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Ancient Indian Historical Tradition c22: Chapter XVII. The Bhārgavas

Ancient Indian Historical Tradition c22

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Chapter XVII. The Bhārgavas

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The Bhārgavas claimed descent from the primaeval rishi Bhṛgu, and they are also called Bhṛgus indiscriminately; thus Cyavana is called Bhṛgu¹ and Bhṛgu's son;² his descendant Ṛcīka is equally called Bhṛgu³ and Bhṛgu's son;⁴ and Ṛcīka's grandson Rāma Jāmadagnya is also called Bhṛgu⁵ and Bhṛgu's son.⁶ This general use of the name Bhṛgu produces great confusion, if it is taken to denote one and the same rishi, but when applied to a rishi it means simply a Bhṛgu, a Bhārgava.

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¹ MBh xiii, 51, 2685.

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² Id. iii, 122, 10316.

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³ Vā 65, 93; 91, 93. Bd iii, 66, 57.

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⁴ MBh xiii, 56, 2910. Vā 91, 67–8, 71: &c.

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⁵ MBh vii, 70, 2435.

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⁶ See Sörensen's Index, Rāma 1.

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The vaṃśa of the Bhārgavas is set out in Vāyu 65, 72–96, Brahmāṇḍa iii, 1, 73–100 and Matsya 195, 11–46. The first two give the best genealogical account; the third is fullest as regards names and gotras. Brief accounts are also found in the Mahābhārata.⁷ The Vāyu and Brahmāṇḍa texts collated are treated here as the genealogy. It shows that real tradition has been mixed up with mythology, Uśanas-Śukra is identified with the planet Venus, and among Bhṛgu's offspring are included gods and semi-divine personages. The Matsya account says Bhṛgu married Puloman's daughter Divyā, and by her the twelve Bhṛgu gods,⁸ Cyavana and Apnavāna; Apnavāna's son was Aurva and his son was Jamadagni. The best Mahābhārata account⁹ says Bhṛgu had two sons, Śukra-Kavi-Graha¹⁰ who was guru of the Daityas and gods (sura), and Cyavana; Cyavana married Manu's daughter Āruṣī and had a son Aurva; Aurva's son was Ṛcīka, who had a hundred sons, the eldest of whom was Jamadagni; and Jamadagni had four sons of whom Rāma was the youngest. The other Mahābhārata passages will be considered separately.

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⁷ i, 5 to 9; 66, 2605–13: and xiii, 85, 4145–6 gives a curt and inaccurate summary.

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⁸ Alluded to, Vā 64, 4; Bd ii, 38, 4.

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⁹ i, 66, 2605–13.

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¹⁰ Confusing him with the planet.

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The foregoing versions give the earliest Bhṛgus as Uśanas-Śukra and Cyavana, as brothers. Both are often spoken of as Bhārgavas.¹ The former is sometimes called Kavi,² sometimes made distinct from Kavi,³ and more often made Kavi's son,⁴ often Kāvya⁵ and sometimes best of the Kavis,⁶ so that tradition places Kavi above him. Moreover it will be seen that he is placed later than Cyavana by tradition, because Cyavana is connected with Manu's son Śaryāti⁷ and Śukra with Yayāti, who was later. Hence the two most ancient Bhārgavas were Cyavana, who is called Cyavāna in Vedic literature, and Uśanas-Śukra.

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¹ For Cyavana, see *ante*. For Uśanas-Śukra, MBh i, 81, 3387 : xii, 291, 10665 : xiii, 98, 4687-8 : &c. Mat 249, 4 f. Br 73, 31, 34.

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² MBh i, 76, 3196. Pad vi, 8, 46.

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³ MBh i, 66, 2606 : xiii, 85, 4150.

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⁴ MBh i, 66, 2606 : 76, 3204; Vedārth on Rigv viii, 84.

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⁵ MBh i, 85, 3527 : xii, 291, 10660 : xiii, 98, 4741. Mat 25, 9. Pad vi, 8, 47. See *Kāvya*, Vedic Index i, p. 153.

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⁶ Kavi-vara, the genealogy. *Kavīndra*, MBh xiii, 98, 4690.

