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Ancient Indian Historical Tradition c24: Chapter XIX. The Āṅgirasas and Kāṇvas

Ancient Indian Historical Tradition c24

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Chapter XIX. The Āṅgirasas and Kāṇvas

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The mythical founder Aṅgiras has been noticed in chapter XVI, and also the divine priest Bṛhaspati. A vaṃśa of the Āṅgirasas is given by the Brahmāṇḍa and Vāyu, and the Matsya gives a long list of the rishis and gotras.¹ Genealogical statements are found elsewhere but are few and brief. ‘Aṅgiras,’ like the names of the other primaeval rishis, is applied indiscriminately to Āṅgirasa rishis; thus Utathya is so called,² and also Droṇa or his father Bharadvāja.³ The names Bṛhaspati⁴ and Bharadvāja⁵ were also freely used instead of patronymics, as will appear, and are often quite vague.

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¹ Bḍ iii, 1, 101–13. Vā 65, 97–108. Mat 196.

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² MBh xii, 90, 3362.

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³ MBh v, 150, 5114.

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⁴ e.g. Vā 59, 131.

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⁵ e.g. Vā 59, 131. In fables, Br 121; 133.

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The accounts in the Brahmāṇḍa and Vāyu collated suggest the probable text; but they are not a genuine genealogy, for they mix up mythological persons as the Āṅgirasa deities and Ṛbhus with historical persons and have confused the relationships of the rishis. We must therefore consider the various Āṅgirasa rishis according to the information available elsewhere. A remarkable point is that the genealogy gives the first Aṅgiras the name Atharvan and makes Atharvan Aṅgiras the progenitor of all the Āṅgirasas,⁶ so that ‘Atharvan’ and ‘Aṅgiras’ become equivalent, and they may all be designated Atharvāṅgiras.

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⁶ Atharvāṅgiras = Aṅgiras, MBh v, 17, 548–51, which says Aṅgiras has the name Atharvāṅgiras in the Atharvaveda and connects him with that. Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad i, 1, 1–2 mythologizes; SBE xv, 27.

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The earliest rishi who is called an Aṅgiras is the priest Bṛhaspati who supported the gods (devas)⁷ in their war against the Daityas, Dānavas and asuras, who were aided by the priest Uśanas-Śukra (chapter XVII). That story gives him a chronological position, but it seems doubtful if he really was an Āṅgiras, for he is not, I believe, ever derived from Atharvan Āṅgiras. Fable in one form says he had a son Kaca (p. 196). References to ‘Bṛhaspati’ occur in connexion with other persons, which show the lack of the historical sense and are vague, and being worthless for the present purpose are not cited here.¹

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⁷ Referred to in MBh i, 76, 3188 : xii, 37, 1353; 152, 5667; 338, 12752 : probably in vi, 50, 2073. For the divine priest, see chap. XVI; and the devāsura wars, p. 187, note 2.

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¹ e. g. MBh vii, 94, 3476.

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The earliest time at which Āṅgirasas are alleged to have existed was in the reign of Māndhātṛ king of Ayodhyā, for he himself, his sons, grandsons and his descendants the Viṣṇuvṛddhas and Hāritas are said to have joined the Āṅgirasas (chapter XXIII), but no Āṅgirasas are named about that time.

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The earliest time at which a real Āṅgirasa rishi is alleged to have existed was in the reign of Hariścandra of Ayodhyā, when Ajīgarta sold his son Śunaḥśepa as a sacrificial victim instead of Rohita, and Ayāsya officiated as a priest at the ceremony (chapter XVIII). In the brahmanical books Ajīgarta is called an Āṅgirasa, but they have made mistakes (pp. 10, 100) and introduce extravagant mythology into the story; and they are no doubt wrong in making Ajīgarta an Āṅgirasa, because better authority says his son Śunaḥśepa was a Bhārgava (chapter XVII). Ayāsya was an Āṅgirasa rishi,² but no reliance can be placed on those books when they say he was present, in view of those mistakes and because the Brahma substitutes (though probably wrongly) Vāmadeva for him. There is nothing to show to what time Ayāsya should be assigned. He was the reputed author of hymns.³

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² So the genealogy. *Vedic Index*. Bd ii, 32, 110. *Vā* 59, 101 (Ayāpya). *Mat* 196, 4 (Ajasya). Not in Sörensen's *Index to the MBh*, but for *Payasyaḥ* in xiii, 85, 4147 read *Ayāsyaḥ*.

