Ancient Indian Historical Tradition c14.s3.57

c14.s3.57

From Tamsu to Duṣyanta there is great uncertainty. The chief texts, the Vāyu, Matsya, Brahma and Harivaṃśa, have a certain seeming agreement, yet really supply no intelligible pedigree, as will appear if we try to construct one from their statements. All that seems clear is that there was a remarkable woman Ilinā and that her grandson was Duṣyanta.¹ The Mahābhārata accounts turn her into a king Ilina. Queens were sometimes turned into kings mistakenly,² but I am not aware of any instance of the reverse; so that these accounts appear to be incorrect, and the genealogical verse quoted is not found in these Puranas. The other Puranas which are later have connected up a pedigree, but differ incompatibly and omit Ilinā altogether. The truth is, there is a serious gap in the genealogy here, as will appear from the discussion of the synchronisms in chapter XIII.