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⁷ The connexion of Cyavana with Nahuṣa in MBh xiii, 51 is a manifest late brahmanical fable.

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Cyavana, it is often said, married Sukanyā, daughter of Manu's son, king Śaryāti,⁸ and sacrificed for him.⁹ He is also connected with Manu's other son Pṛsadhra.¹⁰ His position is therefore clearly fixed, though late, and especially brahmanic, tales wrongly introduce him as existing at other periods;¹¹ and he is made the subject of fable even in the Rigveda.¹²

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⁸ MBh iii, 121, 10313 ; 122, 10320-44 ; 124, 10371 f. : iv, 21, 650-1 : v, 116, 3970. Vā 86, 23. Bd iii, 61, 19. Pad iv, 14, 49 f. Rām v, 24, 11. Āruṣī (*ante*) may mean Aurva's mother.

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⁹ MBh xiv, 9, 249. Cf. Aitareya Brāhm viii, 4, 21.

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¹⁰ Vā 86, 1-2. Bd iii, 61, 1-2. (Bhāg ix, 2, 3-15.)

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¹¹ As with king Kuśika of Kānyakubja, MBh xiii, 52 to 56: in the Rāmāyaṇa story of Sagara's birth (i, 70, 31-2 : ii, 110, 20): in Rāma's reign, Pad iv, 14, 26 ; Rām vii, 60.

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¹² As that the Aśvins restored him to youth, Vedic Index i, 264; MBh iii, 123; Bhāg ix, 3, 2-17. The fable shows he was far more ancient than the hymns.

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Uśanas-Śukra, for he had both names,¹³ is generally connected with the Daityas, Dānavas and asuras, who meant originally tribes hostile to the Aryans, being called their guru,¹ ācārya,² upādhyāya,³ purohita,⁴ and yājaka.⁵ His intimate connexion with them is often alluded to.⁶ In later notices his position was improved and he became guru or ācārya of the gods (deva) as well as of the Daityas,⁷ and then more positively of the gods and asuras⁸—an impossible status. So he is called divine,⁹ but never, as far as I know, unequivocally teacher or priest of the gods alone. The change was manifestly in this direction, for it is incredible that it could have been the reverse way, since the Daityas and Dānavas were metamorphosed into demons by later fancy; hence in the passages where he is called priest of the suras, ‘gods,’ also, the word sura has probably superseded asura sometimes. Why the change took place is not clear, but improvement may have been felt to be required after that metamorphosis and after the Bhārgavas became famous brahmans; and it is worthy of note that fables say Śiva took Kavi as his son (chapter XVI), and Umā prevented Śiva from slaying Uśanas, whence Uśanas became her son.¹⁰

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¹³ MBh i, 65, 2544 ; 76, 3204 ; 85, 3527 : xii, 291, 10662, 10687-90 : 294, 10760. Mat 25, 25.

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¹ MBh i, 66, 2607; 81, 3367. Mat 30, 9. Br 95, 26–8; 146, 24–5. Pad vi, 4, 10.

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² Vā 62, 80; 97, 94 f.: 98, 27. Bḍ ii, 36, 94: iii, 72, 95 f. Kūr i, 19, 17. Pad vi, 4, 14.

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³ MBh i, 65, 2544: cf. 78, 3310.

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⁴ Mat 25, 9. MBh i, 76, 3188.

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⁵ Vā 53, 80. Bḍ ii, 24, 89. Lg i, 61, 17. Hv 221, 12200.

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⁶ With Vṛtra, MBh xii, 280, 10004, 10012. With Bali, Br 73, 24, 31, 36; MBh xiii, 98, 4687. Taught Prahlāda, MBh xii, 139, 5203. Against the gods, Pad vi, 211, 20; Viṣ i, 17, 48; MBh xii, 291, 10660–5, with a fable to explain it.

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⁷ MBh i, 66, 2607.

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⁸ Line 7 of the genealogy. Viṣ i, 12, 97. Hv 2, 66.

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⁹ See chap. XVI, but Daitya in Mat. MBh xii, 291, 10660. He is made father of Devī, wife of Varuṇa, MBh i, 66, 2616.

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¹⁰ MBh xii, 291, 10693. Bḍ iii, 10, 17–18. Vā 72, 15–16. Br 34, 90–1. Lg ii, 13, 6.