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³ Rigv ix, 44 to 46: x, 67 and 68.

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The traditions which give the earliest genuine historical setting to the Āṅgirasas connect them with the kings who reigned in the portion of North Bihar of which Vaiśālī became the capital afterwards (p. 97). They come into notice there first with king Karandhama, his son Avikṣit and his son the famous Marutta Āvikṣita, being their hereditary priests. Their chronological position and connexions have been explained above (pp. 157 f.), namely, of Uśija, his three sons ¹ Ucathya ² (or Utathya), Bṛhaspati ³ and Saṃvarta,⁴ Ucathya’s son Dīrghatamas by his wife Mamatā, and Bṛhaspati’s son Bharadvāja ⁵ and descendant (probably great grandson) Vidathin Bharadvāja. These rishis thus began in the country of Vaiśālī, and moved westwards in time. Bharadvāja moved to Kāśī, and became purohita to king Divodāsa II of Kāśī.⁶ Vidathin Bharadvāja was adopted by king Bharata as his son (p. 159), and the Bhāradvājas remained connected with the Paurava dynasty.

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¹ ‘Aṅgiras’ is called father of the three, and confused with the primaeval rishi, MBh i, 66, 2569. ² He is wrongly made to instruct Māndhātṛ Yauvanāśva in a brahmanical story, MBh xii, 90, 3362. An absurd fable is told about him, saying his wife was Soma’s daughter Bhadrā, xiii, 154, 7240–63. Called Aṅgiras in both. ³ ‘Bṛhaspati’ is wrongly made to instruct Vasumanas, king of Kosala, in a brahmanical story, MBh xii, 68, 2536–41. He is called Aṅgiras, ibid, 2595. ⁴ He was an Āṅgirasa, MBh xiv, 10, 281; younger brother of Bṛhaspati xii, 29, 913. ⁵ So also Vā 64, 26: Bd ii, 38, 27. ⁶ MBh xiii, 30, 1963, See pp. 154 and 164. ⁷ MBh i, 104, 4193–4, 4205, say he had a wife Pradveṣī and sons Gautama, &c., before he was set adrift. ⁸ MBh ii, 20, 802. ⁹ So, apparently, Bṛhadd iii, 125; MBh xii, 343, 13184. But sometimes Gautama is treated as an earlier patronymic, being given to him and his younger brother, Mat 48, 53, 84. This name (go-tama) has no doubt some connexion with the allegation of his immoral imitation of cattle, Vā 99, 47–61, 88–92; Bd iii, 74, 47–61, 90–4; Mat 48, 43–56, 79–84. ¹⁰ MBh ii, 20, 798–805 says the sons were born there. ¹¹ Or Kṛṣṇāṅga, as some copies of Vā read.

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Dīrghatamas was set adrift in the Ganges and carried down to the country called Aṅga afterwards. He lived there and married a śūdra woman,⁷ to whom the name Uśij appears to be wrongly attributed (p. 161). She is called Auśinarī.⁸ By her he had Kakṣīvant and other sons. He gained his sight and assumed the name Gautama or Gotama.⁹ He and his śūdra-born sons went to Girivraja in the country known afterwards as Magadha,¹⁰ and after long austerities they attained brahmanhood there. Kakṣīvant begot many sons who were called the Kuṣmāṇḍa ¹¹ Gautamas, and he must be distinguished from a later Kakṣīvant (infra). Towards the end of his life Dīrghatamas consecrated king Bharata. These particulars have been discussed above (pp. 158, 162).

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A paternal cousin of Dīrghatamas is called Śaradvant,¹ but nothing more is said of him. The Śaradvant mentioned in the genealogy may be he or a later Śaradvant, *infra*.

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¹ Vā 99, 48, 57–62. Bḍ iii, 74, 48, 58–62.

