Ancient Indian Historical Tradition c18.133

c18.133

Pratīpa’s successor according to the genealogies was Śantanu,⁸ called Śantanu generally in the Mahābhārata and Puranas, and said to have been his son; but this is an instance of the omission of unimportant names, for both brahmanic and ordinary traditions assert that Śantanu had an elder brother Devāpi,⁹ who was well known and is often alluded to.¹⁰ This Devāpi is mentioned in Rigveda x, 98 and is there called Ārṣiṣeṇa,¹¹ ‘son of Ṛṣiṣeṇa’. It is clear therefore that Devāpi and Śantanu were not sons of Pratīpa but grandsons, Ṛṣiṣeṇa being father of Devāpi if not of Śantanu also, and that, as Devāpi declined the throne and Śantanu succeeded Pratīpa, Rṣiṣeṇa had probably died early and so is omitted in the genealogies.¹ Bhīṣma therefore as Śantanu’s son was great grandson of Pratīpa.²