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His original position comes out clearly from stories of the war between the devas (gods) and asuras.¹¹ He was on the asuras’ side and restored the slain asuras to life by means of a potent spell called mṛta-sañjīvanī,¹² which he had obtained from Śiva¹³ and which the devas did not know.¹⁴ The devas’ priest Bṛhaspati could not restore the slain devas to life, until (according to one version ¹) his son Kaca succeeded by stratagem in learning the spell from Śukra. Then the devas got it and vanquished Śukra and the asuras.²

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¹¹ MBh i, 76, 3187 to 78, 3281. Mat 25, 6 to 27, 3; 47, 59–234. Bḍ iii, 72, 92 to 73, 69. Vā 97, 91 to 98, 68. Śukra among the asuras, Bṛhaspati among the devas, MBh xv, 28, 753.

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¹² Also Br 95, 26, 30.

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¹³ Also Lg i, 35, 16–17, 25: Pad vi, 146, 3.

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¹⁴ Also Br 95, 26.

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¹ MBh i, 76. Mat 25.

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² Also Ag 240, 1.

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The genealogy says Sukra's wife was the pitṛ-kanyā Go,³ and they had four sons, Tvaṣṭṛ, Varūtrin, Śaṇḍa (or Saṇḍa) and Marka.⁴ Tvaṣṭṛ introduces, and passes off into, mythology, with his alleged two sons, Triśiras-Viśvarūpa and Viśvakarman. Varūtrin had three sons (named), who were priests of the Daityas,⁵ hostile to Indra, and so perished. Śaṇḍa and Marka were priests of the asuras according to Vedic literature,⁶ and are mentioned in the Puranas ⁷ in connexion with a great war between the devas and the Daityas and Dānavas. It is said that at the devas' entreaty they abandoned the Daityas and Dānavas and helped the devas, who then were victorious; and it appears to be said that Śukra then cursed them.⁸ Śukra had a daughter Devayānī by (the genealogy says) Jayantī; ⁹ and she married king Yayāti (p. 86). Tradition then leaves Uśanas-Śukra's lineage in this position, that it sank as the Daityas fell and disappeared in one way or another, and certainly no brahman family (as far as I am aware) claimed descent from him, unless possibly the Mārkaṇḍeyas were descended from Marka (see infra).

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³ Probably his sister, see pp. 69-70.

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⁴ MBh i, 65, 2544-5 names them differently, and says they were asura-yājakas.

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⁵ The Vā reading brahmiṣṭhā sura-yājakāḥ is clearly wrong and should be brahmiṣṭhāsura-yājakāḥ for brahmiṣṭhāḥ asura-yājakāḥ by double sandhi as is not uncommon in the Puranas. Cf. Viṣ i, 17, 48, where Bhārgavas were purohitas to the Daitya king Hiraṇyakaśipu.

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⁶ Both called asura-rakṣas, Śatapatha Brāhm iv, 2, 1, 4-6.

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⁷ They do not occur in the MBh. Saṇḍha in Pad v, 19, 272.

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⁸ Vā 97, 72, 86; 98, 63-7. Bḍ iii, 72, 72, 87; 73, 63-8. Mat 47, 54, 229-33.

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⁹ So also Vā 97, 149-54; 98, 20: Bḍ iii, 72, 150-6; 73, 19; Mat 47, 114-21, 186. These say Jayantī was Indra's daughter.

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It must be noticed that Cyavana's family and Uśanas-Śukra's family appear to have occupied different regions. Cyavana is always connected with the west of India, the country around the Gulf of Cambay,¹⁰ in or near Śaryāti's territory Ānarta (Gujarat) as shown by the story of his marrying Sukanyā, and by the statement that he performed austerities near the Vaidūrya Mts (the west portion of the Satpura range) and the R. Narmadā.¹ Uśanas-Śukra is connected rather with the central region of N. India, for Yayāti king of Pratiṣṭhāna (Allahabad) met his daughter Devayānī near his own territory and married her;² and Kapālamocana on the Sarasvatī is called his tīrtha.³ Cyavana’s descendants remained connected with west India,⁴ and when the Haihayas dominated that region and the Śaryāta kingdom perished (p. 98), they became associated with the Haihayas. It is they who produced the great Bhārgava family, that has now to be considered.

