Canto Nine / CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

The Dynasties of the Sons of Yayāti

Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: Anu, the fourth son of Yayāti, had three sons, named Sabhānara, Cakshu and Pareshnu. O King, from Sabhānara came a son named Kālanara, and from Kālanara came a son named Sriñjaya.

From Sriñjaya came a son named Janamejaya. From Janamejaya came Mahāśāla; from Mahāśāla, Mahāmanā; and from Mahāmanā two sons, named Uśīnara and Titikshu.

The four sons of Uśīnara were Śibi, Vara, Krimi and Daksha, and from Śibi again came four sons, named Vrishādarbha, Sudhīra, Madra and ātma-tattva-vit Kekaya. The son of Titikshu was Rushadratha. From Rushadratha came Homa; from Homa, Sutapā; and from Sutapā, Bali.

By the semen of Dīrghatamā in the wife of Bali, the emperor of the world, six sons took birth, namely Anga, Vanga, Kalinga, Suhma, Pundra and Odra.

These six sons, headed by Anga, later became kings of six states in the eastern side of India. These states were known according to the names of their respective kings. From Anga came a son named Khalapāna, and from Khalapāna came Diviratha.

From Diviratha came a son named Dharmaratha, and his son was Citraratha, who was celebrated as Romapāda. Romapāda, however, was without issue, and therefore his friend Mahārāja Daśaratha gave him his own daughter, named Śāntā. Romapāda accepted her as his daughter, and thereafter she married Rishyaśringa. When the demigods from the heavenly planets failed to shower rain, Rishyaśringa was appointed the priest for performing a sacrifice, after being brought from the forest by the allurement of prostitutes, who danced, staged theatrical performances accompanied by music, and embraced and worshiped him. After Rishyaśringa came, the rain fell. Thereafter, Rishyaśringa performed a son-giving sacrifice on behalf of Mahārāja Daśaratha, who had no issue, and then Mahārāja Daśaratha had sons. From Romapāda, by the mercy of Rishyaśringa, Caturanga was born, and from Caturanga came Prithulāksha.

The sons of Prithulāksha were Brihadratha, Brihatkarmā and Brihadbhānu. From the eldest, Brihadratha, came a son named Brihanmanā, and from Brihanmanā came a son named Jayadratha.

The son of Jayadratha, by the womb of his wife Sambhūti, was Vijaya, and from Vijaya, Dhriti was born. From Dhriti came Dhritavrata; from Dhritavrata, Satkarmā; and from Satkarmā, Adhiratha.

While playing on the bank of the Ganges, Adhiratha found a baby wrapped up in a basket. The baby had been left by Kuntī because he was born before she was married. Because Adhiratha had no sons, he raised this baby as his own. [This son was later known as Karna.]

O King, the only son of Karna was Vrishasena. Druhyu, the third son of Yayāti, had a son named Babhru, and the son of Babhru was known as Setu.

The son of Setu was Ārabdha, Ārabdha’s son was Gāndhāra, and Gāndhāra’s son was Dharma. Dharma’s son was Dhrita, Dhrita’s son was Durmada, and Durmada’s son was Pracetā, who had one hundred sons.

The Pracetās [the sons of Pracetā] occupied the northern side of India, which was devoid of Vedic civilization, and became kings there. Yayāti’s second son was Turvasu. The son of Turvasu was Vahni; the son of Vahni, Bharga; the son of Bharga, Bhānumān.

The son of Bhānumān was Tribhānu, and his son was the magnanimous Karandhama. Karandhama’s son was Maruta, who had no sons and who therefore adopted a son of the Pūru dynasty [Mahārāja Dushmanta] as his own.

Mahārāja Dushmanta, desiring to occupy the throne, returned to his original dynasty [the Pūru dynasty], even though he had accepted Maruta as his father. O Mahārāja Parīkshit, let me now describe the dynasty of Yadu, the eldest son of Mahārāja Yayāti. This description is supremely pious, and it vanquishes the reactions of sinful activities in human society. Simply by hearing this description, one is freed from all sinful reactions.