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Bharadvāja Bārhaspatya Vidathin, who was adopted by Bharata (p. 163), is said to have had five sons, Suhotra, Śunahotra, Nara, Garga and Ṛjiśvan, who were Bhāradvājas and could claim optionally to be grandsons of Bṛhaspati or of Bharata.² The option involved that they could be either brahmans or kṣatriyas, and the mention of it implies that they exercised it, as will appear in chapter XXIII. The Vedārthadīpikā also says they belonged to the Bārhaspatya gotra of Śamyu (who is elsewhere declared to have been son of a Bṛhaspati,³ and was therefore prior to these five persons), and they expanded ⁴ the family of the Bhāradvājas; but its genealogy is contracted and incorrect, for they were not brothers, and they were not sons but descendants of Vidathin Bharadvāja.⁵ Ṛjiśvan was a son or descendant of Vidathin, for he is called *Vaidathina*;⁶ and he is also called son of ‘Bharadvāja’ and son’s son of ‘Bṛhaspati’ or of Bharata,⁷ where the word ‘son’ obviously does not mean immediate sonship. Accordingly, since he and the other four mentioned were born in the Paurava line and yet he was of Śamyu’s gotra, Śamyu son of ‘Bṛhaspati’⁸ must be placed before Vidathin and after the Bṛhaspati mentioned above; and Ṛjiśvan with or soon after Garga and Nara’s son Saṅkṛti (pp. 112, 191).

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² Anukramaṇī and Vedārth on Rigv vi, 52. The latter’s account hardly agrees with the itihāsa it quotes, for it explains the option by asserting the five sons had two mothers, while the itihāsa says they were all sons of one wife (verse 14) and explains that option by the adoption (verses 12–15).

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³ Vā 71, 37–8, 48–9. Bḍ iii, 9, 38, 49; 20, 17. Śatapatha Brāhm i, 9, 1, 26.

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⁴ Read *nirvṛtty-artham* in Vedārth *loc. cit.* ?

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⁵ See p. 112, and also chap. XXIII.

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⁶ Rigv iv, 16, 13: v, 29, 14. Ṛjiśvan Auśija in x, 99, 11 may be the same, because Bharadvāja was descended from Uśija (p. 161).

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⁷ Vedārth on Rigv ix, 98.

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⁸ Vā 71, 48–9; 83, 13–14, 129. Bḍ iii, 9, 49–50: 19, 12–13 with 20, 23. Cf. MBh iii, 218, 14131.

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A later Bharadvāja was connected with the Paurava king Ajamīḍha.⁹ Next may be mentioned Pāyu, who was a Bhāradvāja.

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⁹ Vā 99, 168–9. Mat 49, 45–6.

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He was a contemporary of Prastoka Sārñjaya, Abhyāvartin Cāyamāna, and Divodāsa king of N. Pañcāla.¹

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¹ Anukramaṇī and Vedārth on Rigv vi, 75. Bṛhadd v, 124–8, 138–9. P. 170.

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Vāmadeva was a well-known Āṅgirasa rishi, as the genealogy says.² Hymns ascribed to him show he was a Gautama³ and refer to Dīrghatamas.⁴ In one hymn ‘Vāmadeva’ shows he was later than Ṛjiśvan Vaidathina,⁵ and others ascribed to him indicate he was later than Divodāsa Atithigva and Trasadasyu⁶ who were contemporaries (p. 170), and was a contemporary of Somaka Sāhadevya.⁷ Elsewhere ‘Vāmadeva’ is connected with kings Śala and Dala,⁸ who appear to be the kings of Ayodhyā, No. 77 (p. 149), later still. These indications suggest that the first Vāmadeva lived in the time of Somaka. Descendants of his would appear later, and among them Bṛhaduktha is called his son and was a well-known rishi.⁹ ‘Vāmadeva’ consecrated Durmukha Pañcāla.¹⁰ Other references to ‘Vāmadeva’ are quite vague.¹¹

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² Also Vā 59, 90, 101 : Bḍ ii, 32, 110 : Mat 145, 104 ; 196, 4, 35–6.

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³ Rigv iv, 4, 11 ; 32, 9, 12. Bṛhadd iv, 126–7. Vedic Index ii, 286.

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⁴ Rigv iv, 4, 13. Also Auśija, 21, 6–7.

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⁵ Id. iv, 16, 13, 18.

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⁶ Id. iv, 26, 3 ; 38, 1.

