Ancient Indian Historical Tradition c29.145

c29.145

Arjuna had many sons.⁷ Chief among them was Jayadhvaja who reigned in Avanti; and others were Śūra and Śūrasena,⁸ who may have had territories of their own.⁹ Jayadhvaja's son was Tālajaṅgha, and he had many sons, chief of whom was Vītihotra. At the end of his long reign Arjuna came into collision with Jamadagni and his son Rāma. The genealogical accounts do not explain how that happened, except as the result of Āpava's curse (p. 206). The simplest stories say that Arjuna or his sons raided Jamadagni’s hermitage, ill-treated him and carried off his calf; Rāma in revenge killed Arjuna; Arjuna’s sons killed Jamadagni; and Rāma declared war against them and slew many of them and of the Haihayas.¹ These stories are largely brahmanical,² and there is no kṣatriya version,³ yet some incidental allusions suggest that Rāma and the Bhārgavas were supported by the princes of Ayodhyā and Kānyakubja, who were allied to them by marriage⁴ and who would naturally have opposed the dangerous raids of the Haihayas. Such a combination would explain how Rāma vanquished the Haihayas. Hostilities then ceased for a time.⁵ The Haihayas received a set-back,⁶ because it was not till later that they overcame Kānyakubja and Ayodhyā.