Yaduvansh
Of Yadu,
[Yayati’s first son] there was a great dynasty.
Since he
had lost the right to rule because of his refusal to fulfill his father’s
wish, his descendants began to be known by a different name, that of Yadavs
or Yaduvanshis. In this dynasty descended the Supreme Lord Krishna, the
Supersoul.
Of Yadu
there were the four sons celebrated as Sahasrajit, Kroshtha, Nal and Ripu.
1).
Yadu’s second son Kroshtha became the principal ruler.
He had a
son with the name Vrijinvan/Vrajpita. His son was Svahit who next had
Vishadgu of whom there was Chitrarath, from whom Shashibindu took his birth,
a great yogi who undefeated as an emperor, had all the fourteen kinds of
great riches. Under his leadership the Kroshtha Yadavs won many states from
the Purus and Druhyus. He had ten thousand wives, and in them he begot
thousands of sons and one daughter Bindumati who was married to the famous
ruler from Suryavansh- Maandhata.
King
Maandhata had won the Kanyakubj kingdom from the Anuz along with parts of
land from Pauravs and Druhyus. From the mighty sons of Shashibindu, Bhoj was
the eldest.
Prithushrava
[another son] had a son with the name Dharma. Ushna, his son performed a
hundred Ashvamedh sacrifices. Of his son Ruchak, there were five sons named
Purujit, Rukma, Rukmeshu, Prithu and Jyamagh.
Jyamagh’s
wife Shaivya, after a long period of sterility, gave birth to the auspicious
Vidarbh who later married a chaste girl from the enemy clans that was chosen
as his daughter-in-law by Jyamagh himself. Vidarbh had three sons Kaushik,
Rompad [who propogated the line of Chedis], and Krath.
Krath’s
line progressed as follows: Kunti-Dhrishti-Nirvitti-Darshah (whose
generations were called Darshah
Yadavs)-Vyom-Bhim-Jimut-Vikriti-Bhimrath-Navrath-Dashrath-Shakuni-Kribhi-Devrat-Devrat-Devshastra-Madhu
(whose generations were called the Madhavs)-Kumârvansh-Anshu-Puruhotra/Purumitra-and
finally Satvatt.
Satvatt
had six sons – Andhak, Bhajan, Bhajman, Devvardh, Vrishni and Divya. -King
Andhak’s state was in Mathura and he had two sons, Kukur and Bhajman.
The
generations of Kukur were Drashnu-Kapot Rome-Devatta
Viloman-Nal-Abhijit-Punarvasu and Ahuk. Ahuk had two sons, Devak and Ugrasen.
Devak’s
daughter Devaki was married to Vasudev, the grandson of Devmudh. Ugrasen’s
son was the evil Kamsa, who by force dethroned his father and himself became
the king and was later killed by Lord Krishna Himself.
Bhajman’s
generations included Vidurth-Rajdhidev-Shur-Shodashva-Shami-Pratiksharat- and
Hridayat. Hridayat had five sons out of which the eldest two supported the
Kaurav side in the Mahabharat War. They were Kritvarma and Shatdanva who also
killed Shatrajit, the father-in-law of Shri Krishna.
2). From
Sahsrajit, was born Shatjit, who had as his sons then Mahahaya, Renuhaya and
Haihaya.
Dharma
then became Haihaya’s son and his son Netra was the father of Kunti [not
Kuntî]. Sohan’ji became the son of Kunti and he begot Mahishman who had
Bhadrasen. Durmad was born of Bhadrasena together with Dhanak.
Dhanak
fathered the sons Kritavirya, Kritagni, Kritavarma and Kritauja. Of
Kritavirya there was Arjun [Kartaviryarjun] who became emperor over the seven
continents and obtained all the great qualities [the eight siddhis] of yoga
from Lord Dattatreya, an incarnation of the Supreme Personality.
But then
he became a tyrant and forced the Bhargav Brahmins of Narmada river to obtain
shelter in Ayodhya under the Suryavanshi rulers. This created enmity between
the Brahmins and the Haihaya Kshatriyas. Then he forcibly took away the
Divine Cow Kamdhenu from the Ashram of Rishi Yamdagni. The rishi’s son Lord
Parshuram, who had taken birth for the precise purpose of ridding the Earth
of such evil rulers, destroyed his whole clan.
Of his
thousand sons only five remained alive in the fight with Parashuram:
Jayadhvaj, Shursen, Vrishabh, Madhu and Urjit. Jaydhvaj had Talajangh of whom
then a hundred sons were born. They made up a cruel Kshatriya clan known as
the Talajanghas, that was destroyed thanks to the power [that Sagar] received
from sage Aurva.
Of
Talajangh’s eldest son Vîtihotra, there was Madhu, who had a hundred sons of
whom, the celebrated Vrishni was the eldest. In the lineage of Vrishni, there
were born Devmudh, Sumitra, Yuddhjit and Samudravijay.
Samudravijay
had a son Neminath who was a highly realized soul. Sumitra had two sons
Prasen and Sâtyaki. Sâtyaki’s son was Shatrajit and his daughter was
Satyabhama. Devmudh had a son Shursen, who had a son Vasudev. Vasudev had
eight wives. Devaki was the prominent among them. Nine children were born to
them. Kansa, the brother of Devaki, killed six of them. Seventh was Balram,
who had been transferred to the womb of Vasudev’s first wife Rohini, eighth
Lord Shri Krishna, and at ninth place was her daughter Subhadra.
Lineage of Shri Krishna
The
Supreme Lord Himself came on this planet to wipe out evil before the
beginning of the next yuga, Kaliyug.
The
purpose of His coming was also to fulfill the wishes of all His devotees.
Thus, He gave the love of a devoted son to two sets of parents, His
friendship to numerous Gopas and Gopis, and Conjugal love to sixteen thousand
one hundred and eight queens!
Out of
these, eight were his principal queens whom he had wed to strengthen
political alliances. The rest were celestial damsels who had been captured by
the evil demon Narkasur, and when freed by the Lord, they requested only His
protection and refused to return back to the heavens.
Lord
Krishna’s first wife was Rukmini, the daughter of King Bhishmak of Vidarbh.
She was the living incarnation of Goddess Lakshmi. They had nine sons and one
daughter- Princes Pradyumna, Sucharu, Chakbhadra, Sadasva, Hasva, Charugupta,
Charuk, Charuhas and Princess Charukhasti.
His
second queen was Satyabhama, the daughter of King Shatrajit. They had seven
sons- Princes Bhanu, Bhimrath, Khad, Rohit, Diptiman, Tambrandh and
Jalandham.
The
third queen was Surya, the daughter of King Surya, and
the
fourth queen was Mantra-vrinda, the daughter of Mantra-vrind. From her, there
were three sons-Princes Sumitr, Charumitra and Mitravrind.
The
fifth queen was Satya, the daughter of King Satyajit, and sixth was
Lakshmana, the daughter of King Mandra.
The
immortal bear-warrior Jambvant, who had asissted the Lord in His Shri Raam
incarnation, gave his daughter Jambvati to Him in marriage. She had a son who
was named Samb.
The
eighth queen of the lord was Bhadra, the daughter of King Bhadrasen.
Pradyumna
was the re-incarnation of Kamdev, and was hence re-united with his wife Rati
after coming of age. He had two sons Vrijnabh and Aniruddh. Aniruddh was
married to Usha, the daughter of a mighty demon king Banasur who was defeated
by Lord Krishna after he had captured Aniruddh and put both him and his
daughter under house-arrest.
Their
son was Mrigketan. When Bana was defeated, his kingdom of Kashyap-pur
(Multan) was given to Samb, the son of Jambvati. He built a great temple for
Lord Surya there. He also married Rama, a niece of Usha, and had a son called
Ushneek.
The
glorious Yaduvansh went into decadence after the Mahabharat War. Gandhari,
the queen of hastinapur remarked to Shri Krishna that if He had wanted, He
could have stopped the war anytime. Her extreme grief over the loss of her
ninety-nine sons made her blame Shri Krishna for the end of her Kul. Even
though she could not put a curse on the Supreme lord Himself, she cursed the
Yadu Dynasty to suffer and perish in the next thirty-six years.
Thereafter,
Yaduvanshis disappeared in the mists of time and their capital city Dwarka,
was submerged in the sea. As long as the Supreme Lord was present on Earth,
Kaliyug could not arrive, but after the Lord went back to His abode, within
seven days, it took hold of the entire planet.
Puruvansh
Puru,
the youngest son of Yayati gave rise to the mighty Puruvansh which ruled the
land.
Janmejay
was the one who appeared from Puru. Prachinvan was his son and from him was
there Pravir after whom Manusyu appeared; it was of him that Charupad
appeared. The son appearing from him was Sudyu who had a son named Bahugav of
whom was born Samyati who had a son named Ahamyati.
The
memorable Raudrashva was his son. He, with an Apsara girl Ghritachi, had ten
sons: Riteyu, Kaksheyu, Sthandileyu, Kriteyuka, Jaleyu, Sannateyu, Dharmeyu,
Satyeyu, Vrateyu and Vaneyu as the youngest.
From
Riteyu appeared a son named Rantinav and his three sons, a ruler of man, were
Sumati, Dhruv and Apratirath. Kanva was Apratirath’s son. Of him there was
Medhatithi of whom there were Prashkann and others who were all twice-born
souls.
From
Sumati there was Rebhi whose son is the known Dushyant. Once, Dushyant went
hunting and arrived at the hermitage of sage Kanva. When he came there saw he
a woman sitting who shone in her own beauty like the goddess of fortune.
The
maiden was Shakuntala, and both of them fell in love with each other and
decided to marry there and then in a Gandharv marriage. After due time,
Shakuntala then gave birth to a mighty son Bharat. Kanva Muni executed in the
forest the prescribed ceremonies for the son who as a child was remembered to
capture a lion by force and play with it.
After
his father passed away, his son and he became an emperor of great fame and
glory celebrated as a partial representation of the Lord on this earth. With
the mark of the Chakra on his right hand and the mark of the lotus-whorl on
his soles, was he of worship with a great ceremony and was he promoted to the
position of the topmost ruler and master over everything.
In the
Mashnar sacrifice where Bhrigu rishi was the priest, he gave in charity
fourteen lakhs of fine black elephants with the whitest tusks, complete with
golden ornaments. Just like it is for certain impossible to seize the
heavenly planets by the strength of one’s arms, it is neither possible to
parallel the exalted activities of Bharat, nor will any of the human rulers
after him ever be able to attain such a thing. He became a world-monarch and
this part of the continent has since ever been called Bhaarat in his honour.
All such
barbarian rulers of man against the Brahminical culture as the Kirats
[Africans], the northern tribes [Huns], the Yavans [Greeks] the Paundras [the
wild men of south Bihar and Bengal] and the Kanks, the Khasas [the
Mongolians] and the Shakas he killed conquering all directions.
The great
king had three wives, daughters of Vidarbha. After he performed a Marut-stoma
sacrifice to beget sons, the Maruts themselves presented him a valiant son
Bharadvaj.
From
Vitatha [Bharadvaj], was born a son Manyu, and from him, there were
Brihatkshatra, Jay, Mahavirya, Nar and Garg.
#Of
them, Nar had Sankriti, and Sankriti had Guru and the extremely generous
Rantidev; the glories of whom are sung in this world and the next.
#From
Garg, there was Shini, from whom came Gârgya, of whom despite of his Kshatriya
birth, a whole line of Brahmins originated.
#From
Mahavirya there was Duritakshay whose sons were named Trayaruni, Kavi and
Pushkararuni. They all achieved the position of Brahmins.
#Hasti
became Brihatkshatra’s son who founded the city of Hastinapur.
Ajamidh,
Dvimidh and Purumidh were the sons of Hasti. Ajamidh’s descendants were
headed by Priyamedh, while Purumidh was without a son.
-Yavinar
born of Dvimidh had Kritiman for his son and his son well known is
Satyadhriti whose son Dridhanemi was the father of Suparshva. Suparshva had
Sumati whose son Sannatiman had one called Kriti, who from Lord Brahma got
the mystic power to teach the six Prâcyasâma Samhitâ’s [Saam-ved verses].
Of him
came Nîp, of whom Udgrayudh was born. His son was Kshemya, of whom came
Suvir. From Suvir was there Ripun’jay. The one from him was named Bahurath.
-From
Ajamîdh there was a son Brihadishu, his son was Brihaddhanu, Brihatkaya came
thereafter and his son was Jayadrath. His son was Vishad of whom Syenajit was
born and his sons were Rucirâshva, Dridhahanu, Kâshya and Vatsa.