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¹⁰ Later passages connect 'Cyavana' with other places, as noticed above; and MBh iii, 89, 8365.

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¹ MBh iii, 122, 10316 with 121, 10310–13; 124, 10374–7. Pad iv, 14, 12–26, 46–53; 16, 3, connecting him with the R. Payoṣṇī (Tapti). Cf. also MBh iii, 102, 8740.

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² Also Br 146, 2–4: Mat 27, 12–15; 30, 4–5.

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³ MBh ix, 40, 2249–51, 2262.

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⁴ MBh iii, 118, 10223 and context. Brahmanical fables about Cyavana, MBh xiii, 50 to 56.

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Two sons are given to Cyavana and Sukanyā, Apnavāna and Dadhīca. Apnavāna is mentioned in the Rigveda,⁵ and his name is corrupted in the Puranas to Āpnuvāna,⁶ Āpravāna,⁷ Ātmavāna ⁸ and Ātmavant.⁹ The Matsya account wrongly makes Cyavana and Apnavāna brothers, because Apnavāna’s wife Ruci has the patronymic Nāhuṣi, which means no doubt that she was daughter of the Aila king Nahuṣa, so that he would have been a younger contemporary of Nahuṣa and therefore a descendant rather than brother of Cyavana. Dadhīca is hopelessly enveloped in fable.¹⁰ A son Sārasvata is assigned to him, of whom a fable is narrated.¹¹ Another account gives another son, Pramati, to Cyavana,¹² but the connexion has been greatly contracted as will be explained.

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⁵ See Vedic Index. Not in MBh.

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⁶ Mat 195, 15, 17, 29, 32, 35.

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⁷ In the Bḍ genealogy.

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⁸ In the Vā genealogy.

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⁹ Vā 59, 96. Bḍ ii, 32, 104. Mat 145, 98. Pad vi, 82, 4.

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¹⁰ Fables, MBh ix, 52, 2929–60: xii, 344, 13211–12.

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¹¹ MBh ix, 52, 2931–49, 2960–77.

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¹² MBh i, 5, 870–1; 8, 939.

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The genealogy says Apnavāna’s son was Ūrva, but it has contracted the pedigree, because, as the following account shows, Ūrva was later and therefore was a descendant.¹³

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¹³ So MBh xiii, 4, 207 calls Ūrva’s son Ṛcīka ‘son of Cyavana’.

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A notice of these Bhārgavas is given in two accounts. One says ¹⁴—The Bhṛgus or Bhārgavas were priests to king Kṛtavīrya (of the Haihayas) and he bestowed great wealth on them. After his death the princes of his family demanded it back, but the Bhārgavas refused to give it up. They used violence to the Bhārgavas, and the Bhārgavas fled to other countries for safety. One of the Bhārgava wives gave birth to a son then who was called Aurva (p. 68). The other account says,¹ in prophetic form—The kṣatriyas fell out with the Bhārgavas and slew them, and Bhārgava Ūrva² was born then. His son was Ṛcīka. Both accounts³ say that the son born then cherished great wrath against the adversaries but stayed it awhile. That was natural. The Bhārgavas were filled with anger against the Haihayas, yet could not contend successfully against them. They could look for revenge only through force of arms, and further notices show that they turned their thoughts to arms and sought alliance with kṣatriyas in marriage. Ṛcīka was a famous rishi.⁴

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¹⁴ MBh i, 178, 6802–15.

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¹ MBh xiii, 56, 2905–7.

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² Ūrva is also mentioned, Hv 46, 2527; Pad v, 38, 74.

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³ MBh i, 178, 6815 to 180, 6855 : xiii, 56, 2908–10.

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⁴ MBh iii, 115, 11046, 11055 : xii, 49, 1721, 1731. Vā 91, 66–8. Bd iii, 66, 37–8. Br 10, 29–30. Hv 27, 1431–2. Viṣ iv, 7, 5–6. Rām i, 61, 16–17.