The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna, the Supersoul in the hearts of all living entities, descended in His original form as a human being in the dynasty or family of Yadu. Yadu had four sons, named Sahasrajit, Kroshtā, Nala and Ripu. Of these four, the eldest, Sahasrajit, had a son named Śatajit, who had three sons, named Mahāhaya, Renuhaya and Haihaya.

The son of Haihaya was Dharma, and the son of Dharma was Netra, the father of Kunti. From Kunti came a son named Sohañji, from Sohañji came Mahishmān, and from Mahishmān, Bhadrasenaka.

The sons of Bhadrasena were known as Durmada and Dhanaka. Dhanaka was the father of Kritavīrya and also of Kritāgni, Kritavarmā and Kritaujā.

The son of Kritavīrya was Arjuna. He [Kārtavīryārjuna] became the emperor of the entire world, consisting of seven islands, and received mystic power from Dattātreya, the incarnation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Thus he obtained the mystic perfections known as ashta-siddhi.

No other king in this world could equal Kārtavīryārjuna in sacrifices, charity, austerity, mystic power, education, strength or mercy.

For eighty-five thousand years, Kārtavīryārjuna continuously enjoyed material opulences with full bodily strength and unimpaired memory. In other words, he enjoyed inexhaustible material opulences with his six senses.

Of the one thousand sons of Kārtavīryārjuna, only five remained alive after the fight with Paraśurāma. Their names were Jayadhvaja, Śūrasena, Vrishabha, Madhu and Ūrjita.

Jayadhvaja had a son named Tālajangha, who had one hundred sons. All the kshatriyas in that dynasty, known as Tālajangha, were annihilated by the great power received by Mahārāja Sagara from Aurva Rishi.

Of the sons of Tālajangha, Vītihotra was the eldest. The son of Vītihotra named Madhu had a celebrated son named Vrishni. Madhu had one hundred sons, of whom Vrishni was the eldest. The dynasties known as Yādava, Mādhava and Vrishni had their origin from Yadu, Madhu and Vrishni.

O Mahārāja Parīkshit, because Yadu, Madhu and Vrishni each inaugurated a dynasty, their dynasties are known as Yādava, Mādhava and Vrishni. The son of Yadu named Kroshtā had a son named Vrijinavān. The son of Vrijinavān was Svāhita; the son of Svāhita, Vishadgu; the son of Vishadgu, Citraratha; and the son of Citraratha, Śaśabindu. The greatly fortunate Śaśabindu, who was a great mystic, possessed fourteen opulences and was the owner of fourteen great jewels. Thus he became the emperor of the world.

The famous Śaśabindu had ten thousand wives, and by each he begot a lakh of sons. Therefore the number of his sons was ten thousand lakhs.

Among these many sons, six were the foremost, such as Prithuśravā and Prithukīrti. The son of Prithuśravā was known as Dharma, and his son was known as Uśanā. Uśanā was the performer of one hundred horse sacrifices.

The son of Uśanā was Rucaka, who had five sons — Purujit, Rukma, Rukmeshu, Prithu and Jyāmagha. Please hear of these sons from me.

Jyāmagha had no sons, but because he was fearful of his wife, Śaibyā, he could not accept another wife. Jyāmagha once took from the house of some royal enemy a girl who was a prostitute, but upon seeing her Śaibyā was very angry and said to her husband, “My husband, you cheater, who is this girl sitting upon my seat on the chariot?” Jyāmagha then replied, “This girl will be your daughter-in-law.” Upon hearing these joking words, Śaibyā smilingly replied.

Śaibyā said, “I am sterile and have no co-wife. How can this girl be my daughter-in-law? Please tell me.” Jyāmagha replied, “My dear Queen, I shall see that you indeed have a son and that this girl will be your daughter-in-law.”

Long, long ago, Jyāmagha had satisfied the demigods and Pitās by worshiping them. Now, by their mercy, Jyāmagha’s words came true. Although Śaibyā was barren, by the grace of the demigods she became pregnant and in due course of time gave birth to a child named Vidarbha. Before the child’s birth, the girl had been accepted as a daughter-in-law, and therefore Vidarbha actually married her when he grew up.