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⁷ Id. iv, 15, 7–10. Vedārth on Rigv iv, 15.

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⁸ MBh iii, 192, 13180 f. MBh xii, 92 to 94 about Vasumanas are indeterminate and brahmanical.

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⁹ Vā 59, 93, 102. Bḍ ii, 32, 101, 111. Mat 145, 95, 105 ; 196, 35–6. Vedic Index ii, 71. Anukramaṇī and Vedārth on Rigv x, 54 to 56.

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¹⁰ Aitareya Brāhm viii, 23.

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¹¹ e. g. Manu x, 106 : Pad vi, 281, 6, 11.

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The next noted Āṅgirasa was Śaradvant, son of a Gautama,¹² who married Ahalyā,¹³ sister of king Divodāsa of N. Pañcāla (p. 116); and his descendants are given in the N. Pañcāla genealogy,¹⁴ but the pedigree is very greatly abbreviated, only three generations being mentioned from Divodāsa’s time to that of Śantanu, namely Śatānanda, Satyadhṛti and the twins Kṛpa and Kṛpī, whom Śantanu succoured.¹ All these were Gautamas² and therefore descendants of Ucathya.³ There is nothing to fix the times of Śatānanda and Satyadhṛti.

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¹² MBh i, 130, 5072 : v, 165, 5768.

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¹³ It is of her that Rām tells the story of Indra’s seduction of Ahalyā (i, 48, 14 f.) in that her son was Śatānanda (id. 51, 1–6). It is told again with fanciful additions (id. vii, 30, 21–35). Often alluded to, MBh v, 11, 373 : xii, 344, 13205 : xiii, 41, 2328 ; 153, 7218 : Lg i, 29, 27 : with variations. Also Vedic Index : Br 122, 49 : Pad v, 51. The story is attached in a fable to Medhātithi Gautama and his son Cirakārin, MBh xii, 267, 9482–9552.

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¹⁴ Vā 99, 201–5. Mat 50, 8–12. Hv 32, 1784–8. Viṣ iv, 19, 16–18. Ag 277, 22–3. Wrongly in Bhāg ix, 21, 34–6. MBh i, 130, 5072–89, omitting Śatānanda and Satyadhṛti.

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¹ Also MBh i, 63, 2435–6: v, 165, 5767–8.

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² So Kṛpī, MBh i, 130, 5114–15; and Kṛpa, 137, 5433.

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³ Vā reading Ṛtathyā in the genealogy should be Autathyā (= Aucathyā). Mat ākhyātā and Hv ete te have ‘emended’ the patronymic they did not understand (cf. pp. 82–3). This Śaradvant apparently is called Autathya Gautama, Vā 64, 26: Bḍ ii, 38, 28.

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Another Kakṣīvant was the author of Rigveda i, 116 and 117, where he calls himself Pajriya Kakṣīvant. These hymns and also 118 to 126 are attributed to Kakṣīvant Dairghatamasa Auśija, but this rishi cannot be the former Kakṣīvant (ante), because (1) Dīrghatamas and his son Kakṣīvant lived in the time of Duṣyanta and Bharata (p. 163), (2) this Pajriya Kakṣīvant speaks of Divodāsa⁴ (who appears to be the king of N. Pañcāla) but not of Pijavana nor Sudās, whence it seems he lived between them, (3) there was a long interval of many kings between Bharata and his descendant Divodāsa (p. 146), and (4) the description and treatment of this young rishi in the story of him and king Svanaya Bhāvayavya⁵ does not accord with the base birth of the earlier Kakṣīvant. The two Kakṣīvants therefore were different persons. This rishi belonged to the family of the Pajras,⁶ of whom there is no mention before Dīrghatamas. Moreover, it will be shown in the following section that the Kaṇvas did not come into existence till after Ajamīḍha, so that the reference in hymn 117, 8 to Kaṇva and that in i, 18 (attributed to Medhātithi Kāṇva) to ‘Kakṣīvant who is Auśija’ as a contemporary, both show that Pajriya Kakṣīvant could not be the earlier Kakṣīvant, but was a later descendant, for Pajra was an Auśija.⁷ Thus there were two Kakṣīvants, both Auśijas, the first son of Dīrghatamas in Bharata’s time and the second son (or descendant) of Pajra (and also probably a descendant of Dīrghatamas) soon after Divodāsa. The Anukramaṇī and Vedārthadīpikā have confused them. This fixes the time of king Svanaya as between Divodāsa and Sudās.⁸

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⁴ Rigv i, 116, 18.

