(Sambhava Parva continued)
"Janamejaya said, 'O Brahmana, I have now heard from thee this great
history of my ancestors. I had also heard from thee about the great
monarchs that were born in this line. But I have not been gratified, this
charming account being so short. Therefore, be pleased, O Brahmana, to
recite the delightful narrative just in detail commencing from Manu, the
lord of creation. Who is there that will not be charmed with such an
account, as it is sacred? The fame of these monarchs increased by their
wisdom, virtue, accomplishments, and high character, hath so swelled as to
cover the three worlds. Having listened to the history, sweet as nectar,
of their liberality, prowess, physical strength, mental vigour, energy,
and perseverance, I have not been satiated!'
"Vaisampayana said, 'Hear then, O monarch, as I recite in full the
auspicious account of thy own race just as I had heard it from Dwaipayana
before.
"'Daksha begat Aditi, and Aditi begat Vivaswat, and Vivaswat begat Manu,
and Manu begat Ha and Ha begat Pururavas. And Pururavas begat Ayus, and
Ayus begat Nahusha, and Nahusha begat Yayati. And Yayati had two wives,
viz., Devayani, the daughter of Usanas, and Sarmishtha the daughter of
Vrishaparvan. Here occurs a sloka regarding (Yayati's) descendants,
"Devayani gave birth to Yadu and Turvasu; and Vrishaparvan's daughter
Sarmishtha gave birth to Druhyu, Anu, and Puru." And the descendants of
Yadu are the Yadavas and of Puru are the Pauravas. And Puru had a wife of
the name of Kausalya, on whom he begat a son named Janamejaya who
performed three horse-sacrifices and a sacrifice called Viswajit. And then
he entered into the woods. And Janamejaya had married Ananta, the daughter
of Madhava, and begat upon her a son called Prachinwat. And the prince was
so called because he had conquered all the eastern countries up to the
very confines of the region where the Sun rises. And Prachinwat married
Asmaki, a daughter of the Yadavas and begat upon her a son named Sanyati.
And Sanyati married Varangi, the daughter of Drishadwata and begat upon
her a son named Ahayanti. And Ahayanti married Bhanumati, the daughter of
Kritavirya and begat upon her a son named Sarvabhauma. And Sarvabhauma
married Sunanda, the daughter of the Kekaya prince, having obtained her by
force. And he begat upon her a son named Jayatsena, who married Susrava,
the daughter of the Vidarbha king and begat upon her Avachina. And
Avachina also married another princess of Vidarbha, Maryada by name. And
he begat on her a son named Arihan. And Arihan married Angi and begat on
her Mahabhauma. And Mahabhauma married Suyajna, the daughter of Prasenajit.
And of her was born Ayutanayi. And he was so called because he had
performed a sacrifice at which the fat of an Ayuta (ten thousands) of male
beings was required. And Ayutanayi took for a wife Kama, the daughter of
Prithusravas. And by her was born a son named Akrodhana, who took to wife
Karambha, the daughter of the king of Kalinga. And of her was born
Devatithi, and Devatithi took for his wife Maryada, the princess of Videha.
And of her was born a son named Arihan. And Arihan took to wife Sudeva,
the princess of Anga, and upon her he begat a son named Riksha. And Riksha
married Jwala, the daughter of Takshaka, and he begat upon her a son of
the name of Matinara, who performed on the bank of Saraswati the twelve
years' sacrifice said to be so efficacious. On conclusion of the sacrifice,
Saraswati appeared in person before the king and chose him for husband.
And he begat upon her a son named Tansu. Here occurs a sloka descriptive
of Tansu's descendants.
"'"Tansu was born of Saraswati by Matinara. And Tansu himself begat a son
named Ilina on his wife, the princess Kalingi."
"'Ilina begat on his wife Rathantari five sons, of whom Dushmanta was the
eldest. And Dushmanta took to wife Sakuntala, the daughter of Viswamitra.
And he begat on her a son named Bharata. Here occurs two slokas about
(Dushmanta's) descendants.
"'"The mother is but the sheath of flesh in which the father begets the
son. Indeed the father himself is the son. Therefore, O Dushmanta, support
thy son and insult not Sakuntala. O god among men, the father himself
becoming the son rescueth himself from hell. Sakuntala hath truly said that
thou art the author of this child's being."
