabhága, have been already specified; and after all, therefore, we must consider the text as intending a distinct person by the name Nabhága; and such a name does occur in the lists of the Agni, Kúrma, Matsya, and Bhágavata, unquestionably distinct from that with which it is also sometimes compounded. The Bhágavata repeats the legend of the Aitareya Bráhmańa, with some additions, and says that Nabhága having protracted his period of study beyond the usual age, his brothers appropriated his share of the patrimony. On his applying for his portion, they consigned their father to him, by whose advice he assisted the descendants of Angiras in a sacrifice, and they presented him with all the wealth that was left at its termination. Rudra claimed it as his; and Nabhága acquiescing, the god confirmed the gift, by which he became possessed of an equivalent for the loss of territory. Most of the authorities recognise but one name here, variously read either Nabhága or Nábhága, the father of Ambarísha. The Váyu, as well as the Bhágavata, concurs with the text.
4.2.3.n2
The Bhágavata considers Ambarísha as a king, who reigned apparently on the banks of the Yamuná. He is more celebrated as a devout worshipper of Vishńu, whose discus protected him from the wrath of Durvásas, and humbled that choleric saint, who was a portion of Śiva: a legend which possibly records a struggle between two sects, in which the votaries of Vishńu, headed by Ambarísha, triumphed.
4.2.3.n3
The Agni, Bráhma, and Matsya stop with Ambarísha. The Váyu and Bhágavata proceed as in the text, only the latter adds to Virúpa, Ketumat and Śambhu.
4.2.3.n4
The same verse is cited in the Váyu, and affords an instance of a mixture of character, of which several similar cases occur subsequently. Kshatriyas by birth, become Brahmans by profession; and such persons are usually considered as Ángirasas, followers or descendants of Angiras, who may have founded a school of warrior-priests. This is the obvious purport of the legend of Nabhága's assisting the sons of Angiras to complete their sacrifice, referred to in a former note, although the same authority has devised a different explanation. Rathínara (or Rathítara, as read in some copies, as well as by the Bhágavata and Váyu) being childless, Angiras begot on his wife sons radiant with divine glory, who as the sons of the monarch by his wife were Kshatriyas, but were Brahmans through their actual father. This however is an afterthought, not warranted by the memorial verse cited in our text.
Linked texts (1)
- Viṣṇupurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit