(Sambhava Parva continued)
"Janamejaya said, 'O adorable one, I desire to hear the histories of those
kings who were descended from Puru. O tell me of each as he was possessed
of prowess and achievements. I have, indeed, heard that in Puru's line
there was not a single one who was wanting in good behaviour and prowess,
or who was without sons. O thou of ascetic wealth, I desire to hear the
histories in detail of those famous monarchs endued with learning and all
accomplishments.'
"Vaisampayana said, 'Asked by thee, I shall tell thee all about the heroic
kings in Puru's line, all equal unto Indra in prowess, possessing great
affluence and commanding the respect of all for their accomplishments.
"'Puru had by his wife Paushti three sons, Pravira, Iswara, and Raudraswa,
all of whom were mighty car-warriors. Amongst them, Pravira was the
perpetuator of the dynasty. Pravira had by his wife Suraseni a son named
Manasyu. And the latter of eyes like lotus-petals had his sway over the
whole Earth bounded by the four seas. And Manasyu had for his wife Sauviri.
And he begat upon her three sons called Sakta, Sahana, and Vagmi. And they
were heroes in battle and mighty car-warriors. The intelligent and
virtuous Kaudraswa begat upon the Apsara Misrakesi ten sons who were all
great bowmen. And they all grew up into heroes, performing numerous
sacrifices in honour of the gods. And they all had sons, were learned in
all branches of knowledge and ever devoted to virtue. They are Richeyu,
and Kaksreyu and Vrikeyu of great prowess; Sthandileyu, and Vaneyu, and
Jaleyu of great fame; Tejeyu of great strength and intelligence; and
Satyeyu of the prowess of Indra; Dharmeyu, and Sannateyu the tenth of the
prowess of the celestials. Amongst them all, Richeyu became the sole
monarch of the whole earth and was known by the name of Anadhrishti. And
in prowess he was like unto Vasava amongst the celestials. And Anadhristi
had a son of the name of Matinara who became a famous and virtuous king
and performed the Rajasuya and the horse-sacrifice. And Matinara had four
sons of immeasurable prowess, viz., Tansu, Mahan, Atiratha, and Druhyu of
immeasurable glory. (Amongst them, Tansu of great prowess became the
perpetrator of Puru's line). And he subjugated the whole earth and
acquired great fame and splendour. And Tansu begat a son of great prowess
named Ilina. And he became the foremost of all conquerors and brought the
whole world under his subjection. And Ilina begat upon his wife Rathantara
five sons with Dushmanta at their head, all equal in might unto the five
elements. They were Dushmanta, Sura, Bhima, Pravasu, and Vasu. And, O
Janamejaya, the eldest of them, Dushmanta, became king. And Dushmanta had
by his wife Sakuntala an intelligent son named Bharata who became king.
And Bharata gave his name to the race of which he was the founder. And it
is from him that the fame of that dynasty hath spread so wide. And Bharata
begat upon his three wives nine sons in all. But none of them were like
their father and so Bharata was not at all pleased with them. Their
mothers, therefore, became angry and slew them all. The procreation of
children by Bharata, therefore, became vain. The monarch then performed a
great sacrifice and through the grace of Bharadwaja obtained a son named
Bhumanyu. And then Bharata, the great descendant of Puru, regarding
himself as really possessing a son, installed, O foremost one of Bharata's
race, that son as his heir-apparent. And Bhumanyu begat upon his wife,
Pushkarini, six sons named Suhotra, Suhotri, Suhavih, Sujeya, Diviratha and
Kichika. The eldest of them all, Suhotra, obtained the throne and
performed many Rajasuyas and horse-sacrifices. And Suhotra brought under
his sway the whole earth surrounded by her belt of seas and full of
elephants, kine and horses, and all her wealth of gems and gold. And the
earth afflicted with the weight of numberless human beings and elephants,
horses, and cars, was, as it were, about to sink. And during the virtuous
reign of Suhotra the surface of the whole earth was dotted all over with
hundreds and thousands of sacrificial stakes. And the lord of the earth,
Suhotra, begat, upon his wife Aikshaki three sons, viz., Ajamidha, Sumidha,
and Purumidha. The eldest of them, Ajamidha, was the perpetuator of the
royal line. And he begat six sons,--Riksha was born of the womb of Dhumini,
Dushmanta and Parameshthin, of Nili, and Jahnu, Jala and Rupina were born
in that of Kesini. All the tribes of the Panchalas are descended from
Dushmanta and Parameshthin. And the Kushikas are the sons of Jahnu of
immeasurable prowess. And Riksha who was older than both Jala and Rupina
became king. And Riksha begat Samvarana, the perpetuator of the royal line.