"'It is for this (i.e., because the king supported his child after hearing
the above speech of the celestial messenger) that Sakuntala's son came to
be called Bharata (the supported). And Bharata married Sunanda, the
daughter of Sarvasena, the king of Kasi, and begat upon her the son named
Bhumanyu. And Bhumanyu married Vijaya, the daughter of Dasarha. And he
begat upon her a son Suhotra who married Suvarna, the daughter of Ikshvaku.
To her was born a son named Hasti who founded this city, which has,
therefore, been called Hastinapura. And Hasti married Yasodhara, the
princess of Trigarta. And of her was born a son named Vikunthana who took
for a wife Sudeva, the princess of Dasarha. And by her was born a son
named Ajamidha. And Ajamidha had four wives named Raikeyi, Gandhari,
Visala and Riksha. And he begat on them two thousand and four hundred sons.
But amongst them all, Samvarana became the perpetuator of the dynasty. And
Samvarana took for his wife Tapati, the daughter of Vivaswat. And of her
was born Kuru, who married Subhangi, the princess of Dasarha. And he begat
on her a son named Viduratha, who took to wife Supriya, the daughter of
the Madhavas. And he begat upon her a son named Anaswan. And Anaswan
married Amrita, the daughter of the Madhavas. And of her was born a son
named Parikshit, who took for his wife Suvasa, the daughter of the Vahudas,
and begat upon her a son named Bhimasena. And Bhimasena married Kumari,
the princess of Kekaya and begat upon her Pratisravas whose son was
Pratipa. And Pratipa married Sunanda, the daughter of Sivi, and begat upon
her three sons, viz., Devapi, Santanu and Valhika. And Devapi, while still
a boy, entered the woods as a hermit. And Santanu became king. Here occurs
a sloka in respect of Santanu.
"'"Those old men that were touched by this monarch not only felt an
indescribable sensation of pleasure but also became restored to youth.
Therefore, this monarch was called Santanu."
"'And Santanu married Ganga, who bore him a son Devavrata who was
afterwards called Bhishma. And Bhishma, moved by the desire of doing good
to his father, got him married to Satyavati who was also called Gandhakali.
And in her maidenhood she had a son by Parasara, named Dwaipayana. And
upon her Santanu begat two other sons named Chitrangada and Vichitravirya.
And before they attained to majority, Chitrangada had been slain by the
Gandharvas. But Vichitravirya became king, and married the two daughters
of the king of Kasi, named Amvika and Amvalika. But Vichitravirya died
childless. Then Satyavati began to think as to how the dynasty of
Dushmanta might be perpetuated. Then she recollected the Rishi Dwaipayana.
The latter coming before her, asked, "What are thy commands?" She said,
"Thy brother Vichitravirya hath gone to heaven childless. Beget virtuous
children for him." Dwaipayana, consenting to this, begat three children,
viz., Dhritarashtra, Pandu, and Vidura. King Dhritarashtra had a hundred
sons by his wife, Gandhari, in consequence of the boon granted by
Dwaipayana. And amongst those hundred sons of Dhritarashtra, four became
celebrated. They are Duryodhana, Duhsasana, Vikarna, and Chitrasena. And
Pandu had two jewels of wives, viz., Kunti, also called Pritha, and Madri.
One day Pandu, while out a-hunting, saw a deer covering its mate. That was
really a Rishi in the form of a deer. Seeing the deer in that attitude, he
killed it with his arrows, before its desire was gratified. Pierced with
the king's arrow, the deer quickly changed its form and became a Rishi,
and said unto Pandu, "O Pandu, thou art virtuous and acquainted also with
the pleasure derived from the gratification of one's desire. My desire
unsatisfied, thou hast slain me! Therefore, thou also, when so engaged and
before thou art gratified, shalt die!" Pandu, hearing this curse, became
pale, and from that time would not go in unto his wives. And he told them
these words, "Through my own fault, I have been cursed! But I have heard
that for the childless there are no regions hereafter." Therefore, he
solicited Kunti to have offspring raised for him. And Kunti said, "Let it
be." So she raised up offspring. By Dharma she had Yudhishthira; by Maruta,
Bhima: and by Sakra, Arjuna. And Pandu, well-pleased with her, said, "This
thy co-wife is also childless. Therefore, cause her also to bear children."
Kunti saying, "So be it," imparted unto Madri the mantra of invocation.
And on Madri were raised by the twin Aswins, the twins Nakula and Sahadeva.
