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The Purana Text of the Dynasties of the Kali Age c4.s9: Śuṅgas

The Purāṇa Text of the Dynasties of the Kali Age c4.s9

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Śuṅgas

c4.s9.1

*Text*—AMt 272, 27-32ᵃ ; AVā 99, 337-343ᵃ ; Bd iii, 74, 150-156ᵃ. *Corresp. passages*—CVṣ iv, 24, 9-11 ; GBh xii, 1, 16ᵇ-19ᵃ.

c4.s9.2

The Matsya, Vāyu, and Brahmāṇḍa give the whole; except that most copies of the Matsya omit l. 8, and all omit l. 3. The Viṣṇu gives a list of the kings, and the Bhāgavata all except the first.

c4.s9.3

As regards MSS, *ceMt* invert lines 4, 5; *kMt* omits ll. 1-6, 13 and inserts ll. 1, 2, 5, 6 at the end; *nMt* omits ll. 4, 5; *gVā* has only l. 2; *eVā* omits this dynasty hero and inserts it long afterwards, out of place, after the first line about Viśvasphāṇi: *hpMt*, *hVā*, and *btBh* want the whole.

c4.s9.4

The duration of the dynasty is stated by Vā and Bd, and by Vṣ generally, to be 112 years; by 7 MSS of Bh and one of Vṣ, 110; and by Bh generally ‘over 100 years’. Mt reads ‘hundreds two’ wrongly for ‘ten, two’, and with this correction says 112 years. The duration therefore was 112 years. The aggregate of the reigns is 118 years. These virtually agree, if the total of the reigns was nominally raised above the true total by reckoning fractions of years as whole years.

c4.s9.5

Of the time of the Śuṅgas there are two records, nos. 687, 688 in Lüders' List of Brāhmī Inscriptions in Epig. Ind. x, Appendix. Another record assigned to their time, no. 905 in that list, mentions a king Bhāgavata, but he does not appear to be the Śuṅga king Bhāgavata, as the lineage is quite different.

c4.s9.6

Puṣyamitras¹ tu senānīr² uddhṛtya³ sa⁴ Bṛhadratham⁵ kārayiṣyati⁶ vai rājyaṁ kārayiṣyati vai rājyaṁ ṣaṭ-triṁśati⁷ samā nṛpaḥ samāḥ ṣaṣṭim⁸ sad=aiva tu Agnimitraḥ sutaś cāṣṭau bhaviṣyati samā nṛpaḥ¹⁰ bhavit=āpi Vasujyeṣṭhaḥ¹¹ bhavitā c=āpi Sujyeṣṭhaḥ¹² sapta¹³ varṣāṇi vai nṛpaḥ¹⁴ sapta varṣāṇi vai tataḥ Vasumitraḥ¹⁵ suto¹⁶ bhāvyo daśa varṣāṇi pārthivaḥ¹⁷ tato 'ndrakaḥ¹⁸ same dve tu¹⁹ tasya putro bhaviṣyati²⁰

