Chapter 95

“Janamejaya said, ‘O Brahmana, I have now heard from thee this greathistory of my ancestors. I had also heard from thee about the greatmonarchs that were born in this line.

But I have not been gratified, thischarming account being so short. Therefore, be pleased, O Brahmana, torecite the delightful narrative just in detail commencing from Manu, thelord of creation. Who is there that will not be charmed with such anaccount, as it is sacred? The fame of these monarchs increased by theirwisdom, virtue, accomplishments, and high character, hath so swelled asto cover the three worlds. Having listened to the history, sweet asnectar, 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 theauspicious account of thy own race just as I had heard it from Dwaipayanabefore.

“Daksha begat Aditi, and Aditi begat Vivaswat, and Vivaswat begat Manu,and Manu begat Ha and Ha begat Pururavas. And Pururavas begat Ayus, andAyus begat Nahusha, and Nahusha begat Yayati. And Yayati had two wives,viz., Devayani, the daughter of Usanas, and Sarmishtha the daughter ofVrishaparvan. 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 ofYadu are the Yadavas and of Puru are the Pauravas. And Puru had a wife ofthe name of Kausalya, on whom he begat a son named Janamejaya whoperformed three horse-sacrifices and a sacrifice called Viswajit. Andthen he entered into the woods. And Janamejaya had married Ananta, thedaughter of Madhava, and begat upon her a son called Prachinwat. And theprince was so called because he had conquered all the eastern countriesup to the very confines of the region where the Sun rises. And Prachinwatmarried Asmaki, a daughter of the Yadavas and begat upon her a son namedSanyati. And Sanyati married Varangi, the daughter of Drishadwata andbegat upon her a son named Ahayanti. And Ahayanti married Bhanumati, thedaughter of Kritavirya and begat upon her a son named Sarvabhauma. AndSarvabhauma married Sunanda, the daughter of the Kekaya prince, havingobtained her by force. And he begat upon her a son named Jayatsena, whomarried Susrava, the daughter of the Vidarbha king and begat upon herAvachina, And Avachina also married another princess of Vidarbha, Maryadaby name. And he begat on her a son named Arihan. And Arihan married Angiand begat on her Mahabhauma. And Mahabhauma married Suyajna, the daughterof Prasenajit. And of her was born Ayutanayi. And he was so calledbecause he had performed a sacrifice at which the fat of an Ayuta (tenthousands) of male beings was required. And Ayutanayi took for a wifeKama, the daughter of Prithusravas. And by her was born a son namedAkrodhana, who took to wife Karambha, the daughter of the king ofKalinga. And of her was born Devatithi, and Devatithi took for his wifeMaryada, 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 hebegat a son named Riksha. And Riksha married Jwala, the daughter ofTakshaka, and he begat upon her a son of the name of Matinara, whoperformed on the bank of Saraswati the twelve years’ sacrifice said to beso efficacious. On conclusion of the sacrifice, Saraswati appeared inperson before the king and chose him for husband. And he begat upon her ason named Tansu. Here occurs a sloka descriptive of Tansu’s descendants.

“Tansu was born of Saraswati by Matinara. And Tansu himself begat a sonnamed Ilina on his wife, the princess Kalingi.

“Ilina begat on his wife Rathantari five sons, of whom Dushmanta was theeldest. 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 theson. Indeed the father himself is the son. Therefore, O Dushmanta,support thy son and insult not Sakuntala. O god among men, the fatherhimself becoming the son rescueth himself from hell. Sakuntala hath trulysaid that thou art the author of this child’s being.

“It is for this (i.e., because the king supported his child after hearingthe above speech of the celestial messenger) that Sakuntala’s son came tobe called Bharata (the supported). And Bharata married Sunanda, thedaughter of Sarvasena, the king of Kasi, and begat upon her the son namedBhumanyu. And Bhumanyu married Vijaya, the daughter of Dasarha. And hebegat upon her a son Suhotra who married Suvarna, the daughter ofIkshvaku. To her was born a son named Hasti who founded this city, whichhas, therefore, been called Hastinapura. And Hasti married Yasodhara, theprincess of Trigarta. And of her was born a son named Vikunthana who tookfor a wife Sudeva, the princess of Dasarha. And by her was born a sonnamed Ajamidha. And Ajamidha had four wives named Raikeyi, Gandhari,Visala and Riksha. And he begat on them two thousand and four hundredsons. But amongst them all, Samvarana became the perpetuator of thedynasty. And Samvarana took for his wife Tapati, the daughter ofVivaswat. And of her was born Kuru, who married Subhangi, the princess ofDasarha. And he begat on her a son named Viduratha, who took to wifeSupriya, the daughter of the Madhavas. And he begat upon her a son namedAnaswan. And Anaswan married Amrita, the daughter of the Madhavas. And ofher was born a son named Parikshit, who took for his wife Suvasa, thedaughter of the Vahudas, and begat upon her a son named Bhimasena. AndBhimasena married Kumari, the princess of Kekaya and begat upon herPratisravas whose son was Pratipa. And Pratipa married Sunanda, thedaughter of Sivi, and begat upon her three sons, viz., Devapi, Santanuand Valhika. And Devapi, while still a boy, entered the woods as ahermit. And Santanu became king. Here occurs a sloka in respect ofSantanu.

