Tribes in Ancient India c45.4

c45.4

In the Mahābhārata, there is some confusion between the Aśmakas and the Aśvakas, and some of the passages appear to contradict one another. In the Jayadrathavadhaparvādhyāya,³ the Aśmakas are found ranged on the Pāṇḍava side in the Kurukṣetra war; on the other hand, an ‘Aśmaka-dāyāda’, or a relative of the Aśmaka monarch, is said to have been killed in battle by Abhimanyu (VII, 37, 1605); and the same person is also referred to as ‘Aśmakasya suta’ (son of Aśmaka) in the verse immediately following (VII, 37, 1606). An Aśmakeśvara (king of Aśmaka) is also spoken of here (VII, 37, 1608). In a list of the tribes conquered by Karṇa, the Aśmakas are mentioned along with the Vatsas, Kaliṅgas, Ṛṣikas, etc. (VIII, 8, 237). In the Ādiparvan, a Rājarṣi Aśmaka, son of Vasiṣṭha and Madayantī, wife of Kalmāṣapāda, is mentioned, and the story of his birth is referred to.⁴ The same king, who is called a Vāśiṣṭha, is said to have founded Paudanya (I, 177, 6791).