And (one day) Pandu, beholding Madri decked with ornaments, had his desire
kindled. And, as soon as he touched her, he died. Madri ascended the
funeral pyre with her lord. And she said unto Kunti, "Let these twins of
mine be brought up by thee with affection." After some time those five
Pandavas were taken by the ascetics of the woods to Hastinapura and there
introduced to Bhishma and Vidura. And after introducing them, the ascetics
disappeared in the very sight of all. And after the conclusion of the
speech of those ascetics, flowers were showered down upon the spot, and
the celestial drums also were beaten in the skies. The Pandavas were then
taken (by Bhishma). They then represented the death of their father and
performed his last honours duly. And as they were brought up there,
Duryodhana became exceedingly jealous of them. And the sinful Duryodhana
acting like Rakshasa tried various means to drive them away. But what must
be can never be frustrated. So all Duryodhana's efforts proved futile.
Then Dhritarashtra sent them, by an act of deception to Varanavata, and
they went there willingly. There an endeavour was made to burn them to
death; but it proved abortive owing to the warning counsels of Vidura.
After that the Pandavas slew Hidimva, and then they went to a town called
Ekachakra. There also they slew a Rakshasa of the name of Vaka and then
went to Panchala. And there obtaining Draupadi for a wife they returned to
Hastinapura. And there they dwelt for some time in peace and begat
children. And Yudhishthira begat Prativindhya; Bhima, Sutasoma; Arjuna,
Srutakriti; Nakula, Satanika; and Sahadeva, Srutakarman. Besides these,
Yudhishthira, having obtained for his wife Devika, the daughter of
Govasana of the Saivya tribe, in a self-choice ceremony, begat upon her a
son named Yaudheya. And Bhima also obtaining for a wife Valandhara, the
daughter of the king of Kasi, offered his own prowess as dower and begat
upon her a son named Sarvaga. And Arjuna also, repairing to Dwaravati,
brought away by force Subhadra, the sweet-speeched sister of Vasudeva, and
returned in happiness to Hastinapura. And he begat upon her a son named
Abhimanyu endued with all accomplishments and dear to Vasudeva himself.
And Nakula obtaining for his wife Karenumati, the princess of Chedi, begat
upon her a son named Niramitra. And Sahadeva also married Vijaya, the
daughter of Dyutimat, the king of Madra, obtaining her in a self-choice
ceremony and begat upon her a son named Suhotra. And Bhimasena had some
time before begat upon Hidimva a son named Ghatotkacha. These are the
eleven sons of the Pandavas. Amongst them all, Abhimanyu was the
perpetuator of the family. He married Uttara, the daughter of Virata, who
brought forth a dead child whom Kunti took up on her lap at the command of
Vasudeva who said, "I will revive this child of six months." And though
born before time, having been burnt by the fire of Aswatthaman's weapon
and, therefore, deprived of strength and energy he was revived by Vasudeva
and endued with strength, energy and prowess. And after reviving him,
Vasudeva said, "Because this child hath been born in an extinct race,
therefore, he shall be called Parikshit." And Parikshit married Madravati,
thy mother, O king, and thou art born to her, O Janamejaya! Thou hast also
begotten two sons on thy wife Vapushtama, named Satanika and Sankukarna.
And Satanika also hath begotten one son named Aswamedhadatta upon the
princess of Videha.
"'Thus have I, O king, recited the history of the descendants of Puru and
of the Pandavas. This excellent, virtue-increasing, and sacred history
should ever be listened to by vow-observing Brahmanas, by Kshatriyas
devoted to the practices of their order and ready to protect their
subjects; by Vaisyas with attention, and by Sudras with reverence, whose
chief occupation is to wait upon the three other orders. Brahmanas
conversant in the Vedas and other persons, who with attention and
reverence recite this sacred history or listen to it when recited, conquer
the heavens and attain to the abode of the blessed. They are also always
respected and adored by the gods, Brahamanas, and other men. This holy
history of Bharata hath been composed by the sacred and illustrious Vyasa.
Veda-knowing Brahmanas and other persons who with reverence and without
malice hear it recited, earn great religious merits and conquer the
heavens. Though sinning, they are not disregarded by any one. Here occurs
a sloka, "This (Bharata) is equal unto the Vedas: it is holy and excellent.
It bestoweth wealth, fame, and life. Therefore, it should be listened to
by men with rapt attention."'"