“Those old men that were touched by this monarch not only felt anindescribable 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 wasafterwards called Bhishma. And Bhishma, moved by the desire of doing goodto his father, got him married to Satyavati who was also calledGandhakali. And in her maidenhood she had a son by Parasara, namedDwaipayana. And upon her Santanu begat two other sons named Chitrangadaand Vichitravirya. And before they attained to majority, Chitrangada hadbeen slain by the Gandharvas. But Vichitravirya became king, and marriedthe two daughters of the king of Kasi, named Amvika and Amvalika. ButVichitravirya died childless. Then Satyavati began to think as to how thedynasty of Dushmanta might be perpetuated. Then she recollected the RishiDwaipayana. 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, begatthree children, viz., Dhritarashtra, Pandu, and Vidura. KingDhritarashtra had a hundred sons by his wife, Gandhari in consequence ofthe boon granted by Dwaipayana. And amongst those hundred sons ofDhritarashtra, 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 adeer 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, beforeits desire was gratified. Pierced with the king’s arrow, the deer quicklychanged its form and became a Rishi, and said unto Pandu, ‘O Pandu, thouart virtuous and acquainted also with the pleasure derived from thegratification 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 timewould not go in unto his wives. And he told them these words, ‘Through myown fault, I have been cursed! But I have heard that for the childlessthere are no regions hereafter.’ Therefore, he solicited Kunti to haveoffspring raised for him. And Kunti said, ‘Let it be’, So she raised upoffspring. By Dharma she had Yudhishthira; by Maruta, Bhima: and bySakra, Arjuna. And Pandu, well-pleased with her, said, ‘This thy co-wifeis also childless. Therefore, cause her also to bear children.’ Kuntisaying, ‘So be it,’ imparted unto Madri the mantra of invocation. And onMadri were raised by the twin Aswins, the twins Nakula and Sahadeva. And(one day) Pandu, beholding Madri decked with ornaments, had his desirekindled. And, as soon as he touched her, he died. Madri ascended thefuneral pyre with her lord. And she said unto Kunti, ‘Let these twins ofmine be brought up by thee with affection.’ After some time those fivePandavas were taken by the ascetics of the woods to Hastinapura and thereintroduced to Bhishma and Vidura. And after introducing them, theascetics disappeared in the very sight of all. And after the conclusionof the speech of those ascetics, flowers were showered down upon thespot, and the celestial drums also were beaten in the skies. The Pandavaswere then taken (by Bhishma). They then represented the death of theirfather and performed his last honours duly. And as they were brought upthere, Duryodhana became exceedingly jealous of them. And the sinfulDuryodhana acting like Rakshasa tried various means to drive them away.But what must be can never be frustrated. So all Duryodhana’s effortsproved futile. Then Dhritarashtra sent them, by an act of deception toVaranavata, and they went there willingly. There an endeavour was made toburn them to death; but it proved abortive owing to the warning counselsof Vidura. After that the Pandavas slew Hidimva, and then they went to atown called Ekachakra. There also they slew a Rakshasa of the name ofVaka and then went to Panchala. And there obtaining Draupadi for a wifethey returned to Hastinapura. And there they dwelt for some time in peaceand begat children. And Yudhishthira begat Prativindhya; Bhima, Sutasoma;Arjuna, Srutakriti; Nakula, Satanika; and Sahadeva, Srutakarman. Besidesthese, Yudhishthira, having obtained for his wife Devika, the daughter ofGovasana of the Saivya tribe, in a self-choice ceremony, begat upon her ason named Yaudheya. And Bhima also obtaining for a wife Valandhara, thedaughter of the king of Kasi, offered his own prowess as dower and begatupon 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 sonnamed Abhimanyu endued with all accomplishments and dear to Vasudevahimself. And Nakula obtaining for his wife Karenumati, the princess ofChedi, begat upon her a son named Niramitra. And Sahadeva also marriedVijaya, the daughter of Dyutimat, the king of Madra, obtaining her in aself-choice ceremony and begat upon her a son named Suhotra. AndBhimasena had some time before begat upon Hidimva a son namedGhatotkacha. These are the eleven sons of the Pandavas. Amongst them all,Abhimanyu was the perpetuator of the family. He married Uttara, thedaughter of Virata, who brought forth a dead child whom Kunti took up onher lap at the command of Vasudeva who said, ‘I will revive this child ofsix months.’ And though born before time, having been burnt by the fireof (Aswatthaman’s weapon) and, therefore, deprived of strength and energyhe was revived by Vasudeva and endued with strength, energy and prowess.And after reviving him, Vasudeva said, ‘Because this child hath been bornin an extinct race, therefore, he shall be called Parikshit’. AndParikshit married Madravati, thy mother, O king, and thou art born toher, O Janamejaya! Thou hast also begotten two sons on thy wifeVapushtama, named Satanika and Sankukarna. And Satanika also hathbegotten one son named Aswamedhadatta upon the princess of Videha.

“Thus have I, O king, recited the history of the descendants of Puru andof the Pandavas. This excellent, virtue-increasing, and sacred historyshould ever be listened to by vow-observing Brahmanas, by Kshatriyasdevoted to the practices of their order and ready to protect theirsubjects; by Vaisyas with attention, and by Sudras with reverence, whosechief occupation is to wait upon the three other orders. Brahmanasconversant in the Vedas and other persons, who with attention andreverence recite this sacred history or listen to it when recited,conquer the heavens and attain to the abode of the blessed. They are alsoalways respected and adored by the gods, Brahamanas, and other men. Thisholy history of Bharata hath been composed by the sacred and illustriousVyasa. Veda-knowing Brahmanas and other persons who with reverence andwithout malice hear it recited, earn great religious merits and conquerthe heavens. Though sinning, they are not disregarded by any one. Hereoccurs a sloka, ‘This (Bharata) is equal unto the Vedas: it is holy andexcellent. It bestoweth wealth, fame, and life. Therefore, it should belistened to by men with rapt attention.'”