A History of Indian Literature v1.c9.s4.1

v1.c9.s4.1

Among the tasks of the ancient Indian bards was also that of tracing the genealogical trees of the kings, or, if necessary, of inventing them. Genealogical verses (anuvamśa-śloka) therefore, form an essential part of the old heroic poetry. And the first book of the Mahābhārata contains a whole section, entitled Sambhavaparvan or "section of the origins," in which the genealogy of the heroes is traced back to their first ancestors who were descended from the gods, and many interesting legends about these old kings of ancient times are related. Of course, among these ancestors of the Kauravas and Pāṇḍavas belonging to the Bhārata race, that *Bharata* is not missing, from whom the Mahābhārata itself has derived its name. Bharata is the son of King *Duṣyanta* and of *Śakuntalā*, so famous from the drama of Kālidāsa, and whose story is also told in the Sambhavaparvan.