Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency, Vol. I, Part I: History of Gujarat c5.s3.4

c5.s3.4

The next Puránic legends relate to the establishment of the Yádava kingdom at Dwáriká. The founder and namegiver of the Yádava dynasty was Yadu of whose family the Puránas give very detailed information. The family seems to have split into several branches each taking its name from some prominent member, the chief of them being Vrishni, Kukkura, Bhoja, Sátvata, Andhaka, Madhu, Surasena, and Daśárha. Sátvata was thirty-seventh from Yadu and in his branch were born Devaki and Vasudeva, the parents of the great Yádava hero and god Krishna. It was in Krishna's time that the Yádavas had to leave their capital Mathurá and come to Dwáriká. This was the result of a joint invasion of Mathurá on one side by a legendary Deccan hero Kálayavana and on the other by Jarásandha the powerful king of Magadha or Behar, who, to avenge the death of his brother-in-law¹ Kansa killed by Krishna in fulfilment of a prophecy, is said to have invaded the Yádava territory eighteen times.