Vedic Index of Names and Subjects v1.c3.s17.491

v1.c3.s17.491

Trasa-dasyu, son of Purukutsa,¹ is mentioned in the Rigveda as king of the Pūrus.² He was born to Purukutsa by his wife, Purukutsānī, at a time of great distress;³ this, according to Sāyaṇa, refers to Purukutsa’s captivity: possibly his death is really meant. Trasadasyu was also a descendant of Girikṣit,⁴ and Purukutsa was a descendant of Durgaha. The genealogy, therefore, appears to be: Durgaha, Girikṣit, Purukutsa, Trasadasyu. Trasadasyu was the ancestor of Tṛkṣi,⁵ and, according to Ludwig,⁶ had a son Hiraṇin. Trasadasyu’s chronological position is determined by the fact that his father, Purukutsa, was a contemporary of Sudās, either as an opponent⁷ or as a friend.⁸ That Purukutsa was an enemy of Sudās is more probable, because the latter’s predecessor, Divodāsa, was apparently⁹ at enmity with the Pūrus, and in the battle of the ten kings Pūrus were ranged against Sudās and the Tṛtsus. Trasadasyu himself seems to have been an energetic king. His people, the Pūrus, were settled on the Sarasvatī,¹⁰ which was, no doubt, the stream in the middle country, that locality according well with the later union of the Pūrus with the Kuru people, who inhabited that country. This union is exemplified in the person of Kuruśravaṇa, who is called Trāsadasyava, ‘descendant of Trasadasyu,’ in the Rigveda,¹¹ whose father was Mitrātithi, and whose son was Upamaśravas. The relation of Mitrātithi to Tṛkṣi does not appear.