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⁵ Bṛhadd iii, 141–50.

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⁶ Rigv i, 126, 2, 4, 5.

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⁷ Rigv i, 122, 4, 7, 8. Hence Nahuṣa there is different from Nahuṣa father of Yayāti.

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⁸ He belonged probably to one of the petty Pañcāla dynasties descended from Bhṛmyaśva (p. 117).

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Kṛpa brings us down to the reign of Śantanu of Hastināpura. A Bharadvāja had his hermitage at Gaṅgādvāra¹ and was of Āṅgiras' lineage.² Pṛṣata was then king of N. Pañcāla and was his friend. Pṛṣata's son Drupada and Bharadvāja's son Droṇa were playmates,³ but Drupada on becoming king despised Droṇa. Droṇa was a great archer and warrior and taught Dhṛtarāṣṭra's sons and the Pāṇḍavas all the art of war.⁴ With the Pāṇḍavas' aid he conquered Drupada (p. 116), and apparently became himself king of N. Pañcāla. He married Kṛpī, and their son was Aśvatthāman.⁵ This Bharadvāja is said to have taught Agniveśa the art of the āgneya weapon, and Agniveśa taught it to Droṇa.⁶

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¹ The story is in MBh i, 130, 5102–12; 166, 6328–35.

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² So his son Droṇa, MBh i, 130, 5122; 132, 5280.

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³ The fable of Droṇa's birth is noticed under the Agastyas, chap. XXII.

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⁴ MBh i, 67, 2705–6; 132; 166, 6344–7.

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⁵ MBh i, 130, 5114–15. Viṣ iv, 19, 18.

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⁶ MBh i, 130, 5107–8; 139, 5524–5.

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Other Bṛhaspatis and Bharadvājas are mentioned, but with want of personal distinction.⁷ One Bṛhaspati gave his daughter Romaśā to king Svanaya Bhāvayavya:⁸ another is said to have been the preceptor of king Vasu of Cedi:⁹ and another the preceptor of Vyāsa's son Śuka.¹⁰ One Bharadvāja taught Śatruñjaya king of the Sauviras:¹¹ another with his son Yavakrī is connected with Raibhya and his sons Arvāvasu and Parāvasu.¹² Many other Āṅgirasas, authors of Vedic hymns and others, are mentioned, some of whom were of more or less note, such as Hiraṇyastūpa, Kutsa, Gotama Rāhūgaṇa¹³ and Āpastamba;¹⁴ but there is no sufficient evidence to fix their positions. A Caṇḍa Kauśika, called son of Kakṣīvant Gautama, is made contemporary with Bṛhadratha and Jarāsandha, kings of Magadha, by contracting the genealogy.¹⁵

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⁷ Bṛhaspati' wrongly with Māndhātṛ, MBh xiii, 76, 3668. A Bharadvāja, Manu x, 107.

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⁸ Rigv i, 126, 6–7. Bṛhadd iii, 155 to iv, 3. His position has just been fixed, ante.

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⁹ MBh xii, 338, 12753–6.

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¹⁰ Id. 326, 12209–10.

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¹¹ Id. 140, 5249–50.

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¹² Id. iii, 135, 10703–4: see chap. XXI.

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¹³ Rigv i, 77 and 78. The story in Śatapatha Brāhm i, 4, 10–19 (SBE xii, 104–6) is a brahmanical fable.

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¹⁴ MBh iii, 297, 16875: xiii, 66, 3320. To be distinguished from the Āpastambi gotra among the Bhārgavas, Mat 195, 33.

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¹⁵ MBh ii, 16, 688 to 17, 740.

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A Paila, son of Vasu, is mentioned with the Pāṇḍavas.¹ For later Āṅgirasas, see chapter XXVII.

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¹ *Id.* 32, 1239. He may be connected with Vyāsa’s disciple Paila, p. 21.