c4.s9.7

¹ So Mt genly, *l*Vṣ. Vā genly, *k*Mt, Bd, Vṣ Puṣpa°; *c*eMt, *d*f*k*lmVā Putra° here, but Puṣpa° or Puṣya° in l. 3 (see note ¹⁰); *k*Vṣ Prakhya° by an easy misreading; *n*Mt Puṣpamitrasya (omitting tu): *b*Vā Putraḥ. Bh omits him. Vṣ says— tataḥ Puṣpamitraḥ senā-patiḥ svāminam hatvā rājyaṁ kariṣyati. ² In *c*Mt sa se°; *b*Vā su se°; *g*Mt senā-sanīr; *e*Mt omits tu. ³ In *b*fjMt, *e*Vā, uddhatya; *c*eknMt samuddhṛtya (omitting sa). ⁴ So Mt, *e*Vā: *j*Mt ca. Vā genly vai: *b*dfmVā, Bd tu. ⁵ So Vā, Bd, *j*Mt. Mt genly °thān; *e*Vā °thaḥ: *c*ekMt sadā gṛhāt. ⁶ So Mt: *j*Mt kariṣyati sa. ⁷ So Mt genly; *n*Mt ṣadiṁśati (= ṣaṭ-triṁśati). *A*CjkMt ṣaṭ-triṁśat tu. ⁸ So Vā, Bd. ⁹ So Vā. Bd sa c=aiva. These readings are no doubt corruptions of ṣaṭ-triṁśad eva in Pkt form. ¹⁰ This line is only in Vā, Bd. Bd has— Agnimitro nṛpaś c=āṣṭau bhaviṣyati samā nṛpaḥ; where the first nṛpaś should no doubt be sutaś. Vā reads— Puṣpamitra-sutāś c=āṣṭau bhaviṣyanti samā nṛpāḥ; where singulars have obviously been wrongly converted into plurals through misapplying aṣṭau to suta instead of to samā. It should be— Puṣpamitra-sutaś c=āṣṭau bhaviṣyati samā nṛpaḥ; as *e*Vā shows by its reading— tat-suto 'gnimitr=āṣṭau* bhaviṣyati samā nṛpāḥ; where read *°mitro 'ṣṭau and *nṛpaḥ. Vṣ and Bh name Agnimitra. Vṣ adds asy=ātmajo, ‘son of Puṣyamitra’. ¹¹ So Mt genly: *g*jMt bhavitā vai Vasuśreṣṭhaḥ; *f*Mt °tā c=aiva Suś°; *c*eMt °tā c (eMt v)=Asurajyeṣṭhaḥ; *b*Mt °tā c=āpi Sujyeṣṭhaḥ (and *l*Mt crp), as in Vā, Bd. ¹² So *a²*fkmVā, Bd. Vṣ genly and Bh agree. In *e*Vā Sajy°; *C*a¹Vā taj-jy°; *b*Vṣ Sujeṣṭa; *j*Vā Sudy.taḥ; *b*dVā Suṣaṣṭaḥ (altered in *d* to Suṣṭhaṣṭaḥ); *k*Vṣ Jyeṣṭha; *h*jVṣ crp. Sutaḥ added in *a*Bl. ¹³ In *b*Mt sama. ¹⁴ In *f*gjMt tataḥ. ¹⁵ So all; except *c*eMt, *a¹*Vā °mitra-; *l*Mt Vasuputras; *j*Mt Vāyumitrais; *d*Mt Sumitras tu. ¹⁶ So Vā genly, *c*eMt. Bd, *e*Vā tato. Mt genly tathā. ¹⁷ So Vā, Bd: *b*eMt vai nṛpaḥ. Mt genly vai tataḥ. After this king *k*Vṣ inserts a king Vajramitra besides the Vajramitra in l. 9. ¹⁸ There is great variation in this name. Vā genly 'ndrakaḥ; *k*Mt, *a³*Vā 'ndhakaḥ (*k*Vā teṣāndhakaḥ): 4 MSS of *C*Vā Dhrukaḥ; *f*mVā Dhrakaḥ; 2 MSS of *C*Vā Vṛkaḥ: Mt genly 'ntakaḥ; *e*Mt Taka; *j*Mt Nukaḥ; *l*Mt ṣṭakaḥ. All these should prob. be read with avagraha. Vṣ genly Ārdraka; *b*hVṣ Odruka. Bd Bhadraḥ; *e*Vā Madraḥ. Bh genly Bhadraka; *g*Bh Bhad°. Andhraka seems most probable. ¹⁹ So Mt genly, *b*defkmVā, Bd. Vā genly samā°; *d*Mt sama; *c*eMt samā drau tu: but *a¹*nMt samāḥ sapta; *k*Mt samohamtus. ²⁰ So Mt; *j*Mt putrau bhaviṣyataḥ. This half line is in *a³*u*k*lVā bhaviṣyati suto 'sya vai; *b*Vā °sutaisya°; *d*efmVā °sutasya° (altered in *d* to °sutaih sa°); *C*a¹a²Vā °sutaś ca°. Bd °nṛpaś ca vai.

c4.s9.8

bhaviṣyati ²¹ samās ²² tasmāt ²³ trīṇy evaṃ ²⁷ sa Pulindakaḥ ²⁸ bhaviṣyati ca Yomeghaḥ ³¹ trīṇi varṣāṇi vai tataḥ bhavitā Vajramitras tu ³⁴ samā rājā punar nava ³⁷ dvā-triṃśat tu ³⁹ Samābhāgaḥ ⁴⁰ Samābhāgāt tato ⁴² nṛpaḥ ⁴³ bhaviṣyati sutas tasya Devabhūmiḥ ⁴⁵ samā daśa ⁴⁶

c4.s9.9

bhaviṣyati ²⁴ samās ²⁵ tasmāt ²⁶ tisra eva ²⁹ Pulindakaḥ ³⁰ rājā Ghoṣaḥ sutaḥ ³² cāpi varṣāṇi bhavitā trayaḥ ³³ sapta ³⁵ vai Vajramitras ³⁶ tu samā rājā tataḥ punaḥ ³⁸ dvā-triṃśad bhavitā cāpi ⁴¹ samā Bhāgavato ⁴⁴ nṛpaḥ