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Thus Ṛcīka Aurva became skilled in archery.⁵ He sought in marriage Satyavatī daughter of Gādhi or Gāthin, king of Kānyakubja. Gādhi did not relish his suit and tried to evade it by demanding a gift of a thousand peculiarly coloured horses, it is said, but Ṛcīka supplied them and gained her.⁶ The genealogy says Ṛcīka had many sons, of whom Jamadagni was the eldest.⁷ None of the others are named, but perhaps Ajīgarta was one, for his son Śunaḥśepa was a Bhārgava and was adopted by Viśvāmitra.⁸ Jamadagni was trained to archery and arms,⁹ and allied himself with the royal hou e of Ayodhyā, for he married Reṇukā daughter of Reṇu, a junior rājā of that line;¹ but he was a peaceful rishi and left martial exploits alone.²

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⁵ MBh xiii, 56, 2910. Cf. Rām i, 75, 21–2. MBh xii, 234, 8607 and xiii, 137, 6267 say Dyutimant king of Śālva gave his kingdom to Ṛcīka.

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⁶ MBh iii, 115, 11044–54 : v, 118, 4005–7 : xii, 49, 1721–2 : xiii, 4, 205–19; 56, 2913–14. Rām i, 34, 7. Also in Kānyakubja genealogies, p. 99.

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⁷ So also MBh i, 66, 2611–13 : iii, 115, 11067 : xii, 49, 1744.

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⁸ See JRAS, 1917, pp. 58–61. Bd iii, 66, 63–7. Vā 91, 92–6. Br 10, 64–6. Hv 27, 1470–2; 32, 1774. Br 10, 53–4 and Hv 27, 1456–7 wrongly make Śunaḥśepa son of Ṛcīka and younger brother of Jamadagni; and so alluded to in MBh xii, 294, 10759. Viṣ iv, 7, 17. Bhāg ix, 16, 30, 32.

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⁹ MBh iii, 115, 11069–70 : xiii, 56, 2910–12. Cf. Rām i, 75, 22–3.

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¹ MBh iii, 99, 8658; 116, 11072-3: v, 116, 3972. See Kānyakubja genealogies, p. 99. Alluded to, Pad vi, 268, 8, 73-4; 269, 158. That was about the time of Satyavrata Triśaṅku’s exile; see p. 59 and JRAS, 1913, pp. 885-900. Fable, MBh xiii, 95; 96.

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² MBh iii, 116, 11071: xii, 49, 1744: xiii, 56, 2912.

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Jamadagni had four³ or five⁴ sons, of whom Rāma was the youngest and greatest.⁵ Rāma is always described as a great warrior, skilled in all weapons,⁶ especially in archery.⁷ Though a brahman, he is generally spoken of as virtually a kṣatriya,⁸ combining the two characters, *brahma-kṣatra*.⁹ The battle-axe is mentioned as his special weapon,¹⁰ whence he is sometimes called Paraśu-Rāma¹¹ in later writings, to distinguish him from Rāma of Ayodhyā, who is then called Rāmacandra.¹²

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³ MBh i, 66, 2612.

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⁴ MBh iii, 116, 11074, 11080, where their names are given in a fable of Rāma’s killing his mother.

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⁵ Bd iii, 21 to 47, 62, a long brahmanical fable about him.

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⁶ MBh i, 66, 2613: iii, 116, 11088: vii, 70, 2427. Ag 4, 13.

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⁷ Vā 91, 91. Bd iii, 66, 62-3. Br 10, 52-3. Hv 27, 1455.

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⁸ Hence perhaps he does not appear in the *Vedic Index*.

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⁹ So genealogy: also Vā 65, 94: Bd iii, 1, 98. *Brāhmaṇaṃ kṣatradharmāṇam*, MBh xiii, 56, 2914. Why Jamadagni’s uncle, the kṣatriya Viśvāmitra, became a brahman, and Jamadagni’s son Rāma became virtually a terrible kṣatriya, was explained by a fable about two *carus* given to Jamadagni’s and Viśvāmitra’s mothers; MBh iii, 115, 11055-67: xii, 49, 1722-44: xiii, 4, 220-46: and the Kānyakubja genealogies (p. 99): noticed, MBh xiii, 56, 2914-17.