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The genealogy says there were 15 parties (pakṣa) among the Āṅgirasas, but 16 or 17 names are given, namely, Ayāsya, Utathya (Ucathya), Vāmadeva, Auśija, Bhāradvāja, Sāṅkṛti, Garga, Kaṇva, Rathītara, Mudgala, Viṣṇuvṛddha, Harita, Kapi, Rūkṣa (read Urukṣaya), Bharadvāja, Ārṣabha and Kitu. Matsya 196 names all these as gotras except the last two. Of these parties, however, the nine, Sāṅkṛtis to Urukṣayas, were not Āṅgirasas by origin, but sprang from kṣatriyas and were incorporated among the Āṅgirasas. The Kaṇvas became brahmans straightway, as will be now explained, but all the rest of these became kṣatriyan brahmans, as will be explained in chapter XXIII, and ultimately wholly brahmans. Most of these names are also mentioned as those of celebrated Āṅgirasa hymn-makers.²

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² Vā 59, 98–102. Bḍ ii, 32, 107–12. Mat 145, 101–6.

Kāṇvas or Kāṇvāyanas

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Among the Āṅgirasas were the Kāṇvas,³ and they were an offshoot from the Paurava line, as all the authorities agree, but two distinct points are assigned for their branching off in two different accounts. Both accounts say, Kaṇva had a son Medhātithi, and from Medhātithi were descended the Kāṇvāyanas who were brahmans. One account says, Kaṇva was son of Apratiratha (or Pratiratha), one of the sons of king Matināra (or Rantināra, p. 144) : but the other makes Kaṇva son of Ajamīḍha, a king who was Martināra’s successor by some 32 generations. This difference involves a great discrepancy as to the time when Kaṇva lived. Both origins can hardly be true, for it is difficult to believe that Kāṇvas started from ‘Medhātithi son of Kaṇva’ twice over many generations apart, that is, the double origin of a single brahman family from two persons ages apart. A gotra called Kāṇvas is named among the Vasiṣṭhas,⁴ but, even assuming that that unique mention is correct, that gotra appears unknown otherwise; and the above two accounts undoubtedly refer to one and the same family of Kāṇvas.

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³ Vā 99, 199. Mat 50, 5. Hv 32, 1782.

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⁴ Mat 200, 9.

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The earlier origin is given by the Vāyu, Harivaṃśa, Viṣṇu and Bhāgavata.¹ The Agni mentions Pratiratha, Kaṇva and Medhātithi, and the Garuḍa makes Medhātithi son of Pratiratha,² but neither say anything about Kāṇvāyanas, and so do not assert that the Kāṇvāyanas began at this point.

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¹ Vā 99, 130-1, misreading Kantha and Kāṇthāyana here as also elsewhere (e. g. verses 199, 344, 346):—

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² Ag 277, 5. Gar 140, 4.

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The later origin from Ajamīḍha is given by the Vāyu, Matsya, Viṣṇu and Garuḍa,³ which are all in agreement, while the Bhāgavata⁴ derives from him the Priyamedhas instead, who also were Āṅgirasas.⁵

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³ Mat 49, 46-7 and Vā 99, 169-70 (which here also misreads Kantha and Kāṇthāyana):—

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⁴ Bhāg ix, 21, 21:—

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⁵ Anukramaṇī on Rigv viii, 2.

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The Harivaṃśa, Brahma and Agni make Jahnu son of Ajamīḍha and Keśinī, and so substitute the Kānyakubja dynasty for the Kāṇvāyanas, and this is clearly wrong (pp. 99 f.). Their false substitution here shows that they have ousted some other line of descendants, and the only other line at this point mentioned anywhere is the Kāṇvāyana family, hence the inference is that it originated here. The Bhāgavata moreover in giving Praskaṇva the earlier origin is clearly wrong, because Praskaṇva Kaṇva was not earlier than Sudās of N. Pañcāla,⁶ and therefore was long posterior to the time it assigns him. Of the four Puranas therefore which assert the earlier origin, the Bhāgavata is wrong, the

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⁶ Rigv i, 47, 2, 5, 6 (attributed to him): 45, 3-5, which show he was later than Priyamedha.

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dhuryo 'pratirathasyâpi Kaṇvas tasyâbhavat sutaḥ
Medhātithiḥ sutas tasya yasmāt Kāṇvāyanā dvijāḥ.