And, O king, it hath been heard by us that while Samvarana, the son of
Riksha, was ruling the earth, there happened a great loss of people from
famine, pestilence, drought, and disease. And the Bharata princes were
beaten by the troops of enemies. And the Panchalas setting out to invade
the whole earth with their four kinds of troops soon brought the whole
earth under their sway. And with their ten Akshauhinis the king of the
Panchalas defeated the Bharata prince. Samvarana then with his wife and
ministers, sons and relatives, fled in fear, and took shelter in the
forest on the banks of the Sindhu extending to the foot of the mountains.
There the Bharatas lived for a full thousand years, within their fort. And
after they had lived there a thousand years, one day the illustrious Rishi
Vasishtha approached the exiled Bharatas, who, on going out, saluted the
Rishi and worshipped him by the offer of Arghya. And entertaining him with
reverence, they represented everything unto that illustrious Rishi. And
after he was seated on his seat, the king himself approached the Rishi and
addressed him, saying, "Be thou our priest, O illustrious one! We will
endeavour to regain our kingdom." And Vasishtha answered the Bharatas by
saying, "Om" (the sign of consent). It hath been heard by us that
Vasishtha then installed the Bharata prince in the sovereignty of all the
Kshatriyas on earth, making by virtue of his Mantras this descendant of
Puru the veritable horns of the wild bull or the tusks of the wild
elephants. And the king retook the capital that had been taken away from
him and once more made all monarchs pay tribute to him. The powerful
Samvarana, thus installed once more in the actual sovereignty of the whole
earth, performed many sacrifices at which the presents to the Brahmanas
were great.
"'Samvarana begat upon his wife, Tapati, the daughter of Surya, a son named
Kuru. This Kuru was exceedingly virtuous, and therefore, he was installed
on the throne by his people. It is after his name that the field called
Kuru-jangala has become so famous in the world. Devoted to asceticism, he
made that field (Kurukshetra) sacred by practising asceticism there. And
it has been heard by us that Kuru's highly intelligent wife, Vahini,
brought forth five sons, viz., Avikshit, Bhavishyanta, Chaitraratha, Muni
and the celebrated Janamejaya. And Avikshit begat Parikshit the powerful,
Savalaswa, Adhiraja, Viraja, Salmali of great physical strength,
Uchaihsravas, Bhangakara and Jitari the eighth. In the race of these were
born, as the fruit of their pious acts seven mighty car-warriors with
Janamejaya at their head. And unto Parikshit were born sons who were all
acquainted with (the secrets of) religion and profit. And they were named
Kakshasena and Ugrasena, and Chitrasena endued with great energy, and
Indrasena and Sushena and Bhimasena. And the sons of Janamejaya were all
endued with great strength and became celebrated all over the world. And
they were Dhritarashtra who was the eldest, and Pandu and Valhika, and
Nishadha endued with great energy, and then the mighty Jamvunada, and then
Kundodara and Padati and then Vasati the eighth. And they were all
proficient in morality and profit and were kind to all creatures. Among
them Dhritarashtra became king. And Dhritarashtra had eight sons, viz.,
Kundika, Hasti, Vitarka, Kratha the fifth, Havihsravas, Indrabha, and
Bhumanyu the invincible, and Dhritarashtra had many grandsons, of whom
three only were famous. They were, O king, Pratipa, Dharmanetra, Sunetra.
Among these three, Pratipa became unrivalled on earth. And, O bull in
Bharata's race, Pratipa begat three sons, viz., Devapi, Santanu, and the
mighty car-warrior Valhika. The eldest Devapi adopted the ascetic course
of life, impelled thereto by the desire of benefiting his brothers. And
the kingdom was obtained by Santanu and the mighty car-warrior Valhika.
"'O monarch, besides, there were born in the race of Bharata numberless
other excellent monarchs endued with great energy and like unto the
celestial Rishis themselves in virtue and ascetic power. And so also in
the race of Manu were born many mighty car-warriors like unto the
celestials themselves, who by their number swelled the Aila dynasty into
gigantic proportions.'"