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¹⁰ MBh i, 104, 4172: vii, 70, 2434: xii, 49, 1748-9: xiii, 14, 864. Hv 42, 2316; 96, 5302-4. Br 213, 116. Ag 4, 17.

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¹¹ Bd iii, 37, 15. Viṣ iv, 7, 16; 11, 7. Vedārth on Rigv i, 65.

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¹² Pad iv, 17, 14, 65: vi, 143, 4; 281, 25.

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These Aurvas lived in Madhyadeśa where they had fled and married,¹³ and the Haihaya king Arjuna Kārtavīrya is said in his conquests there to have molested Jamadagni. There was hostility, and Arjuna’s sons killed Jamadagni. Rāma in revenge killed Arjuna and also, it is said, many Haihayas (p. 151). The Haihayas pursued their devastating raids through N. India, until Sagara annihilated their power (p. 156). The brahmans confused all these occurrences in the fable that Rāma destroyed all kṣatriyas off the earth twenty-one times.¹ Consequently he is often styled the exterminator of the kṣatriyas.² But tradition, while apparently accepting that fable, redressed the honour of the kṣatriyas by two anachronistic fables, that Rāma challenged Rāma of Ayodhyā to fight and was defeated, and that he had a long contest with Bhīṣma also and was worsted (p. 72).

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¹³ Jamadagni lived on the Ganges’ bank, Pad vi, 268, 21. Bd iii, 26, 42-3; 45, 1-5 say on the R. Narmadā, a late brahmanical tale probably.

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¹ MBh i, 64, 2459–64; 104, 4172–6: iii, 115, 11033–8; 116, 11089 to 117, 10204: xii, 48, 1706; 49, 1750–78; 362, 13879: xiii, 14, 866: xiv, 29, 817–34. Pad vi, 268, 23–76. Br 213, 114–18. Ag 4, 12–19; Hv 42, 2317. Cf. MBh i, 66, 2613; 167, 6382; 188, 7047. Explained in chap. XXIV.

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² e. g. MBh i, 66, 2613: vii, 70, 2429–39: xii, 49, 1747, 1768–78.

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It is fabled that Rāma, after exterminating the kṣatriyas, sacrificed at Rāma-tīrtha with Kaśyapa as his upādhyāya and gave him the earth (or a golden altar) as his fee: whereupon Kaśyapa banished him to the southern ocean, and the ocean made the Śūrpāraka country (near Bombay) for Rāma, and Rāma dwelt there.³ Other stories say Rāma retired then to Mt. Mahendra,⁴ which is generally identified with the Mahendra range in Orissa: and he is fabled to have lived on there till long ages later.⁵ He is also fictitiously introduced into tales about later princes (e. g. pp. 67, 72).

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³ MBh iii, 85, 8185 (cf. 88, 8337): vii, 70, 2440–7: ix, 50, 2835–8: xii, 49, 1778–82: 234, 8600: xiii, 62, 3136. Cf. Br 213, 119; Hv 42, 2318–20; Pad vi, 268, 77. MBh iii, 117, 10204–10, which says the tīrtha is in Samantapañcaka, on the R. Sarasvatī (ix, 38, 2163; 45, 2501: Mat 7, 3) in Kurukṣetra (MBh i, 1, 12–13: ix, 54, 3008). Cf. MBh xiii, 14, 865–6; 84, 3960–2; 137, 6256: xiv, 29, 824–34: differently xiii, 85, 4183; 86, 4220.

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⁴ MBh iii, 99, 8681–2; 85, 8158; 117, 10209: v, 187, 7338: vii, 70, 2447: xii, 2, 59. Ag 4, 19–20. Br 213, 122. Hv 42, 2322. Pad i, 39, 14. Bd iii, 47, 39–62.

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⁵ MBh i, 130, 5118–20: iii, 99, 8681–12; 117, 10211–13: v, 176, 6054: xii, 2, 59 to 3, 107. Hv 42, 2321–2. See p. 152, note ².

c22.105

The next Bhārgava rishi mentioned is the Aurva who succoured Sagara of Ayodhyā⁶ and whose name was Agni.⁷ He is the last Aurva alluded to.

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⁶ Rām wrongly calls him Cyavana, see ante. P. 153.