Rucirashva’s
son was Pâr, from him was Prithusen and then Nip. He begot Brahmadatt, a yogi
who from his wife Sarasvati had Vishvaksen. By the instruction of rishi
Jaigishavya he wrote a description of yoga.
He had a
son Udaksen and from him there was Bhallath.
-Of
Ajamidh from the wife Nalini, was born Neel who then had Shanti as his son.
Shanti’s son Sushanti had Puruj, Ark was his son and from him generated
Bharmyashva who had five sons with Mudgal as the eldest, Yavinar,
Brihadvishva, Kampil and San’jay.
He
prayed to them: ‘My sons, if you’re really capable, then care for all the
different states’. Thus received they the name of Panchâls [Of the Five
States].
From
Mudgal was there a line consisting of Brahmins known as Maudgalyas. Two
non-identical twins, one male and one female were born to Mudgal. The male
was called Divodas and the female was Ahalya.
From
Divodas was Mitrâyu born and his sons, were Chyavan, Sudas, Sahadev and
Somak. Somak was the father of Jantu. Of him, there were a hundred sons, and
the youngest of them was Prishat. From him was Drupad born, who conducted a
massive fire-sacrifice and obtained the beautiful daughter Draupadi [the wife
of the Pandavs]. His sons were led by Dhrishthadyumna of whom there was
Dhrishtaketu.
Of
Ahalya's marriage with Gautam rishi was Shatanand born. Of him there was a
son Satyadhriti, and of Sharadvan, his son, were, simply by seeing Urvashi,
of his semen falling on a clump of shar grass, a male and a female child
born. During a hunt, King Shantanu saw the twins whom he out of compassion
took with him, naming the boy Krip and the girl Kripi. She later became
Dronacharya’s wife.
Kuruvansh
-Riksha
was another son born from Ajamidh.
His son
Samvaran begot in his wife Tapti, the daughter of Sun-God Surya, the mighty
Kuru, who found the city of Kurukshetra.
After
growing up, Kuru mastered all the four Vedas and other scriptures within a
very short period. At the raw age of 24, he became a scholar. When he
attained marriageable age, he was married to Saudamini- the daughter of
Sudama.
Later
on, he was appointed as the successor by his father, Samvaran. After becoming
the king, Kuru ruled his subjects in a just manner but very soon he got bored
of his monotonous life. He knew that only those kings became immortal who
accomplished amazing feats. He decided to do something for which people would
remember him.
With the
objective of making his name immortal, he went to the most sacred place
called Samantpanchak and decided to cultivate the eight virtues of Tapa,
Satya, Kshama, Daya, Shauch, Daan, Yuga and Brahmacharya on its barren land.
He started ploughing a piece of land with a golden plough, which was pulled
by Lord Shankar’s bull Nandi, and Yamaraj’s buffalo Paundrak.
While he
was busy ploughing the field, Indra approached him and asked suspiciously as
to what he was trying to cultivate. When Kuru revealed his intentions, Indra
made fun of him and went back. But Kuru continued to cultivate the land. In a
very short time, he had already cultivated the land measuring 7 kosas.
Pleased
by his perseverance, Lord Vishnu Himself arrived and asked the same question.
Kuru told him that all these eight virtues were present in his own body and
it would not be a difficult task to cultivate these things. He then offered
his own body in a sacrifice to the Lord! Lord Vishnu was pleased with his
devotion and asked him to demand anything.
Kuru
replied- “All the area cultivated by me should become famous as a sacred
pilgrimage. All the devotees who visit or die at this sacred pilgrimage must
attain salvation. This place should be known by my name.” This is how the
most sacred place of pilgrimage- Kurukshetra came into existence. Parikshi,
Sudhanu, Jahnu and Nishadh were Kuru’s sons.
# From
Sudhanu was Suhotra born and from him came Chyavan of whom there was Kriti.
Of him
there was the famous Uparichar Vasu. His sons headed by Brihadrath were
Kushamb, Matsya, Pratyagra, Chedip and others. They all became rulers of the
state of Chedi. From Brihadrath was Kushagra born. Of his son Rishabh was
Satyahit born who as his offspring had Pushpvân whose son was Jahu.
