Ancient Indian Historical Tradition c16.47

c16.47

Purukutsa and his son Trasadasyu were kings of Ayodhyā. The Rigveda (iv, 42, 8, 9) mentions a king Trasadasyu, son of Purukutsa, who is a different and later person. The former Purukutsa was son of Māndhātṛ, as the Aikṣvāku genealogies show; the latter is called Daurgaha and Gairikṣita,⁵ ‘son or descendant of Durgaha and Girikṣit’. The former Trasadasyu was prior to Bharata as the synchronisms in chapter XIII show; the latter Trasadasyu was contemporary with Aśvamedha Bhārata⁶ and is praised by Sobhari Kāṇva;⁷ Aśvamedha was a descendant of Bharata, and the Kāṇvas sprang from Bharata’s descendant Ajamīḍha as will be shown in chapter XIX; hence the latter Trasadasyu was far later than the former. There were thus two Purukutsas with sons named Trasadasyu. Those of Ayodhyā were well known, as even the Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa shows.¹ Those in the Rigveda were apparently Pūru kings ² and probably belonged to some minor dynasty descended from Bharata; and are unknown to kṣatriya fame. There was no Ikṣvāku line of Pūru princes.