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⁷ Mat 12, 40. Pad v, 8, 144. Lg i, 66, 15. Kūr i, 21, 5. VN 7, 60; 8, 8, 9. JRAS, 1919, pp. 364–5.

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About the same time lived king Vītahavya (or Vītihotra, p. 155), whom a Bhṛgu rishi saved from Pratardana of Kāśī by impliedly asserting that he was a brahman, and who consequently became a brahman.¹ His descendants are set out for fifteen generations. His son was Gṛtsamada, whose eleventh descendant was Pramati, whose son was Ruru, whose son was Śunaka, from whom came the Śaunakas.² It is not said which family he was adopted into, but it was the Bhārgavas, because the last portion of that genealogy, with all the preceding ancestry omitted, is given in an account which makes Pramati to be son of Cyavana,³ and because Vītahavya, Gṛtsamada and the Śaunakas are named in the Bhārgava vaṃśa.⁴ It is however said elsewhere that a Śunaka and the Śaunakas were descended from a Gṛtsamada, a son of Sunahotra, son of Kṣatravṛddha, who founded the Kāśi dynasty⁵ (p. 86). Both these stories make a Gṛtsamada ancestor of the Śaunakas. On the other hand, it is said there was a Gṛtsamada, who was son of Sunahotra by birth, was (or became) an Āṅgirasa, and afterwards became a Bhārgava of the Śaunaka gotra.⁶ It is said in the first story that Vītahavya's son Gṛtsamada is mentioned in the Rigveda,⁷ but this is inconsistent, because the above comment on the Rigveda means that the Śaunakas were a Bhārgava gotra before this Gṛtsamada's time, and he became virtually a descendant of Śunaka by the adoption into the Śaunakas. It appears that there were two Gṛtsamadas and two Śunakas, and therefore two Śaunaka gotras; and the others will be found among the kṣatriyan brahmans in chapter XXIII; hence there were numberless ‘Śaunakas’.

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¹ MBh xiii, 30, 1983–96.

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² Ibid. 1997–2006.

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³ MBh i, 5, 870–3; 8, 939–40. Hence Pramati is wrongly introduced at the earliest time in Mārk 114, 29 f.

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⁴ Mat 195, 18, 36, 39, 44–5. ‘Śaunaka’ is often mentioned, e.g. MBh i, 1, 2; Mat 1, 5; Pad v, 1, 11.

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⁵ Vā 92, 2–4. Bḍ iii, 67, 2–4. Br 11, 31–3. Hv 29, 1517–19.

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⁶ Anukramaṇī, introduction to Rigv ii, and Vedārth id. and on ix, 86.

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⁷ MBh xiii, 30, 1997–9.

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The only Śaunaka of importance with a personal name was Indrota, who is called Daivāpa in Vedic literature, that is, son of Devāpi Śaunaka. The story about him has been narrated above (p. 114) and fixes his time as that of Janamejaya II Pārikṣita. A Śaunaka was the chief of the rishis at the great sacrifice in Naimiṣa forest, to whom it is said the Mahābhārata⁸ was recited, and also the Matsya and other Puranas,⁹ in the reign of Adhisīmakṛṣṇa (p. 52).

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⁸ MBh i, 1, 2.

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⁹ Mat 1, 5. Hv 1, 11.

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Another Bhārgava was Vālmīki of the Rāmāyaṇa,¹ called Prācetasa.² Other Bhārgavas are named in Janamejaya III’s time.³

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¹ A late Vālmīki perhaps composed the Rāmāyaṇa, and then was identified with the Vālmīki of Rāma’s time. ² Rām vii, 93, 16, 18 ; 94, 25. Mat 12, 51. Pad v, 8, 155. MBh xii, 57, 2086. ³ MBh i, 53, 2045, 2049 : xiii, 40, 2262, 2268, 2300. ⁴ Ṛṣy-antareṣu vai bāhyā bahavo Bhārgavāḥ smṛtāḥ. The words vai bāhyāḥ might be also read as vaivāhyāḥ, and the meaning would also be true but jejune. So the Mat account notices certain gotras as parasparam avaivāhya (195, 32, 36, 40, 42, 45). ⁵ Mat 195, 22–3, 33, 38, 40, 42. ⁶ Vā corrupts the names. ⁷ Mat 195, 17, 18, 30, 34–6, 40. ⁸ Vā 59, 96–7. Bḍ ii, 32, 104–6. Mat 145, 98–100. These reckon him as two persons. ⁹ Mentioned, Bḍ ii, 33, 15. ¹⁰ Called Bhārgava, MBh iii, 183, 12617 ; 188, 12902 ; 190, 13010 : &c. Born in Bhṛgu’s line, Var 15, 4. Pad v, 28 professes to give the origin of Mārkaṇḍeya. ¹¹ Mat 195, 20. ¹² Mentioned, Pad v, 28, 61 ; 29, 19. Not in Vedic Index. ¹³ Mat 103, 13–15. Pad i, 40, 15, 27–34.

