SECTION XCV
(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.'"
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