VISHNU PURANA. BOOK IV. CHAP. XI.

 

VISHNU PURANA. BOOK IV. CHAP. XI.

 

The Yadava race, or descendants of Yadu. Karttavirya obtains a boon from Dattatreya: takes Ravana prisoner: is killed by Paras'urama: his descendants.

 

I WILL first relate to you the family of Yadu, the eldest son of Yayati, in which the eternal immutable Vishnu descended upon earth in a portion of his essence; of which the glory cannot be described, though for ever hymned in order to confer the fruit of all their wishes--whether they desired virtue, wealth, pleasure, or liberation--upon all created beings, upon men, saints, heavenly quiristers, spirits of evil, nymphs, centaurs, serpents, birds, demons, gods, sages, Brahmans, and ascetics. Whoever hears the account of the race of Yadu shall be released from all sin; for the supreme spirit, that is without form, and which is called Vishnu, was manifested in this family.

 

Yadu had four sons, Sahasrajit, Kroshti, Nala, and Raghu. S'atajit was the son of the elder of these, and he had three sons, Haihaya, Venu, and Haya. The son of Haihaya was Dharmanetra; his son was Kunti; his son was Sahanji; his son was Mahishmat; his son was Bhadrasena; his son was Durdama; his son was Dhanaka, who had four sons, Kritaviryya, Kritagni, Kritavarman, and Kritaujas. Kritaviryya's son was Arjuna, the sovereign of the seven Dwipas, the lord of a thousand arms. This prince propitiated the sage Dattatreya, the descendant of Atri, who was a portion of Vishnu, and solicited and obtained from him these boons--a thousand arms; never acting unjustly; subjugation of the world by justice, and protecting it equitably; victory over his enemies; and death by the hands of a person renowned in the three regions of the universe. With these means he ruled over the whole earth with might and justice, and offered ten thousand sacrifices. Of him this verse is still recited; "The kings of the earth will assuredly never pursue his steps in sacrifice, in munificence, in devotion, in courtesy, and in self-control." In his reign nothing was lost or injured; and so he governed the whole earth with undiminished health, prosperity, power, and might, for eighty five thousand years. Whilst sporting in the waters of the Narmada, and elevated with wine, Ravana came on his tour of triumph to the city Mahishmati, and there he who boasted of overthrowing the gods, the Daityas, the Gandharbas and their king, was taken prisoner by Karttavirya, and confined like a tame beast in a corner of his capital. At the expiration of his long reign Karttavirya was killed by Paras'urama, who was an embodied portion of the mighty Narayana. Of the hundred sons of this king, the five principals were S'ura, S'urasena, Vrishana, Madhu, and Jayadhwaja. The son of the last was Talajangha, who had a hundred sons, called after him Talajanghas: the eldest of these was Vitihotra; another was Bharata, who had two sons, Vrisha and Sujati. The son of Vrisha was Madhu; he had a hundred sons, the chief of whom was Vrishni, and from him the family obtained the name of Vrishni. From the name of their father, Madhu, they were also called Madhavas; whilst from the denomination of their common ancestor Yadu, the whole was termed Yadavas.