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The genealogy also says that many outsiders among other rishis were known as Bhārgavas,⁴ and such were the following who are named by the Matsya, Maudgalāyana, Sāṅkṛtya, Gārgyāyaṇa and Gārgya, Kapi, Maitreya, Vadhryaśva and Divodāsa.⁵ All these were ‘kṣatriyan brahmans’ (chapter XXIII). The Matsya account says in conclusion, ‘These noble men who have been mentioned, born in the Bhṛgu vaṃśa, were founders of royal gotras.’

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The genealogy says there were seven pakṣas or groups among the Bhārgavas, named Vatsa, Bida, Ārṣiṣeṇa, Yaska, Vainya or Pathya, Śaunaka and Mitreyu,⁶ and the Matsya list mentions them all ⁷ except Vainya or Pathya, but Pathya is obviously a mistake for Pṛthya, and Vainya and Pṛthya are the same, viz. those who claimed descent from Pṛthu son of Vena, for Vainya Pṛthu is included in a list of eighteen Bhārgava hymn-makers,⁸ and appears as Venya Pṛthī in Rigveda x, 148, 5. That list names Bida,⁹ Ārṣiṣeṇa and Śaunaka also and fourteen others.

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Among the Bhārgavas were also the Mārkaṇḍeyas,¹⁰ and Mārkaṇḍa is mentioned as a gotra-founder among the Bhārgavas,¹¹ but there is no mention of them in the genealogy. Mārkaṇḍeya is a patronymic from Mārkaṇḍa,¹² and these are sometimes treated as equivalent terms.¹³ ‘Mārkaṇḍeya’ is a vague and elusive figure, often mentioned as a distinguished rishi and introduced at various times and with reference to various places.¹ There was of course a family of Mārkaṇḍeyas, yet ‘Mārkaṇḍeya’ is regarded sometimes as only one rishi who was long-lived.² He appears always without any personal name or definite connexion. Though a Bhārgava, ‘Mārkaṇḍeya’ always stands rather apart, and there is no real explanation, as far as I know, how the Mārkaṇḍeyas arose. Mārkaṇḍeya is said to have been a son of a rishi Mṛkaṇḍa or Mṛkaṇḍu,³ but they are placed in the Svāyambhuva manvantara,⁴ which is irrelevant here. It seems probable that Mārkaṇḍa is to be connected with Marka,⁵ son of Uśanas-Śukra. All Śukra’s descendants by holding to non-Aryan tribes disappeared, except Śaṇḍa and Marka as mentioned above; and if so, the descendants of Marka would have obtained a permanent position among the Aryans, and may have been the Mārkaṇḍeyas.

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¹ e. g. MBh iii, 84, 8058–9; 88, 8329–30; 183, 12597–8.

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² MBh iii, 183, 12598–9: Pad v, 28, 22, 24; vi, 236, 3, 92: which say he is immortal. Cf. MBh iii, 25, 952–3.

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³ Pad v, 28, 3 f.; vi, 236, 1–2, 18. Ag 20, 10. Mentioned, Vā 41, 44; Pad vi, 263, 27.

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⁴ Vā 28, 5. Bḍ ii, 11, 7. Viṣ i, 10, 4. Mārk 52, 16.

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⁵ Marka + the rare affix anda; Whitney’s Grammar, § 1201. The affix has been found in an inscription, Indian Antiquary, 1910, p. 212. Mṛkaṇḍa is a name invented.

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