VISHNU PURANA. BOOK IV. CHAP. XIV.

 

 

VISHNU PURANA. BOOK IV. CHAP. XIV.

 

Descendants of S'ini, of Anamitra, of S'waphalka and Chitraka, of Andhaka. The children of Devaka and Ugrasena. The descendants of Bhajamana. Children of S'ura: his son Vasudeva: his daughter Pritha married to Pandu: her children Yudhishthira and his brothers; also Karna by Aditya. The sons of Pandu by Madri. Husbands and children of S'ura's other daughters. Previous births of S'is'upala.

 

THE younger brother of Anamitra was S'ini; his son was Satyaka; his son was Yuyudhana, also known by the name of Satyaki; his son was Asanga; his son was Tuni; his son was Yugandhara. These princes were termed S'aineyas.

 

In the family of Anamitra, Pris'ni was born; his son was S'waphalka, the sanctity of whose character has been described: the younger brother of S'waphalka was named Chitraka. S'waphalka had by Gandini, besides Akrura, Upamadgu, Mridura, S'arimejaya, Giri, Kshatropakshatra, S'atrughna, Arimarddana, Dharmadhris, Dhrishtasarman, Gandhamojavaha, and Prativaha. He had also a daughter, Sutara.

 

Devavat and Upadeva were the sons of Akrura. The sons of Chitrika were Prithu and Vipritha, and many others. Andhaka had four sons, Kukkura, Bhajamana, S'uchi, Kambalavarhish. The son of Kukkura was Vrishta; his son was Kapotaroman; his son was Viloman; his son was Bhava, who was also called Chandanodakadundubhi; he was a friend of the Gandharba Tumburu; his son was Abhijit; his son was Punarvasu; his son was Ahuka, and he had also a daughter named Ahuki. The sons of Ahuka were Devaka and Ugrasena. The former had four sons, Devavat, Upadeva, Sudeva, and Devarakshita, and seven daughters, Vrikadeva, Upadeva, Devarakshita, S'rideva, S'antideva, Sahadeva, and Devaki: all the daughters were married to Vasudeva. The sons of Ugrasena were Kansa, Nyagrodha, Sunaman, Kanka, S'anku, Subhumi, Rashtrapala, Yuddhamushthi, and Tushtimat; and his daughters were Kansa, Kansavati, Sutanu, Rashtrapali, and Kanki.

 

The son of Bhajamana was Viduratha; his son was S'ura; his son was S'amin; his son was Pratikshatra; his son was Swayambhoja; his son was Hridika, who had Kritavarman, S'atadhanu, Devamidhusha, and others. S'ura, the son of Devamidhusha, was married to Marisha, and had by her ten sons. On the birth of Vasudeva, who was one of these sons, the gods, to whom the future is manifest, foresaw that the divine being would take a human form in his family, and thereupon they sounded with joy the drums of heaven: from this circumstance Vasudeva was also called Anakadunbubhi. His brothers were Devabhaga, Devas'ravas, Anadhrishti, Karundhaka, Vatsabalaka, S'rinjaya, S'yama, S'amika, and Gandusha; and his sisters were Pritha, S'rutadeva, S'rutakirtti, S'rutas'ravas, and Rajadhidevi.

 

S'ura had a friend named Kuntibhoja, to whom, as he had no children, the presented in due form his daughter Pritha. She was married to Pandu, and bore him Yudhishthira, Bhima, and Arjuna, who were in fact the sons of the deities Dharma, Vayu (air), and Indra. Whilst she was yet unmarried, also, she had a son named Karna, begotten by the divine Aditya (the sun). Pandu had another wife, named Madri, who had by the twin sons of Aditya, Nasatya and Dasra, two sons, Nakula and Sahadeva.

 

S'rutadeva was married to the Karusha prince Vriddhas'arman, and bore him the fierce Asura Dantavaktra. Dhrishtaketu, raja of Kaikeya, married S'rutakirtti, and had by her Santarddana and four other sons, known as the five Kaikeyas. Jayasena, king of Avanti, married Rajadhidevi, and had Vinda and Anavinda. S'rutas'ravas was wedded to Damaghosha, raja of Chedi, and bore him S'is'upala. This prince was in a former existence the unrighteous but valiant monarch of the Daityas, Hiranyakas'ipu, who was killed by the divine guardian of creation (in the man-lion Avatara). He was next the ten-headed sovereign Ravana, whose unequalled prowess, strength, and power were overcome by the lord of the three worlds, Rama. Having been killed by the deity in the form of Raghava, he had long enjoyed the reward of his virtues in exemption from an embodied state, but had now received birth once more as S'is'upala, the son of Damaghosha, king of Chedi. In this character he renewed, with greater inveteracy than ever, his hostile hatred towards the god surnamed Pundarikaksha, a portion of the supreme being, who had descended to lighten the burdens of the earth; and was in consequence slain by him: but from the circumstance of his thoughts being constantly engrossed by the supreme being, S'is'upala was united with him after death; for the lord giveth to those to whom he is favourable whatever they desire, and he bestows a heavenly and exalted station even upon those whom he slays in his displeasure.