c4.s9.10

²¹ So Mt: cMt °syanti. ²² Samas in CMt. ²³ In bMt tasyās. ²⁴ So bdemVā, Bḍ. Vā genly °syanti. ²⁵ In lVā sutās: acdfyhjlknqrBh say sutaḥ. ²⁶ In eVā tasya. ²⁷ So Mt genly: bnMt °eva; kMt trīṇi vai; dfgjmMt tisro vai. See Appendix I, § iii. ²⁸ So Mt mostly: bMt sa Pulindakaḥ: mMt °Nunandanaḥ, jMt Madhunan°; fgMt Marunan°; dMt Medhunandakaḥ: kMt merely nṛpaḥ: ceMt read this half line trīṇi varṣāṇi vai tataḥ, giving no name. ²⁹ In eVā tripuśrava or triyu°. ³⁰ So mVā. Bḍ and other Vā read the plural °kāḥ wrongly: eVā Mulindakaḥ. Vṣ genly Pulindaka; lVṣ Pul°; kVṣ Pralingaka. Bh Pulinda. ³¹ This line is only in dfgjmMt. So dfgMt, but fy omit ca: mMt °va Yomekha; jMt °sa Momeghas. Yome may be a misreading of Ghoṣa, see note ³². ³² Vā genly Ghoṣa (mVā Dhoṣa) sutaḥ, for Ghoṣaḥ sutaḥ, as Bh has. Bḍ and dVā Ghoṣas tataḥ. Vṣ genly Ghoṣavasu; bVṣ Ghoṣaka; kVṣ Yoṣavasu; hVṣ by inversion Soghavamu; cBh Ghopa: eVā has a different line— trīṇi varṣāṇi bhavitā rājā Ghoṣavasur nṛpaḥ. ³³ So Vā and Bḍ. See Appendix I, § iii. ³⁴ So Mt genly, eVā; eMt Vajamitras; kMt Yajñam°: fyMt bhaviṣyate Vajramitraḥ; jMt Vajramitraś ca bhavitā. ³⁵ So Bḍ. Vā tato. ³⁶ So Bḍ. Bh and Vṣ genly agree: hBh Vajamitra; cBh Vajrā°; ekBh Vraja°; nBh Vañna°; fyVṣ Vakṣa°; cVṣ Vadrā°; pBh Vajramindra. Vā genly Vikramitras; dVā Vikr°. ³⁷ So cMt; dfgjknMt navaḥ; emMt navā: other Mt bhavaḥ. ³⁸ So Vā, Bḍ; eVā catur-daśa. ³⁹ So Mt genly; cenMt ca for tu; dMt omits tu; bfymt dvā-triṃśati; jMt sa dvā-triṃśat. ⁴⁰ Samabh° in cMt; eMt Samambh°. ⁴¹ So Vā. Bḍ v=api. ⁴² So Mt genly; bcMt Samabh°; kMt samā bhoktā°; jMt Samābhāg-ānugo. ⁴³ Vṛṣaḥ in bMt, adding an extra king. ⁴⁴ So Vā, Bḍ. Bh and Vṣ genly agree; ceMh Bhagavato. ⁴⁵ So Mt, eVā, Bḍ. Vā Kṣemabhūmiḥ here but Deva° in the next list (l. 2). Vṣ Devabhūti. Bh Devabhūtir iti śrutaḥ; yBh °bhūr iti vis°, but °bhūti afterwards. ⁴⁶ In eMt vaśaḥ. ⁴⁷ So dfgymMt, dVā, Bḍ, and 2 MSS of cVā: a°a°klVā and 4 MSS of cVā Śṛṅga; bVā Ścuṅga. Vā genly tuṅga: eVā Śaṅka; cMt Śuddha; eMt Śruddha. Mt genly kṣudra: jMt trayodaś-Aṅga; kMt has this half line, ity ete daśa Maurvās tu [me]. Vṣ says— ity ete daśa* Śuṅgā dvādaś-°ottaraṃ varṣa-śataṃ pṛthivīṃ °bhokṣyanti; tataḥ Kaṇvān† eṣā bhūr yāsyati: where *lVṣ dvādaśa; †aVṣ daś-; †lVṣ Kāṇvān; †kVṣ eyān. Bh has— Śuṅgā* daś-aite bhokṣyanti bhūmim† varṣa-śat-ādhikam tataḥ Kaṇvān iyaṃ bhūmir yāsyaty alpa-guṇān, nṛpa: where *deBh Śuṅgā, hBh Sumbhā; °cehjklmBh daśa (marg. correction bhūmim in jBh).

c4.s9.11

daś=aite Śuṅga⁴⁷-rājāno bhokṣyant=īmām ⁴⁸ vasundharām śatam pūrṇam ⁴⁹ daśa dve ca ⁵⁰ tataḥ ⁵¹ Kaṇvān ⁵² gamiṣyati ⁵³.

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