Brihadrath
being with also a second wife had a son who was born in two parts! The
demoness Jara playfully united the two parts of the baby saying: ‘Come alive,
come alive’, so that a son called Jarâsandh was born [who later became an
enemy of Lord Krishna]. From him was then Sahadev born of whose son Somapi
there was Shrutashrava.
#
Parikshi [another son of Kuru] had no children while of Jahnu one was born
named Surath.
From him
there was Vidurath of whom Sarvabhaum was born. He had Jayasen and from his
son Radhik was Ayutayu born. From him then there was Akrodhan who had a son
named Devtithi of whom Riksh was born who had a son called Dilip and of him
there was the son Prateep.
Of him
there were the sons Devapi, Shantanu and Vahlik.
Vahlik
generated Somdatt and from him were Bhuri, Bhurishrava and Shal. Devapi the
eldest rejected kingship and left for the forest so that Shantanu became the
king.
Shantanu,
in his previous life had been the celebrated Mahabhish; whomever he touched
with his hands attained youth however old that person would be. Because one
indeed primarily by the touch of his hands could get the youth of pleasure,
he was known as Shantanu.
When
Indra, for twelve years had not sent down rain in his kingdom, Shantanu was
advised by the wise Brahmins: ‘Give immediately, for the elevation of your
stronghold and kingdom, the realm back to your elder brother.’ Thus advised,
Shantanu asked Devapi to take charge of the kingdom. But Devâpi had no desire
to rule, and gave back the right to reign. When that was said, the demigod
showered the rains.
Devapi
later sought his refuge in the village of Kalâp taking up the practice of
yoga. The Som-dynasty lost in Kali-yug will [by him] at the beginning of the
next Satya-yuga be re-established!
Shantanu
begot in his wife Ganga the self-realized great devotee and scholar Bhishm,
the best of all defenders of the dharma. He also begot from his second wife
Satyavati, the daughter of Das [a fisherman] two sons Chitrangad and
Vichitravirya.
Satyavati,
previous to her marriage to Shantanu had by the mercy of sage Parashar
incarnated an expansion of the Lord who was a great muni protecting the
Veda’s: Krishna Dvaipayan Vyas.
Chitrangad
was killed by a Gandharv of the same name. Vichitravirya, the younger son,
married two daughters of Kashiraj, Ambika and Ambalika. But he soon died of
tuberculosis. There being no offspring, Vyasdev begot Dhritrashtra and Pandu
[with Ambika and Ambalika] and Vidur [with maidservant Vinita].
From his
wife Gandhara were of Dhritrashthra a hundred sons born, of whom Duryodhan
and Dushasan were the eldest, as well as one daughter called Duhsala.
Pandu
because of a curse had to restrain his sexual life, and so the great Pandav
heroes, took birth by means of a mantra given to Kunti, by the sage Durvasa.
The three Yuddhishthir, Bheem and Arjun were begotten by Dharma, Indra and
Vayu [not mentioning Karna from Surya]. Nakul and Sahdev were in the womb of
Madri begotten by the two Ashvins [Nasatya and Dasra].
From
these five brothers came [with Draupadi] five sons into this world:
Yudhishthhir had Prativindhya, Bheem had Shrutsen, from Arjun came
Shrutakirti and of Nakul there was Shatanik. Sahdev had Shrutkarma.
There
indeed were also other sons: from Yudhishthhir was there with Pauravi a son
Devak, Bheem had Ghathotkach with Hidimba and Sarvagat with Kali.
Likewise
had Sahdeva with Vijaya, the daughter of the Himalayan king, Suhotra born
from him. Nakul had with Renumati a son named Narmitra.
Arjun
had the son Iravan from the womb of Ulup [a Naag-daughter] and the son
Babhruvahan with the princess of Manipur Chitrangada, who was adopted by the
father -in-law. From Subhadra [Krishna’s sister] was born Abhimanyu who was a
great hero who defeated all Atiratha’s [’those who can oppose a thousand
charioteers’] and died gloriously in the Mahabharat War.
His son
was Parikshit, who took birth from Uttara. With the annihilation of the
Kuru-dynasty, Ashvatthama, the son of Dron, tried to put him also to death
with the heat of the Brahmastra-weapon, but by the mercy of Lord Krishna, he
was saved.