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Dhurya appears to be an adjective, but even if a name does not affect this question. Viṣ iv, 19, 2 agrees closely. Hv 32, 1718 says—

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putraḥ Pratirathasyâsit Kaṇvaḥ samabhavan nṛpaḥ
Medhātithiḥ sutas tasya yasmāt Kaṇvo 'bhavad dvijaḥ.

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Bhāg ix, 20, 6-7:—

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Kaṇvo 'pratirathâtmajaḥ
tasya Medhātithis tasmāt Praskaṇvâdyā dvijātayaḥ

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which is equivalent, for Praskaṇva was a Kāṇva.

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Ajamīḍhasya Keśinyāṃ Kaṇvaḥ samabhavat kila
Medhātithiḥ sutas tasya tasmāt Kāṇvāyanā dvijāḥ.

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Similarly Viṣ iv, 19, 10 and Gar 140, 9.

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Ajamīḍhasya vaṃśyāḥ syuḥ Priyamedhâdayo dvijāḥ.

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Harivamśa highly suspect because of its untrue substitution of the Kānyakubja dynasty at the later point, and the Vāyu and Viṣṇu give both accounts and therefore stultify themselves. The weight of authority then is in favour of the later origin.

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Next, there appears to be nothing to show that the Kāṇvas existed before Ajamīḍha. A Kaṇva is mentioned in Duṣyanta's time. He adopted Śakuntalā, and Duṣyanta met her in his hermitage and married her, but this Kaṇva is expressly called a Kāśyapa (see next chapter), and so could not be a member of the Kāṇvas, who were Āṅgirasas. Kaṇva was his personal name. There is no other mention of any Kaṇva before Ajamīḍha. On the other hand there were many Kāṇvas after him, as the Rigveda shows. By the group of synchronisms at page 163, Sobhari Kāṇva's position has been fixed, and (accepting the Anukramaṇī's ascriptions of authorship) there are the following indications: Pragātha Kāṇva was contemporary with Durgaha's grandsons,¹ and so the positions of his father Ghora, brother Kaṇva and three sons are fixed; Pṛṣadhra Kāṇva was contemporary with Dasyavevṛka;² and Praskaṇva has been noticed above. Through Kakṣīvant Pajriya (ante) can be placed Devātithi Kāṇva,³ Vatsa Kāṇva,⁴ Sadhvaṃśa Kāṇva (who was later than Trasadasyu)⁵ and Medhātithi Kāṇva⁶—all later than Ajamīḍha.

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¹ Rigv viii, 65, 12. Bṛhadd vi, 35–9.

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² Rigv viii, 56, 1, 2.

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³ Id. viii, 4, 17.

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⁴ Id. viii, 6, 47.

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⁵ Id. viii, 8, 4, 7, 8, &c.

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⁶ Id. i, 18, 1. Medhātithi II?

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It is clear that the Kāṇvas sprang from Ajamīḍha⁷ and not from Matināra's son Apratiratha, and this accords with the fact that both just before and after Ajamīḍha the Paurava line threw off branches which became brahmans, as will be explained in chapter XXIII. The erroneous earlier origin may perhaps be explained by the Harivamśa text. It says Apratiratha's son was Kaṇva, a king, and quite possibly there was a junior king Kaṇva then, and afterwards the second line—

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⁷ 'Ajamīḍha' is named among the Āṅgirasas, Mat 196, 47.

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Medhātithiḥ sutas tasya yasmāt Kāṇvāyanā dvijāḥ

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which is found generally in both accounts and belongs properly to the second, was mistakenly added to the first, especially when Jahnu was foisted in as a son of Ajamīḍha and ousted the Kāṇvāyanas from their proper place. The Kāṇvas thus belonged to the period of the N. Pañcāla dynasty (pp. 146, 148), and various Kāṇva rishis are named in connexion with Rigvedic hymns. The position of one, Sobhari, has been fixed as mentioned. Others were earlier and later, as noticed above, and the positions of others can be perceived in a general way through allusions to kings, to themselves and to other persons, but can hardly be particularized.¹

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¹ MBh, see Sörensen, where Kāṇva Kāśyapa (ante) must be distinguished. In fables, Br 85; 148.

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