All the
sons of Parikshit, beginning with Janmejay first, Shrutsen, Bheemsen and
Ugrasen - were of great power. The eldest son, knowing that his father had
died from the bite of Takshak, the king of the snakes, organized and offered
in a fire sacrifice almost all the snakes of the world.
Shatanik,
his son, with Yajn’avalkya thoroughly studied the three Vedas, realized the
military art from Kripacharya and with Shaunak achieved the transcendental.
Sahasranik his son, had Ashvamedhaj, and from him was Asimakrishna who had a
son Nemichakra.
With
Hastinapur flooded by the river, Nemichakra duly lived at Kaushambi,
whereafter from his son called Chitrarath there was the son Shuciratha. From
him was born Vrishthiman from whom was Sushen, an emperor born.
His son
Sunît had one called Nrichakshu and from him was Sukhinal. Pariplav was his
son and from Sunay after him was Medhavi; from him there was Nripan’jay, who
had Durva and by him Timi took birth.
Of Timi,
was born Brihadrath of whom Sudas had the son Shatanik. Shatanik had a son
named Durdaman and his son was Mahinar. Dandpani, from him, had Nimi from
whom Kshemak took birth. With Kshemak closing the row as the monarch there
was an end to this dynasty, this source of Brahmins and Kshatriyas respected
by the seers and the godly in Kali-yuga. The aftermath of the terrible
Mahabharat War, was so mammoth that for a few centuries to come, history came
to a standstill.
This
phase of Indian history would be stagnant until the coming of the Lord again
in the form of Buddha, the Enlightened One. Next in the future, will be the
kings of Magadh.
Other
sons of Yayati
1).
Turvasu [Yayati’s second son] had the son Vahni.
Vahni
had next Bharg who begot Bhanuman. Tribhanu, his son, had also one: the
magnanimous Karandham. His son was Marut; he, sonless, adopted a Paurav
[Dushmant] as his son. Dushmant desirous for the throne, turned back to his
clan [the Purus].
2). Of
Druhyu [Yayati’s third son] there was a son Babhru who next begot Setu.
Arabdha born
from him had Gandhar and of him there was Dharma. He had Dhrita, and of
Dhrita there was Durmad of whom the son Praceta had a hundred sons. They as
kings accepted the jurisdiction over the northern direction, the uncivilized
areas of Mlecchadesh.
3). Of
Anu [the fourth son of Yayati] were there the three sons Sabhanar, Chakshu
and Pareshnu.
From
Sabhanar thereafter came Kalanar and a son of him called Srin’jay. Of
Janmejay [after him] there was a son Mahâshâl who had Mahamana. Ushinar and
Titikshu were the two sons of Mahamana. Shibi, Vara, Krimi and Daksh were the
four born from Ushinar.
Vrishadarbh,
Sudhir, Madra and the self-realized Kekaya were four sons born from Shibi. Of
Titikshu there was one called Rushadratha from whom there was Hom who begot
Sutapa. Bali was Sutapa’s son.
Headed
by Anga, Vanga and Kalinga were Suhma, Pundra and Odra known as being born
from Dirghatma in the wife of the great conqueror Bali. It were their names
that were given to the six states they created in the East [of India].
From
Anga came Khalpan into existence and from him appeared thereafter Divirath.
From Dharmarath, his son, was Chitrarath born, celebrated as Rompad. Rompad
had no son and thus gave to his friend Dashrath, Shanta, his own daughter [to
be adopted], who then married Rishyashringa a hermit who lived in the forest.
On
behalf of the king, Rishyashringa established a Marutvan [son-giving]
sacrifice so that Dashrath [as the father-in-law] was delivered a child. And
so did Rompad, sonless, indeed achieve offspring; he got Chaturanga who then
had Prithulaksh for his son.
Brihadrath,
Brihatkarma and Brihadbhanu were his sons. From the eldest [Brihadratha] was
there Brihanmana and from him was there the one celebrated as Jayadrath.
Vijay with him born from Sambhuti had thereafter Dhriti and from him took
Dhritavrat his birth, of whom came Satkarma who had Adhirath.
He,
bathing at the bank of the Ganges found in a basket the baby that was
abandoned by Kuntî because it was born before she was married. Being sonless
he adopted it as his son [Karna].
Vrishasen
was Karna’s son.
|
Faith, Sacrifice, Commitment and
Patience.
